The Noise
I don´t know if El Salvador is the norm, but I have discovered while being here that it seems like Latin American culture likes a lot of sound. Big sound!
For example, just out on the street, things are loud. Horns honk, even when there is no possible way that honking the horn will make traffic any better. Bus horns have huge booming honks. Microbuses often have tunes in their horns. For example, every morning at 7:00, I can hear from my room two microbuses, one whose horn plays La Cucaracha, and the other bus where the horn plays the theme from The Godfather.
On street corners, music often booms out of speakers placed on the sidewalk at ear splitting levels. My one visit to the Super mall here, the Metro Centro, filled my ears with booming bass and techno at a Digicel vending booth set up in the courtyard.
People in their apartments often have huge stereo systems, like the neighbors to my host, which play music to not only entertain their neighbors, but pretty much the whole neighborhood. I´ve heard everything coming from their apartment, including such US classic rock bands as Queen and Guns ´n´ Roses, all at decibel levels to wake the dead. Lately, some Latin American chica caliente has been riding the top of the airwaves, and these neighbors bought the album and play it over and over again. I can sing you the main tune if you want, I almost know it by heart now. It´s all fine during the day, but not at 6:00 in the morning or 10:30 at night.
In buses, the driver blares out loud techno music for the enjoyment of his passengers, all of whom appear not to care.
The strange thing is, El Salvadorans themselves are not necessarily loud and boisterous. If you have a bunch of El Salvadorans and a couple of ¨gringos¨ on the bus, the gringos invariably will be talking the loudest. I was told that during the civil war, Salvadorans learned to talk fast and low.
Is this the norm in all Latin cultures, or is it just found in El Salvador?
For example, just out on the street, things are loud. Horns honk, even when there is no possible way that honking the horn will make traffic any better. Bus horns have huge booming honks. Microbuses often have tunes in their horns. For example, every morning at 7:00, I can hear from my room two microbuses, one whose horn plays La Cucaracha, and the other bus where the horn plays the theme from The Godfather.
On street corners, music often booms out of speakers placed on the sidewalk at ear splitting levels. My one visit to the Super mall here, the Metro Centro, filled my ears with booming bass and techno at a Digicel vending booth set up in the courtyard.
People in their apartments often have huge stereo systems, like the neighbors to my host, which play music to not only entertain their neighbors, but pretty much the whole neighborhood. I´ve heard everything coming from their apartment, including such US classic rock bands as Queen and Guns ´n´ Roses, all at decibel levels to wake the dead. Lately, some Latin American chica caliente has been riding the top of the airwaves, and these neighbors bought the album and play it over and over again. I can sing you the main tune if you want, I almost know it by heart now. It´s all fine during the day, but not at 6:00 in the morning or 10:30 at night.
In buses, the driver blares out loud techno music for the enjoyment of his passengers, all of whom appear not to care.
The strange thing is, El Salvadorans themselves are not necessarily loud and boisterous. If you have a bunch of El Salvadorans and a couple of ¨gringos¨ on the bus, the gringos invariably will be talking the loudest. I was told that during the civil war, Salvadorans learned to talk fast and low.
Is this the norm in all Latin cultures, or is it just found in El Salvador?
posted by Michael L. Hess at 10:18 AM
2 Comments:
Is noise typical in Latin cultures? That's an interesting hypothesis. For starters, you might want to look at these pages.
Noise in Brazil
http://expatbrazil.wordpress.com/2007/05/31/brazil-is-noisy/
Many Mexican and Central-American immigrants come from rural areas where noise abatement and zoning ordinances don't exist
http://www.city-data.com/forum/california/33435-suggestions-santa-barbara-2.html
South America very noisy
http://www.rhymer.net/tdarchive32.htm
If you compare the accounts above with your experiences in El Salvador, I'd say there is evidence to suggest that you may be onto something here.
Hope that is of some insight for you. Have a good day.
My earlier post didn't appear to display correctly when I view it, so maybe this will view properly.
Noise in Brazil
http://expatbrazil.wordpress.com/2007
/05/31/brazil-is-noisy/
(you may copy the two lines and then paste them separately into your browser address line)
Many Mexican and Central-American immigrants come from rural areas where noise abatement and zoning ordinances don't exist
http://www.city-data.com/forum
/california/33435-suggestions
-santa-barbara-2.html
South America very noisy
http://www.rhymer.net/tdarchive32.htm
If you compare the accounts above with your experiences in El Salvador, I'd say there is evidence to suggest that you may be onto something here.
Hope that helps.
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