Sounds of Guatemala (and Mexico)

Over the last 6 weeks, it’s been very difficult to get used to the amount of noise in our little town. Let me first say that there are no noise ordinances in San Miguel Escobar or Antigua. There are some sounds that I think are worth explaining—and this may prove an interesting snippet of cultural study.

Zeta Gas—The gas company here is very thorough about advertising the availability of their product. People don’t have stoves and heating so instead they buy 25 lb tanks of gas. The truck goes around the town starting around 6 AM and there’s a megaphone that belts out “Zeta Gassssssssss.” That is the cue for anyone who needs a tank of gas to walk out of their house and flag down the truck. I once told Filiberto that I thought it was annoying, he said yea, but it’s a great service—if they need gas, they know the guy is coming. This goes on most days until 11 PM. I have become accustomed to sing along with the megaphone recording as it passes by. Guatemalans think it’s really weird that I do that.

Cuetes—Cuetes are firecrackers or fireworks. Here in San Miguel, and in Guatemala in general, they love their cuetes. They are cheaper than most food here. People shoot off cuetes for a birthday, for mother’s day and father’s day, for Christmas. The best part about this is that these are most popularly done in the very early morning 3 AM – 5 AM. The juvenile delinquents that live across the street from us seem to light them just for shits and giggles. I get scared every single time I hear them. The first time I heard a big one at 4 AM, I actually started so much that I was standing in the doorway between my room and Oriana’s to make sure that the place didn’t blow up. The noise carries so well in this area, and particularly in our house that sometimes they sound like they are going off in our rooms. The other problem—aside from the noise—is the fact that kids are mostly dumb here and will light them near houses that are not made of concrete. I just hope that it doesn’t take houses burning down before they stop.

Roosters—Unlike the myth believed by me, and I’m sure many other city dwellers, roosters do not crow just in the morning. Roosters here crow at all hours, their most popular hours are from 12 AM-5 AM. At first I thought the roosters here were just dumb, but Filiberto tells me that they don’t sleep hardly at all, and crow when they want to. They are clearly not catering to my sleep schedule.

Music—We hear the same 4-5 songs played over and over and over. Finally, we bought compilation CDs in the market and we can actually understand the words. Now, it would be one thing if the music was played at reasonable volumes—but we are not so lucky. The worst is when both of our neighbors play music at ear drum shaking volume. One neighbor will sing (VERY BADLY) a different song that is actually blasting. The thing is that most of the music that is popular here comes from Mexico. The marimba (traditional Guatemalan music) an instrument with a big xylophone, often doesn’t have words, and therefore would be super-annoying if they blasted it.

Dogs—Last, but certainly not least, dogs here are like vermin in the big cities. There are loads of stray dogs, they are not spayed or neutered and always looking for food. PITA and Human Society would have a field day trying to deal with the situation here. It’s really sad, but, it’s an unfortunate reality. Anyhow, but there are dogs barking all the time. Sometimes it sounds like the scene in 101 Dalmatians where they are barking to notify one another about Cruella DeVille. I’m not so sure the dogs here are that smart, but they sure do bark a lot.