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Friday, December 23, 2005
the sounds of bahrain - 11:03 PM
(filed under 'bahrain')
when i lie in bed at night, after smiley's finally asleep, it's the noises that i can hear from outside which really remind me that i'm in a different place than the one in which i grew up.
the traffic noise is different than what i'm used to. it's constant enough to sound soothing rather than disruptive to sleep, but there is the more than occasional beep of a horn or two (or three) & the young men who go past with the arabic version of "doof!! doof! doof!!" blaring out of their undoubtedly expensive stereos going by the quality of the "ah-eeee-aayayay-aahhhhhh" sounds of arabic music which travels up to our darkened bedroom.
the occasional late evening, we've heard young kids singing happily some sort of team song in arabic as they walk home after what i assume was a winning game of sport.
the noise usually quiets a little by 11pm, which is when people seem to be settling back in at home around here. i guess if you can sleep in, since most local shops open at 10am, going to bed a bit later than usual doesn't matter so much.
sometimes in the early hours i've heard cats fighting .. or perhaps mating. there are quite a few cats around here. i'm not sure how many are pets & how many run wild. i'm pretty sure they're mostly strays.
most mornings at around 5am there'll be the call to prayer floating over from the loudspeakers at the various mosques which are everywhere. i usually only wake for that one perhaps once or twice a week. if hear it faintly in my half-awake state i usually go back to sleep pretty much straight away.
some mornings we can hear the annoucements from what i gather is some sort of general assembly at the school just up the road. it's all in arabic, so we have no idea what's being said, but it must be important if the volume is anything to go by. those kids better be listening to it if we have to as well! 
some might find it difficult to sleep with all those noises going on, but i quite enjoy it. i love hearing the sounds, making them a part of my memories & knowing that we're now in bahrain.
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