Call to Prayer

One of the most striking things about life here in Indonesia is the Call to Prayer. Muslims are required to pray 5 times a day: before dawn (normally around 4am), noon, around 3pm, right before sunset, and at night (normally around 7pm). Right now I am sitting in my classroom listening to the Call to Prayer from the closest Mosque as the sun is about to set. Pretty much no matter where you are in the city you are close enough to hear it from one or more Mosques who play it from loud speakers for all to hear. During the day it is less noticable because of the hustle and bustle of the city. However, especially when I first got here, it would jolt me awake in the quiet of the night around 4am. I was able to hear not just the speaker closest to my apartment but Mosques off in the distance who start at all different times. Not all Mosques play at the same time and so it is usually 15-20 minutes long by the time they have all finished. I've been trying to find the words to describe what is sounds like. I guess the right word would be chanting but it sounds much more like wailing or some sort of weird singing except you don't know what they are saying. To add to the eerie-ness, none of them are in sync with the others and so it all gets jumbled together. When I first arrived I didn't think it would be possible to sleep through the night without waking up to the Call to Prayer. Somehow you just get tired enough that you learn to tune it out. But still on different days and at different times I find it more striking and almost invasive to my life.