Remember your auditory sense:
It’s said that while in Oaxaca, if you don’t look up while sightseeing, you’ll miss a lot (namely centuries-old detailed carvings, moldings, and frescoes, trees growing perpendicular to walls, and elaborately landscaped roofs). Similarly, if you are not attentive, your stay in the city will not be as culturally complete and informative as it could be. What follows is a sampling of the variety of sounds you can hear from car roof speakers, truck and scooter horns, steam whistles, stereo systems, and live bands, and an explanation of what each means. , as well as how to differentiate them.
You don’t need to venture into the towns to experience the plethora of diverse and colorful sounds, which in themselves give you a greater understanding of life in Oaxaca. Just head out of the Centro Histórico by taking a bus or taxi, or just taking a long walk, even a kilometer or two past the Periférico and N. Héroes de Chapultepec. I am not referring to the continuous din of donkeys and dogs, toads, turkeys, roosters and the most exotic birds and bovines, but to man-made joints. Such sounds notify residents of the city of the proximity of sellers of various goods and services, of religious and secular events, or that a neighbor’s rite of passage is taking place.
Commercial vendors create most of the daily contention on the streets, informing us of what fruits are cheap depending on the season, delicacies that tempt the taste buds of locals, and how important it is for Oaxacans to have their fresh tortillas and other baked goods. The most unusual sound comes from a metal wagon wheeling through the streets, its operator selling hot fried plantain, with sweet cream and other condiments drizzled on top upon request… just delicious, and generally a “safe” food to eat at the street. Usually during the nights you can hear the pitch of their steam whistle, starting with a low tenor and building up to a high screeching… you can’t go wrong. At the other end of the spectrum are the tortilla vendors who often drive down the same neighborhood streets 2-3 times a day, usually in a VW Beetle or scooter, notifying residents of their presence with short beeps from their horns. You may also hear the bread and pastries truck trotting through the streets, with a loudspeaker at the top, the driver singing the virtues of his bolillos and the variety of sweet bread. When he’s not so worked up, he has music blasting, the same songs day after day so that neighbors can identify particular songs with baked goods for sale. The same pattern of dividing ads between the shouted word and recorded music is found with fruit trucks, trucks that sometimes simply sell oranges by the bag of 25, 50, or 100, or in conjunction with other types of citrus, melons, and pineapples, by the public. piece or kilo, scale loaded in the back of the vehicle, young associate bagged, weighing and taking cash. When the voice gets hoarse, we come The Beatles, Revolver. We learn a bit about culture and economics…the price of gasoline and labor in relation to the sale of such perishables and the required profit margins; the importance for residents of having fresh food; lack of proximity to more traditional retail outlets with such offerings; and finally, the availability of at least one person in the home throughout the day to make said purchases. Think about what percentage of your neighbors are home all day to receive these providers. In Oaxaca, with its extended family tradition and the responsibility of shopping entrusted to very young children, it is feasible that this method of marketing will continue.
Distinctly different sounds are made to announce the arrival of needs. It is trite to point out the importance of drinking water. Several times a day, tanker trucks loaded with 5-gallon blue plastic or clear glass bottles patrol every street in each colonia, though sometimes the economy may dictate the use of a large trike instead of motorized vehicle. The sound that is heard is always the same, and unmistakable…..water (aah-gwaaah!). Almost as often, one can’t help but miss the trucks that sell propane by the tank, usually in your choice of three sizes… swap your empty for full. No human voice is used here, but one or more of perhaps three familiar signals…a horn-like sound from deep fog, the clang of a chain dragging down the street, and/or the recorded sound of a cow bellowing followed by a jingles Propane is used residentially primarily for stoves and hot water tanks…no underground oil or natural gas lines…here in Oaxaca we already have enough problems for the government to simply repair streets and sidewalks, and do some the safer tap water we receive from the broken, outdated and inefficient underground water supply system, let alone embark on moving the entire fuel supply system underground (although downtown sidewalks and streets were recently dug up to bury the utility lines).
Far more often than in the past, residents are opting for the use of larger stationary propane tanks that are filled according to a delivery schedule so that these larger single-receptacle propane trucks do not notify households that they are on the street. In the same way, the large water trucks, which fill cisterns and water tanks for domestic use as well as drinking, do not need to signal their presence, since they arrive only by order. But if you’re downstairs when the cowbell signals the arrival of the garbage truck, you’ve lost it for another week, unless you track down the truck with the week’s garbage in the back of your truck, either that day or another if you know the dates and nearby routes.
There are also three types of informational announcements that you may hear on a regular basis. Once again there are merchants, who do not sell their products on the street, but notify Oaxacans about offers or sales through a loudspeaker on the roof of the car, for example, a supermarket chain that promotes products, or a franchise of pizzas that sells a large one with two selections, plus two liters of soda for only 100 pesos. The second and perhaps most vital type of information that residents receive is of a public service nature, consisting of local news. Often when someone dies in a colonia, a truck drives through the streets of the neighborhood reporting not only the death, but also pertinent details about the mass, burial, etc.
When there are public works to be carried out that the municipality does not consider within its mandate to attend to in a timely manner, the president of the neighborhood may order that the works be carried out by the neighbors, for example, clearing. The announcement traditionally includes where and when the project will start, with a request to be ready to work and bring as many picks, shovels, rakes and wheelbarrows as available. Hearing this kind of exhortation, you know that there is a neighborhood organization that sees part of its duty to pick up where the “higher” levels of government left off, or that is not prepared to wait until the government dedicates itself to prioritizing what the neighbors consider it important.
The last type of information that your auditory sense picks up in the streets emanates from the celebrations, evidencing the richness and diversity of social life, and signifying the arrival of an important customary or religious event. While often a portion of the event may take place in a hall, church, or hall, in this party-oriented society, the celebration includes at least a portion of the festivities that occur on the streets or in a home, or entirely in a local environment. At any time of the day or night, it’s not unusual to hear the blare of a sound system or the music of a live band echoing across a valley through neighborhoods. There may be a wedding of 400 people, a 50th birthday celebration, or a quinceanera (elaborate celebration when a girl turns 15, similar to a Bat Mitzvah in the Jewish faith) well underway. Depending on the makeup of the crowd, you might hear deafening rap, hip-hop, or that kind of teen-oriented deep-based music, or perhaps the more traditional cumbia tunes, or a mix of contemporary DJ music on a solo set, followed by live latin banda next time. The most modest $100 stereo system can be connected to a monster amplifier and speakers to create a deafening distraction from a relatively quiet environment. The other type of music often heard comes from more informal bands that make their way through the streets as part of religious customs. Just look in any book that lists the multitude of saint’s days and other ritual dates, and you can pretty well assume that you’ll hear banda music moving up and down the streets, weakening as the procession moves away and strengthening until it comes to an end. you. Stop and ask what is going on. Have a drink if they offer you a cup of mezcal and eat everything that the parties are willing to offer you.
Follow your ears to the source of the music and, if you can, take a peek, no matter how formal or informal the setting… you just might be welcomed inside and truly have a tell-all experience back home. If you just “listen to the music,” your Oaxacan experience will be much richer.