Monday, January 24, 2005

Middle East versus the West

Well I heard a bell ring today and waited for the Call to Prayer to start...
...
...
... la la la


The call did not start. Wrong country. I had got used to hearing it in Egypt and Turkey - so much so that any loud amplified sound makes me anticipate it. It is a pretty cool sound. Can sometimes be annoying - but it is the anticipation that is the point here.

So what I expect now is theft. There is no theft - none that I know of directly or indirectly in the middle east. Harassment - sure. Theft - no.

There is some bargaining here, though. I was able to get my 30 euro travel guide bartered down to 15 euros. Pretty happy about that little experiment and lesson from the middle east.

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