The Floating Mosque

When Brian got home from Saudi this week, we decided to hit the town and see some sites. We went to dinner at Chili's, even in Malaysia you can't get away from them. It looks exactly the same on the inside. The menus are the same and the servers uniforms are the same. The chips and salsa taste the same except the chips were stale, as are most of them here if they are an American brand. The burgers were huge!!! Much bigger then the ones in the States. We couldn't believe the size. At McDonald's the burgers cost more then the chicken and Chili's is pretty expensive (comparatively). I guess beef is harder to get here then chicken. We see chickens on the side of the road all the time and a rooster wakes us up every morning. It's strange because it's like living in Downtown Denver and seeing chickens like stray cats.

After dinner we decided to drive around to see what we could see. We thought we might try to find some real ice cream. As we were driving we saw what they call the Floating Mosque. Brian was very intrigued by the Muslims (or as Cannon calls them the Mus-a-lums.) and their Mosques during his visit to Saudi. There are a lot here and it is extremely common to see the women here with the scarves over their hair, not as common to see the all black with the scarves over their hair and faces. Although we have see some and Brian said that is how all the women are required to dress in Saudi. They are extremely friendly, and they are the ones who want their pictures with the children the most.

Brian said that in Saudi the call to pray (I do not know the correct name) happens five times a day is so loud that you could hear it everywhere. It starts at 4 in the morning and continues all day. He was tired of being awoken at four in the morning, so I think he was glad to leave Saudi, for that reason. They were being a pray when we arrived the the Mosque and there were people hurrying to get inside. Just like at the temple when everyone is hurrying to catch the next session. They wash their feet before they go in and they have separate rooms for the men and women to go into. The prayers I think are beautiful and are all live, never recorded. Joanne says they have contests here to see who can hold their breath the longest and they do this while they are singing the prayers. There is a small Mosque down the road from us and we can hear them every once in a while.

The Mosque itself was beautiful and sits right over the water. It has a viewing deck you can walk on and see the water below. I love the moons, where Moroni would be on our Temples. They are such a great shape! All Cannon wanted to do was go inside and see, just like our Temples, if you are not of the Faith you cannot go in. It was definitely a reverent place and a place of worship.