Begins about 5 am...
The first prayer call of the day. To American ears, this can be at first alarming. It seems to echo throughout the entire town and sounds like some kind of warning but is really just chanting. After hearing it habitually it becomes peaceful, relaxing.
Then, you are welcome to fall back to sleep.
Next, somewhere between 9 and 10 am is the water man. He gingerly drives through my neighborhood playing this incredibly catchy tune. I find myself either kicking my legs up to the beat of the song while repeating the unintellible phrase that accompanies (this is being blared on the trucks PA system) or I leap up and perform the dance I have created for this special song.
However, If I have not risen quite yet...another prayer call follows shortly after. Mind you, the water song is heard for approximately 3o minutes as Su Bey (Mister Water) drives through the streets of Izyuva.
After prayer call number 2, the vegetable man makes his rounds. This is just a man repeating something in turkish via PA system. I haven't learned what he's saying yet but the first time I heard this, I was frightened. I certainly thought that this was some kind of alert and I was missing the important information! However, after peering through my window, and much to my relief, I learned of the man with various veggies in his vehicle.
Then 2 more prayer calls through the afternoon...another, yet different veggie man. Sometimes the water man comes again. And finally around 10 pm, the final prayer call.
These various tunes and sounds are second nature for the Turkish but for me, they're still new. My friends tell me they don't even really hear the prayer calls, its just routine. However, amongst all these strange new sounds and songs from mosques and vehicles, I have yet to hear an ice cream truck.
The first prayer call of the day. To American ears, this can be at first alarming. It seems to echo throughout the entire town and sounds like some kind of warning but is really just chanting. After hearing it habitually it becomes peaceful, relaxing.
Then, you are welcome to fall back to sleep.
Next, somewhere between 9 and 10 am is the water man. He gingerly drives through my neighborhood playing this incredibly catchy tune. I find myself either kicking my legs up to the beat of the song while repeating the unintellible phrase that accompanies (this is being blared on the trucks PA system) or I leap up and perform the dance I have created for this special song.
However, If I have not risen quite yet...another prayer call follows shortly after. Mind you, the water song is heard for approximately 3o minutes as Su Bey (Mister Water) drives through the streets of Izyuva.
After prayer call number 2, the vegetable man makes his rounds. This is just a man repeating something in turkish via PA system. I haven't learned what he's saying yet but the first time I heard this, I was frightened. I certainly thought that this was some kind of alert and I was missing the important information! However, after peering through my window, and much to my relief, I learned of the man with various veggies in his vehicle.
Then 2 more prayer calls through the afternoon...another, yet different veggie man. Sometimes the water man comes again. And finally around 10 pm, the final prayer call.
These various tunes and sounds are second nature for the Turkish but for me, they're still new. My friends tell me they don't even really hear the prayer calls, its just routine. However, amongst all these strange new sounds and songs from mosques and vehicles, I have yet to hear an ice cream truck.
After being able to hear the ice cream, oops, water truck on skype, well....Dot Dot Done.....I still hear that tune in my head!
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