Here in Saudi Arabia, there is prayer time five times per day. Throughout the city, speakers on mosques and other buildings broadcast the call to prayer. (I wonder how one gets chosen for that task)! Sometimes from the compound we live in, the earliest call to prayer that sounds at around 5:00 a.m. wakes me up. I'm not sure how far away the nearest loudspeaker is from our compound, but I can usually hear it during those early hours.
In the hospital where I had my prenatal checkups, during prayer time in the women's waiting room (yep, the waiting rooms for families, women, and men are all separate), you will see women pull out their prayer rugs and pray:
One evening as we were driving back from the grocery store, we were driving by the Grand Mosque just as the call to prayer started. So cool!
During this time, stores, gas stations, restaurants (even the McDonalds--and other fast food chains-- drive-thru), and most businesses close for about twenty to thirty minutes. Some stores (like some grocery stores) allow you to continue shopping during that twenty minute period, but lock the exits and entrances until the employees return from prayer. However, most other stores require you to leave before prayer time.
The most difficult thing about prayer time is trying to time your outings around those closings--especially the prayer time around noon. If you don't time it just right, you might just get to the store to see the doors close in front of you. And then you have to sit and wait for 20 minutes.
I like HyperPanda -- a grocery store here -- because you can shop inside during prayer (though the exits and entrances are closed).
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| I used to think that the "hyper" in HyperPanda was a strange name. But then again, we call them "super" markets So I guess we're also strange. :-) |
Prayer time is based on sunrise, so it slowly changes during the year. When we first arrived here, that noon prayer time began at around 11:40 a.m. This also happens to be right when Nathan, the kids, and I are out grocery shopping and are in need of a quick bite to eat. So if we were running late, sometimes we'd arrive at the store just to see them locking it up. Or, we'd be done shopping just in time for them to see them lock the exit doors, so we'd have to entertain our kids in the store for 20 minutes until the checkout lanes opened again.
One of the grocery stores we went in had bathrooms and a mosque/place for prayer inside. When we would visit the local mosque back in Yuma, AZ, USA, I was asking the women about their washings as they showed me their "sinks" (not sure what they're called) in their bathrooms. They told me that Muslims wash their mouths, ears, feet, etc. before they pray as a symbol of getting rid of the impure things they've seen, heard, and spoken, etc. before they approach God. I thought that that was really significant symbolism.
Here are what the sinks look like:
Here's one app I use to keep track of prayer times to help me plan our outings during the day. It's called "Athan." On the right it lists the five prayer times for that day. And at the top is a helpful countdown timer that lets you know how long it'll be before the next prayer. As the year progresses toward the summer solstice, the first prayer time starts earlier and the last prayer time happens later.
Here are some videos of prayer time when we were in the mall. We made it into the store minutes before the call to prayer, and had enough time to buy the toy we went in for. When the call to prayer started, we were still in there, so we hurried out so they could shut the gate/shutter thing to the store.
Here's what the call to prayer sounds like outside in the city. We were walking a few blocks away to our parked car. See that tall building in the distance in front of us? That's Kingdom Tower. It's one of the most well-known buildings in the city:
And here's prayer time in Tamimi (it's actually Safeway, Saudi style) grocery store. In this one, you can shop during prayer time--that makes life so much easier! They always have samples of different types of soft cheese and olives there. Not my faves, but the kids like 'em.
Here is a sign outside of a women's restroom in a mall:
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| It says, "Woman praying room and toilet." |
And down the hall, past some privacy barriers, and restroom, was the prayer room:
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| You can't see them in this picture, but there was a pair of shoes just inside the door. When Muslims pray, they remove their shoes. I love the symbolism in that. |
It's kind of a cool sound during prayer times to hear all the many mosques' calls to prayer at the same time throughout the city. It sounds very exotic and I have to remind myself that I really am in a different country with a very different culture. And I'm learning to really, really love it here.
And as for us, we're doing great. I finally feel like we're getting settled after being out of commission for so long (i.e. pregnancy, childbirth, and having a newborn).
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| The kids with their "silly faces" |
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| An Italian restaurant inside a mall. It had a fountain in the middle of the tables. Maren wanted to take a dive. There was a roller coaster and other rides in this mall...not sure you can see it in this picutre. |
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| Baby Liberty just hanging out. She's finally sleeping through the night! Yay! |
