Friday, October 12, 2007

We Got To Pray, Just To Make It Today

At 4:57 this morning, I woke up to the wailing sound of the azan, the "call to prayer" being broadcast over loudspeakers all over town. Nice.
Muslims pray five times a day:
  • at dawn
  • when the sun is directly overhead
  • when the sun is in the position that makes the shadow of an object the same length as that object
  • at the beginning of sunset
  • at twilight
The exact times are printed in newspapers. I also found out that every hotel room here has a small marker indicating the direction of Mecca, so you can pray in that direction. Mine's in the corner, on the ceiling. I didn't notice it until I looked for it.
I also found out that surfing on the web is not the same experience here. You're likely to come across this page: (click on it, or any picture here, for a larger one)
And no, I wasn't looking for anything bad. It blocked collegehumor.com. It also blocked the bittorrent site demonoid.com.
I walked around the neighborhood last night after dinner. It was HOT - in the mid-80s, and that was after 10 PM. No one was wearing shorts, either.. but that just might be because Chris is right.
Here are a few pics, starting with my hotel at night:


9 comments:

Chris Gibilisco said...

Soooo, those dubious Dubaians know not to wear shorts at night. Advantage Gibilisco.

p.s. How many people do you think can safely fit in your house?

Anonymous said...

Hello, Dave.

I'm sorry you couldn't find much to eat, feel free to get a taste of home cooked english food at...

THE CHIPPY

Location Sheikh Zayed Road
Phone: (04)3433114
Timings 5:00-11:00pm
Description An authentic British fish 'n' chip shop, even down to the decor, selling everything from class fish and chips and mushy peas to Caledonian dishes such as haggis, scotch pie and white pudding.

Anonymous said...

mmmmm....mushy peas and haggis, sounds sooooo good. I'll bet you're going there for dinner.

SuziTurc said...

These invitations are cracking me up! What kinds of places are they soliciting in your hotel? Western places or local?

Anonymous said...

Hey Dave
Where the hell are you ? Are you looking for the father of Anna Nicole's Baby? Or Natalie Halloway?
How 'bout Nicole and Ron's Killer? How come you didn't ask us to come ? I love road trips!!!!! love anna and John

Anonymous said...

Dave, the channel showing your flight wasn't your plane but a B-52.Pizza hut was ok. Oh my God I had a flashback of a cab ride where the cabbie offered us hashish.DON'T BUY GOLD , IT WILL TURN GREEN!

Anonymous said...

Is myfoxcleveland.com blocked by your internet? Maybe "HOT LIST" is considered inappropriate content.

-Andy

Anonymous said...

I think that gold outfit is you, Dave. I'll bet you could get a great hat to go with that.

Anonymous said...

Interesting that collegehumor.com is blocked, but YouTube is okay...