Outside our windows...

Because Bandung weather is mild and we have no AC, our windows are open at all times. Unlike at home where our AC blocks the noise outside, we hear a constant variety of sounds night and day. I wish I had a tape recorder to capture them. I don’t, but I'm going to try to give you a little idea of what goes on outside our apartment every day.

Below our bedroom is a steep hill so we are often waked by motor scooters. At least two climb the hill each morning for the 4 a.m. prayer calls and they are very loud as their drivers need to "gun" them to make it up the steep hill.

A couple of hours later we wake again to the smell of smoke from people's trash burning and roosters doing their thing. They crow early in the morning and intermittently throughout the day. Cockfighting also occurs on weekends. Kids talk and laugh as they climb the hill and they get excited if they see Ronnie, yelling out “Hey Mista!”

Finally we are nearing the end of rainy season (though it still rains a part of every day or night) and heavy rain is another sound we have become accustomed to. Because of the hard plastic material that covers the patios, the sound of falling rain is multiplied many times over! It is difficult to hear the TV over the sound of the loud rain!

Below our balcony and off to the left is the Secapa military practice range. We often hear the cadence of drums early in the morning, along with the soldiers shooting their guns in target practice. Though this can go on for hours, it doesn’t unnerve me like it did early on.

We gave away our birds so we could come here and we’ve both missed their company and their beautiful songs. But Indonesia is home to many wild birds and their songs drift through our windows every day. I could not find their particular songs online, but Ronnie was able to mimic the sirit cunguing and an unknown bird for me.

We're also use to the sound of cicak (lizards) inside the apartment on a nightly basis, and as the end of rainy season approaches, the cicadas are in full symphony. One side of the church we attend is open and the minister's voice competes with them as he delivers his message.

Unfortunately, there have been sounds of construction the entire time we’ve lived here with an apartment below us finally completed (workers hammered away an entire 2-story concrete stairway) and a second unit has been built on the other side of us. Hammers and saws are a regular part of each day, and sometimes they can get to be a little much!!

The hardest sounds of all to get used to are the prayer calls. These occur several times a day over loud speakers from the many mosques throughout the city. It is quite frankly an eerie sound when they are all going at the same time. Often a young child’s voice is in the mix. It is impossible to make out what is being said. Truthfully, they sound more like a bunch of sick cattle rather than men praying. This sound cannot be escaped without the use of ear plugs (night) or really loud TV (day). I did find one call online; keep in mind it is broadcast through a loud speaker and multiplied many times over. It's hard to really imagine without actually hearing it for oneself.

UPDATE (not related to sounds) The mystery barf on our porch each morning has finally been solved. It was not a devil (Dadang) or a monkey (Aisah) or a resident dog (me). Rather it was a fruit eating bat! The problem was easily remedied by leaving the porch light on all night. And last but certainly not least, after trapping 16 rats in our attic, our landlady finally took our complaints seriously and hired a pest control company to evaluate the situation. Just as we suspected, holes on the outside of the building were allowing them access. We're hopeful we've seen the last of them!