The Copeland Ramblings/

Sounds of Dakar

Of the millions of changes we’ve encountered since our arrival, we are often struck by the many sounds which are so strange or foreign to us. One that we noticed right away (well, about 5am our first morning in Senegal) is the call to prayer (see recording below). There is a mosque directly across the road from us and many times a day they sound the call to prayer. It is loud enough that if any windows are open in our living room you have to shout to have a conversation. Well, if that wasn’t loud enough we noticed this evening that our next door neighbours were installing a couple of large loud speakers. Soon their rooftop was filled with people waiting for the singing to start. They will spend hours upon hours this evening singing and reading from the Qur’an. This evening Deb and I went out on our balcony and watched for a few minutes. While it was annoying to have put up with the noise and have it keep the kids from sleeping well, I was reminded of their need for Jesus. It is amazing how fast humans can get used to different things in their environment. I am already able to sleep through the 5am call to prayer. I pray though that I will always be reminded at the sound of the call of prayer to take a moment to pray for my neighbours. We recorded a few minutes of the singing and praying going on next door. Make sure you listen to the part starting at 1:55 or so, it gets pretty wild.

[update: July 4, 2010] Commenter BM shed a little light on what we were listening to: “What is in your recording is actually not the call to prayer but rather some Sufi songs. Sufi is a branch of Islam that is generally seen as more invested in spiritual development, to put it simply”

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On this day..

• 2 years! - 2011
• Baby #2 - Now in 3D! - 2008
• Coming Home - 2007
• The new apartment - 2005