Morning Sounds

Every morning there is a pattern the sounds that mark the beginning of the day. Since having a few volunteers staying with me in my room, I have been made aware, again, of how different the sounds are than the states.


Throughout the night, the town dog chorus howls throughout the city. This, unfortunately, includes my dogs. Occasionally there will be loud music being blared in a nearby pub as locals dance and drink into the morning.

Roughly around 5:30 am the call of prayer begins to sound across the town. The mosque, closest to my home, is usually the second or third one to begin its long call for devote Muslims to pray. I, on the other hand, roll over and continue my slumber.

A half hour later, the birds begin to sing their morning greetings. Back and forth the chirps of various birds begin. The sing-song effect is soothing and the day still seems fresh and new. However by 6:30 these terrible sounding birds join the chorus. We have affectionately named them “pterodactly” birds because of their obnoxious scream that they produce.




Unfortunately, their loud sound frightens the turkey that stays in my compound. So in his defense, he puffs up his feathers and gobbles a reply. Back and forth the teradactile birds and the turkey go, until one stops.


By this time, the rest of town has awoken and begins their long commute on foot to their place of work. My road happens to be a cut-through for some people. The chatter of morning commuters begins as they pass-by my home. Not to be outdone, the trucks roll by, the mattatus honk, and the motorcycles reve their engines as they transport willing passengers along the rode.

As 7:15 comes, Jesse, the gardener, begins his morning scrub of the front patio. He uses the rain bucket next to my window to get water. Once the bucket of water is full, he begins his morning scrub. Up and down, down and up, the scraping sound of mop on stone occurs.




The next door baby cries, a mother takes him and feeds him. His older brother says goodbye as he bounds out the gate on his way to school.

7:25 our rooster crows on the east wall of my room, right underneath the window. Thirty seconds later, he rounds the corner of the building and crows under the northern window of my bedroom. His alarm frightens turkey, and so he puffs up his feathers and gobbles a reply.



By 8:00 am the upstairs neighbor is out front, greeting her employees and talking chicken (she happens to own a large chicken farm). By this point, I am fully awake. Boiling water for coffee, grabbing breakfast and getting ready for my long commute to the living room. Here, I start my day of work.