Loud Much?

Today, my order was simply confirmed, not requested. I’ve found a coffee house home. It’s funny to me that I couldn’t tell you were to find the nearest hospital, embassy or ATM, but I have a regular coffee-and-wifi spot. And what with the connection issues at the house, I spent 4 hours in the morning and 3 in the evening drinking coffee and snacking on bits of cheese on ciabatta. 

My virtual class went well, despite the ambient noise. The place is reasonably quiet. I say reasonably, because I don’t think there’s a single corner of downtown that can be described as quiet. There is so much… I don’t even know how to end that sentence. There is so much.

A hand-held bell clanks up and down the street announcing the garbage truck. The cloths donation guy announces his presence over and over. The gas truck is easily identified by the metal on metal banging—I sure hope those tanks are empty. Planes fly overhead constantly. Merchants call out their wares on and off throughout the day and evening. At night, the neighborhood guard blows what sounds like a small train whistle up and down the street. Cars and buses never stop. Neither does their honking. People are out talking and someone's baby is crying 24 hours a day. And the poor birds and bugs do their level best to sing above all the chaos. 

There’s a price to be paid in a city that offers everything at all hours: your hearing.