DeVries

There is nothing like silence here in Egypt.  At this very moment I hear the following:

Clang Clang Clang – the sound of the gas canister seller, banging away, as he pulls his cart along to let the apartment dwellers know he is in their street.

Boom Boom Boom, Doef, Doef, Boom Boom Boom – the sound of drums at the school down the road, intermingled with children shouting war cries, children laughing and shouting and now and again a teacher’s voice rising above the din to try and restore some order – obviously not being successful.

Thwarppppp, Thwarpppp – that’s the sound of a ship coming out of the Suez Chanal.

Tweep da da tweep tweep tweep tweep – that is a bird sounding hooter on a motor bike.

Toot toot – the double tap hooter of a car at the intersection announcing its intention of crossing, without slowing down.

Hee Haw, Hee Haw – a donkey pulling a chart (these beasts of burden are everywhere).  They are smaller than the donkeys I am used to.  They work hard to earn their keep.

Meeiau Meeiau Meeiau – the street cats, one of them has had a litter and the kittens are protesting and hungry.  There are millions of them (I joke not!), all wild and fending for themselves.

Woof Woof Woof – that’s the Alsatian (dog) that lives in the apartment block 2 blocks over.  I have seen him being taken onto the roof of the apartment block for his morning walk. (There are not as many stray dogs here as cats).

Clipity Clipity Clop – A horse drawn buggy taking tourists for a quick ten dollar, no no five dollar, if you bargain the owner down, ride though the city.  There is a cruise liner anchored in the harbour.

Slush slush slush – the washing machine doing a load (same washing machine that I have to thump with the fist when it’s finished to get the door to open and same washing machine that I have to listen to very carefully for strange water sounds, in case the door has spring open and water is running all over the bathroom floor).

Grrrrrr Rumble Grrrrr – the building’s 1946 elevator is working again today.

Swooo Swooo Swooo – the sound of the sea.

It’s 11:00 in the morning and its quiet at the moment even though I hear all the sounds as described above.

Before evening comes, the vegetable sellers will come past and call out for attention.  The Imams will call out twice more before sunset and twice more after that.

Later, as the city wakes up, the traffic sounds will start and as evening comes, the city will be fully awake.  There will be music, Arabic and Western, very loud and mixed.

The cinema about a kilometre away, as the crow flies will have the sound up so loud that you don’t have to go inside to watch, you can hear the dialogue from our apartment. 

If there is a wedding, engagement or birthday celebration in the area, there will be tambourines, undulating, laughter, tyres screeching and more loud music.  Laughter and excitement.

Every night there are crackers and fireworks.  When we first arrived in Egypt, we thought the fireworks were gunshots in the distance.   No one had told us that Egyptians love fireworks!  It took 4 months before we worked out what was going on. 

The strange thing is that you adapt.  Before we came to Egypt, I could not fall asleep at night if it wasn’t quiet.  If the neighbours were having a party, I grumbled about the noise.   During the day, at the office, if it got to loud, someone would always complain about it and couldn’t concentrate.

Now, 18 months later, I wake up when it is quiet.  Usually around 4 in the morning, there is a lull in the noise level for about 2 minutes before the morning sounds start up again. 

I miss the quiet, that I can’t deny,  but I think that if I ever get to a place again where it is truly quiet, that “so quiet that I can hear myself think quiet”, I will miss the sounds of this city that frustrates me and at the same time, the city that I have come to love.