Paula's ponderings -- The Sounds of Lubango

The bar next door is in full swing tonight. The booming bass beat of the “music” is so loud and intense that our roof is vibrating. I have frequent migraines, and I really don’t need the pounding outside my head in addition to the pounding inside my head. But since it's two am and I can't sleep, I started thinking about some of the other sounds of Lubango…

We are not too far from the train station. (The name of our neighborhood is “Ferrovia”, that means railway.) So we enjoy the nice long whistles from the trains as they come into the station. Also there is a factory or business somewhere in the area and we hear its morning whistle at 7:30 and again at 3:00 in the afternoon – except on Fridays when it goes off at 2:30. Not sure why….

Since we are just off the main road that runs from this bairro (neighborhood) to downtown, we obviously hear the cacophony of cars, trucks, motorcycles and of course people… We are also in the flight path of the airport so when the planes are landing from the west, it sounds like they are going to land in the next block.  (The airport is about a 15 minute drive from our house.)

Early in the morning, the fish sellers go down the street and in a nasally singsong sort of way call out the kinds of fish they have to sell. I can’t quite do it or describe it. It is unique!

There was one noise it took me awhile to figure out. Behind our house is a large area where they are keeping supplies for road construction and repairs. What I was hearing was the sound of the dump truck dumping loads of gravel and rocks onto the ground.

When it rains, the sound of the rain hitting the metal roof on the house is deafening. However, that is a sound I would like to hear!

And I can’t forget the woman that comes to our door selling vegetables. She insistently pounds on the gate and calls out “Bom Deeeeeeaa, Ameeeeeeega!” (Good morning, friend!)

Back to the bar, it is next door to us and faces the main road into town and so its back is against our wall.  They are very generous and share not only their loud music, but futbol games on tv, and occasionally even a soap opera with us. Even with the windows closed, we still hear the boom, boom, boom of the bass notes in the music. They also have cookouts, so frequently there is a goat in waiting behind the building. Apparently the goats know what their future holds because they bleat “hheeeelllllppppp” over and over again!

To train station and airport Road into town	Gravel/rock/sand lot
	Gas Station	Apartment behind us	Neighbor’s house and yard
	Goat Bar	Our house Front gate

 Next door to the bar is a container gas station. The pump, tank, etc. is in a metal storage container. They do not have electricity, so the pump runs off a generator that goes on and off all day. When the electricity is off, our generator joins it for a duet. Oh what a lovely sound!

Somewhere close by is a puppy that obviously does not like being left home alone (and probably tied up?) His yip-yip song goes on for hours.

Also next door to us – the opposite side from the bar – is a house where apparently the empregado (employee) named Abel frequently goes MIA. We hear “Abel, o Abel” for 5 minutes or so at various intervals throughout the day.

Oh, yes – that strange kind of squeaky sound? Guinea hens!

Are your ears on overload yet? Next time I will write about the smells… Then again, maybe not…  You will probably just have to come see us to get the full impact ummm… er… to appreciate those more fully… :-)