28th May 2009 - Sounds

These days I've been noting the sounds I hear in the mornings. The first thing is the 5.00 a.m. call of the local muezzin. I think there must be two mosques in hearing distance because I often hear what I think are two different voices. The call is basically telling the Moslem faithful to get up and get to the mosque for their morning prayer, and of course he (always a "he") also chants that God is great, etc. At about the same time the vehicles start travelling on the road which is just on the other side of the hedge/fence of the property here. This road starts at the main Arusha-Babati road and the paved part of it ends here (it was paved when President Bush came to visit Emusoi Centre). Many mornings there are what sounds like small cars or taxis passing although this morning there was obviously large trucks going somewhere, and they were loud. Then the pigeons begin to coo. There is a nest under the eaves just outside the windows to my room, and so they awake and start their day with their sounds. By the time they've finished the other birds begin, and it's about this time that the sun begins to come up. More and more birds sing as there is more and more light, and there are some quite varied songs coming from them.
Just on the other side of the road, so the closest neighbors, are offices and residences of a law firm. It's a large compound with several buildings, and this firm maintains all the plants and trees alongside the road. Apparently the founder of the firm was one of the first Tanzanian lawyers, and it is now being run by his son. They advertise themselves as experts in Real Estate and Property law, Corporate law, Commercial law, Tourism and Wildlife law, Trust law and litigation, and they obviously take good care of their staff, since the houses are very nice and there's a social club included. They're good neighbors and very quiet.
Kitty-cornered from this property is another large compound, and this one is a tour company. They are the ones that have a lot of safari cars going in and out, and many times are coming and going early in the morning and late at night. They also have a bunch of dogs, so those dogs and the dogs here when they get going together create quite some cacophony. Some bark, some howl, some do both, and they really are loud some nights. Sometimes also some animals dare to come around and into the compound, and so that drives the dogs really crazy. These animals aren't large nor very exotic (the most common is like a weasel) but they sure drive the dogs wild.
During the day there isn't a lot of noise except for the times when someone is teasing the dogs outside the fence and they get wild and bark their heads off. Besides in the morning, the Muz zein calls people to prayer at noon, mid-afternoon, sunset, and the last time around 8.00 p.m. On Thursdays and Saturdays the Pentecostals are singing and praying, and although they are way down the street, they can be heard very clearly. I've begun to know some of the songs by heart! And in the evenings the girls at Emusoi Centre pray,and their singing is also very loud. There's the occasional sound of a herd of goats passing on the road, and children talking and laughing as they go to school -- all nice sounds.
Enjoy the sounds in your life.