Monday 2 January 2012

Unique sounds of a new year in Bolivia


I’ve never really considered before how different a New Year can sound depending on where you are when you celebrate it yet last night as I lay awake listening to the fireworks I realized how different the sounds were compared with New Year celebrations I remember in the UK.
From 11:30 begin a trickle of soft bangs as fireworks begin to be set off across the city, building up to a crescendo like the sound of a constant hailstorm, which isn’t so much caused by the intermittent big booms that cause the whole apartment to shudder, but rather more the sheer quantity of fireworks and fire crackers being set off from what appears to be every other home across the city, including being fired out from apartment windows! Intermittent with these sounds are the dogs barking and the car alarms set off by some of the bigger bangs.
By 12:15 the fireworks fizzle back down to the steady trickle of noise only then to be replaced by music blaring from loud speakers from a house party across from our apartment which continues unceasing until 9am the following morning.  On occasions such as this I glad for New Year only being just once a year!

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