The Soundtrack of the Everyday

Who would have thought--I move to the Jewish homeland and wake up to the chanting of the call to prayer at the mosque. This one is a very gentle sound, not the super-enthusiastic and emphatic type. I am not sure where this singing is coming from; there is a large mosque not far from my house in Jaffa, but I think it is too far for this sound. Perhaps there is a closer one. We were commenting on the oddity that the mosque in Jaffa has neon lights decorating the minaret [photo not mine]. Vertical green bars surround the top and give somewhat of an eerie green glow, but more powerful is the feeling that Las Vegas isn’t too far off. This would do well if reconstructed in a hotel there. It seems strange at first on a religious structure, but then again, religion and lights theoretically go well together. Rhythm, singing, dancing, exclaiming, watching, learning, absorbing, entertaining, being entertained, engrossed, captivated--all words that fit . Neon lights are indicative of entertainment, and entertainment and religion seem to have some commonalities.

As for other sounds of the morning, the pigeons are quietly chattering ever day in a constant melodious hum, like a babbling brook. They live under the currugated metal eve of the balcony roof below my bedroom window (the roof of the third floor unit). Yesterday while I was at work, a mean Mediterranean gale must have caused my drying garments to fall off the clothesline and onto the corrugated roof. I had to walk on this perilous 4th story structure to retrieve them, while not smashing the pigeons' abode underneath.

As for the sounds of the night, my street quiets down by midnight or so, then it's just the occasional chatting of passersby. The more dramatic sounds I hear frequently at night are in the passionate realm of the cats. They are so docile at other times, and then at night when I'm trying to go to sleep, the howling, fighting, screaming...it's outrageous. There are a ton of stray cats here, and I think it's maybe not so common to spay and neuter them either. But it wouldn't be fair to place all the blame on cats; there also are dogs howling sometimes, but they sing at a lower pitch, so it's a little less startling and grating on the nerves.

I am in the flight path from Ben Gurion airport; for all practical purposes the only international airport in Israel, so commercial jets are low, loud, and frequent over our humble neighborhood. Though I hear them more often at night than in the morning. Also there is a singer nearby, I mean one who practices the voice instrument and it projects out the window and into mine. Maybe she lives in the building next door or across the alley--I haven't looked. She is actually very talented though, so that sound is not an unpleasant one. This neighborhood is full of music--there is a lot of small warehouse and industrial space interspersed throughout the small blocks here and some of the peripheral areas are almost all industrial buildings, which means there are also a lot of bands practicing in these nice spacious interiors, away from complaining neighbors. I don't hear them from my window, but when I walk around in the evening, I'm sure to hear a few on any given stroll.

A feast for the ears, this city!