The Sounds of Mexico

When I think of what Mexico sounds like, I used to hear horns honking (a memory from a trip when I was nine), waves hitting sand (memories of diving trips to Cozumel), and Mariachi music.

It hasn't been like any of that at our new home.   We are not on the ocean, and I don't think I have heard a single horn.   We are on the side of a mountain, away from most everyone.   There is a small village at the foot of the mountain that fronts on the lake.   Our housekeeper and gardener live there.   We can't see any of it from our house.   All we can see is the roof line of our nearest neighbor.

So what we hear is birds singing.   The rustle of palm leaves.  An occasional dog barking in the distance.   The faint crowing of a rooster coming from the village.   Neighing of our gardener's horses, tethered to graze in the vacant lot next to us.   Sometimes cattle lowing.   There are sometimes a half dozen dairy cows loose on the cobblestone drive up the mountain.  

On Sunday mornings at 6 a.m., we wake to the bell ringing at the church in the village.   When I think of church bells I think of Westminster chimes, or a striking of the hour.   This is much more enthusiastic than that.   It starts with a couple of spaced rings, followed by about 20 rings as fast as the bell will ring.   Then it ends with a couple of single rings.   This is repeated several times throughout the day.   To me it is a happy sign of life below.

This week the pattern changed.   For several days we were hearing band music - brass and drums.   It sounded more like what you would expect in a parade than what you normally hear in Mexico.   The sound was too big for a small town school band.   We decided that it was recorded music being amplified through some sort of speaker system.   It was quite interesting to be in our pool, listening to the music wafting up from the lakeshore.   Interspersed with the music was one of the most popular Mexican celebratory things - fireworks.   While in the U.S. we value beautiful displays of color, the primary effect they go for is noise, and clearly the most "bang for the buck" comes from Roman candles.   Coming up the mountain they sound like a series of bombs going off.   The fireworks also start at 6 a.m. and continue randomly throughout the day.   This is common on weekends, but last week was the first time we had heard them for several days running.   Monday night turned out to be the finale of the festival, with the music and fireworks lasting until about 2 a.m. on Tuesday.   At the very end, there were actually a few displays of colored fireworks, which were lovely viewed from our bed.   Did I mention we have a glass wall in our bedroom facing the lake view?  

On Tuesday I asked the housekeeper about it, and she said it was a religious festival.   She tried to explain which patron saint was being celebrated, but I did not quite get that part.   All has been quiet from the village since then.  

I suppose it could become irritating to hear the bells and fireworks so early in the morning and on the few nights when they go past 10 p.m., but at this point we rather enjoyed them as part of the local color.   It did however make us glad that we do not live in town, where this is much more common and close at hand.