Sounds of Arusha

Here are some sounds that I have noticed quite frequently here in Arusha. Some are a little harder to get used to than others:

- symphony of dogs barking
- the call to prayer (Adhan) 5 times a day- this morning I heard it at 5am along with the dog choir:)
- honking of horns (usually notifying you to get out of the way b/c the cars will not yield to pedestrians)
- people calling you "mazungu" or in my case "halfcast".
- the sound of the dala dala (cheap vans) drivers as they call out the place that the dala dala is going (i.e. "mashono, mashono" or "njiro, njiro")
- kids laughing, playing, and talking outside my window at 6:30 in the morning (there is a school right behind my apartment)
- beating drums as the kids at the school are called to come to the morning meeting ( i am assuming that is what the drum is used for)
- back firing of cars mistaken for gunshots or vice versa
- various bird sounds on the way to work
- the swishing sound of the street sweepers as they clean the streets with brooms made of branches and leaves.
- "taxi, taxi?" eventhough we walk most places, we are always getting approached by taxi drivers wanting to give us a ride.
- loud music or singing in the middle of the night, especially on the weekends. Not sure what is going on, haven't investigated that yet!
- mosquitoes buzzing in your ear
- "rafiki, rafiki" the ladies at the vegetable stand calling you "friend" as they try to get you to buy something from them. This is also heard a lot at the markets, "Rafiki, karibu. It is free to look."