Cultural Adaptations

As you all know, we live in the most populated nation of Muslims. So, Islamic influence is around every corner...literally. There is a mosque (aka masjid) on almost every street, even small neighborhood streets.



We hear the call to prayer five times each day, starting at 4:00am. During these times, many Muslims stop working/socializing/whatever to pray. In fact, in many malls, larger businesses, and resorts, there are specific rooms built and designated for these prayer times.

For Muslims, during prayer, it is very important to be facing toward Mecca (the holy city in Islam). It is so important, that even in hotel rooms there are arrows pointing which direction to pray. Below are pictures from the hotel room that we stayed in a few weeks ago.



(Kiblat = Mecca)

And instead of finding a Gideon's Bible in the bedside table, we found the Quran. Just more confirmation that we're not in Kansas anymore!