Eric Conway, D.M.A.:
On day seven,
we received the biggest dose of Islamic culture. We visited a Omani
Mosque. A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. This
was a place where we wanted to be the most careful to be considerate of
the etiquette in visiting another culture's house of worship. Women
were asked to cover their arms down to the wrists, cover their legs with
skirts or pants down to the ankles, no exposed hair - which meant that
they needed to wear a scarf around their head only revealing their
face. Men were asked to have shirts that covered their shoulders and
pants to their ankles (no shorts). We could not wear any shirts with
any graphics or writing. Music could not be played and voices were to
be kept to a minimum. For an idea of what is appropriate attire, I have
attached a PDF of Mosque Manners to let you know what was allowed and
not.
We visited the largest Mosque in Muscat,
the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. Construction began in 1995 and was
impressively built in only six years, to open in 2001. In Islam
culture, worshipers should pray 5 times a day - sunrise, noon,
mid-afternoon, sunset, and evening. Men are obliged to pray inside of
mosques. For this reason there are many mosques in the country for
worship. Women must also pray 5 times a day, however, they are allowed
to pray in the home, not necessarily in the mosques. The main altar of
the mosque always faces Mecca. Mecca is the birthplace of the Islamic
prophet Mohammed and the site of Muhammad's first revelation of the
Quoran. We visited both the rooms where the men and women prayed. The
men's room was three times as large as the women's room because of their
Quoran requirement to actually visit the mosque to pray. After
visiting these rooms, the choir visited a room where we had a lively
discussion with sisters of the faith who answered our questions about
the nation of Islam. Please see a small mov. file of a video of our
dicussion attached. Our tour guides told the students that our students'
questions were the best questions ever posed since they had been giving
tours - go Morgan students!
After the Mosque,
we visited the Mutrah Souq - the oldest traditional souq (market) in
Muscat, first opened in 1925. We stayed in that area approximately over
an hour and half to pick up souvenirs and gifts from Oman. We also had
lunch on our own around the souq.
We then
traveled to a private museum of Omani culture - Bait Al Zuabair Museum.
We learned a great deal about Omani culture. Muscat lies in volcanic
bowl. When you see the attached photos, notice the mountains that
border one side of the city. The rock in the mountains is the hardest
rock on this planet - limestone. We learned that Oman is one of the few
countries never colonized by a European nation - i.e. the British,
Dutch, or Portuguese imperialism. Muscat literally translated means
Anchorage as this was an important harbor where many ships sailed. We
also learned that if one were to look at the Oman Peninsula, one would
see that there are two non-contiguous sections of the country separated
by another country. which is very unusual. But much like our non
contiguous United States in Alaska and Hawaii, one does not have to go
to another country to get to the far region of our country, but can
travel via international waters (and of course now by air). Well with
Oman similarly, one can travel to non-contiguous areas via sea.
Although photos were not encouraged, I did manage to take a photo or
two.
We then visited the Al Alam Palace, the
official palace of government of Oman rebuilt in 1972. Although the
current Sultan (monarch) lives elsewhere, it still is a very popular
place to visit. The palace is flanked by two forts, originally built by
the Portuguese.
We returned to the hotel for a
short break before our evening group dinner. The dinner was at a
sports bar named The Rock Bottom Cafe. Again, we enjoyed another buffet
meal. After dinner, we stopped by the Royal Opera House of Muscat to
take a few photographs. We admirably tried to get a tour, however, the
Opera House's schedule did not permit a tour. After our performance for
the United States Ambassador to Oman at the Ritz Carlton, Ambassador
Holtz was adamant about the the Morgan State University Choir giving a
performance at the newly built National Opera House of Muscat (2010
opening). I believe that the wheels are already in motion for this to
happen in the coming years!
We quickly returned
to the hotel to prepare for a early morning departure to drive from
Muscat, Oman to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This will be a seven-hour
drive! Although the actual drive is only five hours, we must drive
across a huge mountain. So huge, that there must be border control on
each side of the mountain, i.e. Omani Customs on one side, and UAE
customs on the other. We will have lunch on the way as well. Hello
Dubai!
************************
Eric Conway, D.M.A.
Fine and Performing Arts Department, Chair
Morgan State University
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