The Call to Prayer

I've come to like hearing the sound of the call to prayer (Turkish ezan) throughout my day here. It marks the passing of time in the day kind of like dog-eared pages of a book. I heard a rumor that the call is played or recited (sometimes it is prerecorded, sometimes sung live) at slightly different times every day in every part of Turkey so that someone is praying everywhere, at every moment of the day, every day (obviously this would be contingent on people praying in other parts of the world, but still). That's a really interesting and cool result of a unified religion, no?

In any case, out of respect, televisions and radio are muted or turned off when the call to prayer is heard. Many people keep talking or eating or whatever it was they were doing, but electronic background noises are muted. Today I caught myself turning off my music when I heard it- I didn't really do it on purpose, and I was alone in my room, but it still seemed somewhat rude to not turn my music down. I know some secular Turks bristle at this auditory symbol of the religious ideology their country is steeped in...but as a secular American with no real Muslim ties to speak of, I just find it a pleasant reminder that I am living in Turkey.