Anth

1. Fieldwork Assignment: Learning to See Clearly

My day at the mosque starts at 7:20pm, I walk in and see women dressed up in beautiful outfits, they are adorned with sequins and colorful designs and made from a flowy fabric, the men are dressed sharp in a suit and nice tie. I notice that some people are bringing in plates of food and placing them on a table near the door, I wonder who these are for and where they go. There are two small rooms, one on the left and one of the right. Women go into the room and the left, put their shoes and coats away and then come back out. This area seems to be sort of like a lobby, its quiet because of the prayers going on inside, but yet there are a few whispering voices. There’s also a small kitchen, which the smell of saffron and flour radiate from. After putting away my shoes, I exit the shoe area and am in the lobby section. There are about 15 chairs set up along the walls of each side and about 30 more chairs set up into lines right in the middle of the room. I pass the chairs and head inside. As I walk in I can hear the sound of a girl singing something in Arabic into a microphone at the front, shes seated by a podium facing the rest of the people in the room. There are many people seated inside, women on the left, and men on the right. There are also more chairs at the back which are being used by elderly people. Most of the people seem to be singing along with the girl at the podium. Before entering I watched people touch the floor and bring their hand up to their face and whisper something to themselves, then they take a seat inside. I did the same, and then followed to the womens side. By 7:28pm the girl stopped singing and took a seat with the rest of the women. The room was completely silent until 7:30pm when a man started to recite something, again in Arabic. During this I watched people do a hand motion in front of their face 6 times. I wonder what that represents or signifies. This would be much easier...