Noise, Noise, Noise

One thing I have noticed about Leon and Nicaragua in general is all the noise. I didn´t really mind it in the beginning, but now it is starting to bother me somewhat.

Horn blowing in the streets – done for different reasons: 1) to signal to other cars, bicycles, pedestrians to get out of your way, 2) to signal that your taxi is unoccupied. They don´t use the horns so much when stuck in traffic behind a garbage truck, for example (as they would in Bulgaria). People just wait patiently then.

The daily morning siren. I don´t know how you can have a pleasant day after being awoken by that horrible sound.

Some mornings, at 5 or 6 am, I am awoken by the sound of pyrotechnic explosions. The first time this happened I had no idea what the hell was going on. Then, I was told that sometimes they do this on saint days and sometimes the local municipality feels like celebrating something. That´s all good, but I really don´t understand why they have to “celebrate” at 5 am!

The people are also generally pretty loud and really really like to talk. I find this is great on some days and not so great on others. My housemates spend most evenings before going to bed chatting and listening to music. All this is done at a pretty high volume. The next morning they wake up around 6 am and continue. They must have lots to talk about, while I am barely capable of holding a conversation at 6:30 am. Guess it´s just the differences in culture. I am sure that growing up with at least 4 siblings around you (as is the case here) is quite a different ballgame from growing up with just one. You grow up constantly surrounded by people and chatter.

At work, the noise continues. I share a long desk with one other guy. Next to us is another long desk with two more people. Behind the cubicle-like wall in front of us are three more people. And then more people down the hall. Phones ring all the time (and some cell phones have pretty interesting ring-tones and are set to the maximum volume; surely, if it´s on your desk or in the bag next to you, you could hear it ring even at a lower volume). I don´t think anyone ever uses the silent option here. During the first week, I noticed that people take calls during meetings, and they don´t have their phones set to silent.

One thing I am happy about is that when my colleagues carry on lengthy conversations I can just tune out, since they speak fast and I don´t understand everything. So I don´t inadvertently catch myself listening to what they are talking about. Although I complain about not being able to speak better Spanish, sometimes this is a blessing in disguise.

All the talking is surpassed only by their curiosity. There is no sense of privacy here. And although I generally don´t need much “personal space” or privacy, even I find this a bit too much. All your actions are tracked and inquired into. Why are you drinking coffee? Is that because you are tired? Why are you tired? Why are you quiet today? Did you like the [insert name of food or drink here]? The questions never end. At lunch, they even turn to things like: How many boyfriends have you had? Are you in love? You get the picture. And this during my second week here. I wonder what will happen during week 10.

Don´t get me wrong. I can take noise. But I guess I am not used to constant noise. Hopefully I will get used to it. But, for now, my favorite time of the day is late at night when everyone in my house has gone to sleep and the streets are quiet. The time before the early-morning pyrotechnics and sirens. Then, I can actually rest.