The Muslim Call to Prayer happens five times a day. I'm inside a museum looking out the window as I film this video capturing the sounds.The first call happens before sun rise and the person praying has until the sun comes up to make that first morning prayer. The other calls happen throughout the day and people have from the time of the call until the next call to offer prayer. The small business we visited today had a prayer room--a small, simple space with a curtain covering the opening. Men and women pray in different places. Through my American lens, I've always assumed the separation was because of some inherent religious sexism, but the women I've talked to in Ankara insist that the practice is merely a physical thing--the prayer postures put one in a rather immodest position and it would be less conducive to one's spirituality if worrying about who might get a glimpse of what!
Friday is a more formalized or communal day for prayer. A large business in Kaysari that we plan to visit on Friday asked us not to come until after noon because many of the employees would be going to mosque for prayer. The mosques are amazing. At first I thought they were everywhere (and they are!) but then I realized that if I could see and clearly identify church buildings and synagogues from a distance, most towns and cities in the States, too, would seem to have a plethora of religious buildings. The domed architecture and the towering minurets make the mosques distinguishable. The person responsible for crying out the call to prayer climbs the stairs within the minuret to call. (At least historically--many of the calls are now electronic.) I’m delighted by these magnificent structures (even the most humble of mosques is striking) tucked into unexpected places such as high rise neighborhoods and popping out to surprise you as you turn corners. 
