Noise

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but a picture just can’t convey everything. In some places I have traveled, it is the smells, or the humidity, or something else that just is not captured on film. Well, here it is the noise. Yes, noise.

Sitting in my bedroom the noise can be overwhelming at times. First there are the sounds of an active household with three kids, a mom who always seems to be hurrying everyone, and a housekeeper who works non-stop. ” Por ejemplo”, the other night in a 10 minute span, the phone rang more than once, the front gate buzzer rang at least twice – followed by the jingle of keys and the squeaking noise of the gate opening, the car gate opened and closed repeatedly, someone came by to visit, and everyone was yelling about the problem with the gate. And through it all, the dog was barking. And the dog next door. No exaggeration. And then Pilar knocked on my door and told me my dinner was ready! And these are just the sounds within the house and courtyard.

In the background there is always the non-stop barking of one dog or another. There is the incessant honking of horns. The car alarms that are always being set off. Other household gates clanging. The grinding engines of buses. And the cock-a-doodle-do of roosters. (Why do children’s books tell us that they crow at the break of dawn when they do it any time of the day or night that they feel like?)

In the center of town, there are all of these outdoor sounds, plus more car noise, car honking and people yelling. There is the music from the vendors selling CD’s of folklore music, music blasting from a store front here or there, and the occasional car driving by with a speaker on its roof, announcing something – which I can’t understand of course. Early in the day and right before dark in the center, there are the sounds of vendor booths being taken down and the carts of goods being pushed over the cobblestones. (These carts have license plates on them and bicycle horns which they honk just for the fun of it.)

There is a definite protocol for horn honking. If one bus passes another they must honk. If a taxi is passing another, they must honk. If someone looks like they might step into a cross walk, all vehicles must honk to alert the pedestrian not to step out because the vehicles will not slow down. If a taxi is passing a gringo or a group of people, it must honk to see if they want a ride. If a vehicle knows someone on the street or in another vehicle, they must honk. If a bus is approaching a bus stop, they must honk to see if any of the people waiting there are waiting for that bus. If a vehicle is passing a bike rider, the vehicle must honk to warn the rider of their approach. If a dog is anywhere close, they must honk….. If a cow is on the side of the road, they must honk. On the mountain dirt single lane roads, they must honk at every corner. If anyone or anything is within a mile radius, and even if they are not, the vehicle must honk.

Ok, any of my fellow volunteers, is there any noise I missed?