Frogs!

A couple weeks ago I was on a skype call in the evening with some colleagues in Canada. They asked me what the chirping noise was in the background. I said "Frogs." They didn't believe me. All day and late into the night our Dominican neighbors make lots of noise -- music, motorcycles, pleas to vote for one presidential candidate. At night the insects, amphibians and animals start up, too. There is a constant (and quite loud) background of frogs, crickets and chirping lizards. This will often be interrupted by barking dogs or some feral cats who are staking territory.

Carmen finds the noise disturbing. When he visited, her dad was frustrated because it is so loud that when trying to sleep it is difficult to block out -- the frustrating part is just when you think there is a rhythm it changes (try falling asleep to that!) I find the wildlife sounds (versus the wild life sounds of the locals) pleasant, but then in the summertime I also like waking up at 4:30 am to the bird sounds, then rolling over and going back to sleep.

However, the one sound I don't think anyone appreciates is the rooster who lives across the street -- mind you I haven't heard him in a long while. Perhaps he stopped crowing to become a lovely stew.