The Sounds of Skopje....
The Sounds of Skopje bear no resemblance to Simon and Garfunkel's Sound of Silence.
I have attempted to record audio of some of this, but I will spare you the torture.
Let's start before dawn. We live on a street with speed bumps and every time a car goes over the bump it sounds just like a short volley on a tennis court...over and over and over.
Next, there might be a stray cat howling or if you need a good night's sleep to function the next day, you'll be awakened by a really nasty stray dog fight.
When we leave the building and choose to take the elevator from our 4th floor unit, we are greeted by metal meeting metal when the elevator door opens. A horrible shriek. Now, I usual walk down the four flights of stairs to avoid the skreeeeetch. But on the way up, I am usually carrying groceries or a heavy backpack and take the elevator. I have mastered sticking my fingers in my ears, while carrying a grocery bag in each hand. So proud of my new skills!!! (I only do this when I am riding the elevator alone or with Stephen. I on't want the neighbors to think I'm completely bonkers).
Early weekend mornings bring two interesting sounds: one is a guy with a bullhorn driving in a convertible or riding on the back of a pickup truck. We are pretty sure these are political messages in the run-up to May elections. No clue what they are saying.
Another more pleasant sound come from guys pushing a wood and metal cart, serenading us with calls for scrap metal or other specialities. I have fond memories of something similar to this in London: the rag man, the knife sharpener, etc. going to street to street calling attention to their services. Very quaint.
I really love hearing the Muslim call to prayer in the distance a few times a day. Muslim tradition is for the call five times a day, but I only hear it three times, morning, midday and sunset. When I am at the university I am surrounded my mosques and minarets. I believe most of the music is a recording (vs. a real person at the mosque). The sound is very soothing and it makes me pause, take a deep breath and chill out.A few weeks back we were at the bazaar and right next to the mosque when the call started. It is a lot more forceful when are right next to the loudspeaker. (I tried to insert audio into the blog but no dice. It only takes photos or video. Next week I'll get a video from a minaret and try to insert it.)
But the most omnipresent sound blares from the restaurant and bar next door. When we first arrived, it was limited to Friday and Saturday nights. Until at least 1 AM the venue blared incessant techno beats, so loud that Stephen could not hear me talking at the other side of our very small couch. But at least in winter, the doors were usually closed muffling the sound somewhat. Welcome to summer. The restaurant/bar is open all day, every day with noisy patrons at outside tables. While the music is loudest on Friday and Saturday nights, there are a bunch of national holidays which fall mid-week. Last week was Eid, the end of Ramadan. It was an all night party, but my guess is ,most of the partiers were not Muslim and were just reveling in having the next day off of work. I vow I will go into this bar some tired Saturday night and either scream at them all to SHUT UP or start dancing to techno music, if that is possible.
The most disturbing sound, which has dissipated in recent weeks is a woman in our building, either right above of us or next to us, screaming at someone. Ranting is probably a better verb....at 7 am-9am on a pretty regular basis. There is a calmer voice in the apartment, so I don't think anyone is being physically attacked. My guess is she is mentally ill....or has a teenager that is refusing to get out of bed on a daily basis.
And today we had a new sound. Sunday morning, 7am, a powerful drill was at work in the apartment above us....for more than an hour. HAPPY SUNDAY......
Finally, the most surprising sound was at a local traditional restaurant. A 3 person band wends its way through the eatery playing traditional Macedonian folks songs. But then they started playing the theme from the Godfather, followed by Simon and Garfunkel's "I'd rather me a hammer than a nail". We left before they started rapping or playing techno tunes.
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