The Sounds of Lima
Posted on | May 10, 2010 | 1 Comment
- Image by jthuston via Flickr
Living in Lima, you either get used to noise or you go nuts. Once you get used to it though, the rhythm of the sounds becomes comforting, and habitual – almost a type of street music. Some neighborhoods, of course, are noisier than others, but there are certain things that you’ll hear often, no matter where you are.
Of course, if you’re near a main avenue, you’ll have a lot of traffic noise. Peruvians love to use the horn, and rush hour in front of my house is ridiculous. Our last house was on a more residential street, so it’s taken me a while to get used to the traffic noise passing by. After about 5 pm, we have to close up the front windows, or we can barely hear ourselves think.
Ice Cream in the Park
The most common of the smaller noise-makers is the ice cream vendor. The ice cream sellers ride around on bicycles with coolers on the front, selling ice cream in the streets. They tend to hover around parks a lot, and pass by on residential streets. As they pass they blow on a little horn that sounds almost like a duck call. It used to drive the dogs nuts… now it just gets a reaction from the kids and my mom. (My mom’s gonna kill me for that one!)
The knife sharpener on my street
Another of the noises you’ll hear is actually kind of nice, and that’s the knife sharpener. He goes up and down the streets, pushing his sharpener ahead of him, and blowing on a little pan flute. When you hear him coming, flag him down and he’ll come to your door, turn his little cart over and the wheel becomes the gear that drives his sharpening stone. He powers it with a foot pedal, and sharpens knives and scissors to a fine hone.
There’s a multitude of other noises – the fruit and vegetable vendors who pass with their carts, tamal vendors (tamales, if you’re speaking English), the ‘rag man’, who passes by and picks up old newspapers, bottles and other things for recycling, and in some neighborhoods the bread man, who rides a bike with a large box on the front, full of fresh baked breads and pastries. They all pass by at different times of the day, and just add to the music of the streets of Lima.
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I got tired of life happening while I made other plans, so I quit my job and came to Peru. I live here with my Peruvian husband, two sons, three dogs and various other family members, depending on the weather.
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May 10th, 2010 @ 14:37
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