Peace and quiet please!
I haven’t been getting good sleep lately. The pattern of sleepless nights started about two weeks ago. There are about three dogs in close proximity who wish to be on American Idol and they belt out their numbers from about 10pm to 6am. I’m pretty sure they are following the real American Idol because they sound an awful lot like they are trying to master Hound Dog. (It was just Elvis for those of you who don’t follow.)
There is lots of construction going on around my house and at 1, 2 and 3am they use the heavy machinery they can’t drive through the streets during the day. That accounts for drilling, driving, grinding and I think a bit of gyrating hips.
Motorbikes whizz past and horns honk away. Ladies on bicycles announce by chanting what they are selling or that they are recycling stuff or picking trash up. Today, it was all of the above plus ear-piercing national music blaring over the community loud speakers. (Which oddly enough made the dogs bark AND howl.)
Last night I went out with my best gal pal, Mette, and after a leisurely dinner, walked around the corner to Tunnel Bar. We talked, saw some friends, swayed to the music of guests DJ Farai who is leaving Vietnam after a two month tour. Fun. And I rolled in at 2:30 a.m., much later than my intended, “I’m not up for a big night tonight.” When I fell into my pillows, I begged and pleaded with the ceiling for good sleep.
Sunday being the ONLY day to myself, I don’t set an alarm. And really, I don’t need to because everyone else in the ‘hood will wake me up, well earlier than I want to wake up anyway! This morning was no exception. And truly, it’s starting to drive me batty!!! I may begin a coalition for silence or something. Maybe I’ll call it Project Lets Hear The Birds Sing or something. Project Remember What Silence Sounds Like. Project PEE – Protect Everyone’s Ears. Anyone? God a good name? Post it!
Side Note
I should say here that the noise factor in Japan was minimal, except during local elections, when the candidate and uniformly dressed wavers would ride around in vans announcing the policies of the candidate and ever-so-politely (using the most formal Japanese) ask for support. That was always annoying on a Saturday morning. And while it was a bit loud, I never seemed to grow tired of who I called the Potato Man. The Yakimo truck. Small trucks drove around the town selling roasted yams. Each truck had a potato song and it always gave me a good giggle. “oishii (pause) oishii.”
Sleepless in Hanoi
My apartment building is surrounded by buildings in construction. This is a source of huge frustration and many sleepless nights at the moment. Not only will these new buildings out the back of the house be blocking my view of the lake, but the construction practices in this country are totally ridiculous! Cranes and heavy machinery are brought in only in the middle of the night, as that is when the streets are free enough for such large equipment. So 2am is a busy time on these sights. And on any given day (including Sundays, my ONLY free day of the week), the banging starts easily at 6:30 a.m. I can even hear the building on the other side of the neighbors…which doesn’t say much for the thickness of the walls here!
What I can’t get over, though, is how poorly these places are built, the danger with which the workers surround themselves (welding with no mask, bamboo scaffolding, climbing up things with no harness, tools and trash strewn all over the site) and how little is learned from one project to the next. I’ve never seen people build a floor, and then tear it down because of a change of plans, or make a nice big opening for a window only to fill it in again and move the window to another part of a wall. It’s really pretty amazing. I’m thankful this is not an earthquake zone, as these places would crumble to bits in a heart beat! The construction is pretty shoddy. There is no framing, no insulation, no drywall, no stucco, just good old-fashioned brick-laying and sandy cement.
It all makes me so grateful that my house is at least pretty sound….sealed windows with screens, no leaks, no plumbing or electric problems…this building happens to be pretty decent. Not without imperfections, but it’s certainly qualified as a nice apartment.
No matter what, though, after seeing the manner in which these places are put up and finished off, I cannot at all believe that they can charge the rent that they do here in Hanoi. The average two-bedroom apartment is now about $1500 a month. And because we foreigners will pay this, the Vietnamese will continue to tear down old and beautiful villas to put up 4 – 5 story apartment buildings. With the location of my house, and the projects surrounding me, I think the two to my right and the two here in this photo may well be the last of the bunch in the neighborhood. But I won’t hold my breath!
Travel nightmares
You know that movie, Snakes on a Plane? I’d like to do a re-make called Babies on a Plane except that my movie will actually be frightfully scary and realistic. The synopsis would go something like this…
When a young man (Nathan Phillips) witnesses a brutal mob murder, it falls to FBI agent Neville Flynn (Samuel L. Jackson) to escort his charge safely from Hawaii to Los Angeles to testify. But in an act of self-preservation, the crime boss facing prison strategically places bad parents with bratty kids onto the commercial aircraft, specially timed so that halfway over the Pacific, all of the babies and toddlers are uncontrollably screaming in unison. Flynn, along with a frightened flight crew and passengers, must then band together, in spite of nosebleeds and pierced ear drums, in a desperate attempt to survive. The question remains. Will they?
And that pretty much sums up the return portion of my travels from Europe. Honestly, though…they should give parents and kids a test before they let them on the plane. If they can’t play nice and shut their kid up in a reasonably quick amount of time then, I’m sorry, they are not allowed to fly and piss-off scores of passengers simply trying to catch a wink. I love kids, but not mis-behaved assholes with parents to match. Can babies be assholes?
With most all flights overbooked these days, it is inevitable that there will be a baby or a young child on board. What I don’t understand is how the only little people who fly, it seems, are actually beasts, capable only of brutish grunts, monsterous roars and screams in pitches only dogs can appreciate. I haven’t encountered one nice young child who is pleasant and cute and adorably silent. And my luck has been not only to have these little shits on my flights, but then to be seated way-to-close to these freaks of nature. I want to toss them out the window. Or place them in the dog-carrier cages and put them in cargo. Or allow the parents to give them a shot of brandy to knock the kid out for the flight. Perhaps there is a dog muzzle which can be adapted for kids?
Who’s with me? ;p
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