Sights and Sounds from Huaraz -


We have been taking note of and photos of some of the many interesting, and different, things we have seen and heard here in Huaraz in the past few weeks. Collectively, they make us realize that indeed we are in a different country and culture.

The Sounds -

When we were in the hotel, we thought we heard the clip-clop of horses passing on the street. We finally realized that there were no horses. The sound came from the cars passing over the concrete pavement, laid in large squares, and the clip-clop was caused by the tires going over the seams between the cement sections.

 

Since moving to the apartment, we hear roosters every morning, starting well before the sun comes up around 6:00. The owner said they are fighting roosters and the neighbors on both sides are raising them. There is nothing new to us about roosters crowing early in the morning, we heard a few in Mesquite, however here we have them in stereo. From the top of our building I spotted one of their cages on the roof of the building just east of us. Here are the cages and one rooster was poking his head out of his feeding trough. They are on the top of a three story building.

The rooster roost next door.

Closeup of the rooster cages with colored feeding troughs in front.

The garbage truck plays music (the same song every morning) on a loudspeaker as he approaches our neighborhood. The first pass occurs before 6:00 a.m. and then he comes again around 7:15 a.m. Same music. There is a municipal garbage yard on the corner about 1/2 block from us and we were told that is why he comes twice. From what I could see from our roof and peering through their gate when it is open, it is mostly a drop-off for recyclable items, wood, metal, plastic, etc. 
 

Garbage waiting to be picked up.

The musical garbage truck.

We are on the ground floor and can look out three of our windows at the small parking patio. We have seen as many as 4 autos parked there, but generally there seems to be only two that are permanent, the owner's small Chevrolet diesel pickup and a red Toyota pickup belonging to the apartment above us. When they enter, their headlights hit our windows and due to the small parking area, they must maneuver for several minutes to fit in their respective spaces. We hear their engines as they move back and forth to position their vehicles.

Here is the parking patio outside our front window.

Speaking of the apartment above us, we must mention the constant clack-clack of the lady's high heels on the tile/cement floor. Since we hear the sounds day and night, we assume she either really likes her high heels or doesn't have any other shoes to wear. We also hear their two year old when she has a temper tantrum.

Every time we go out on our little patio (laundry room) eight year old Zoe on the third floor sticks her head out a window and says "Hola, ¿Qué están haciendo?" (Hello, what are you doing?). She also occasionally pokes her head out a front window as we are arriving from the archives and asks the same question. She goes to school half day so we rarely talk to her in the mornings.

This is Zoe, our chatty 8 year old neighbor.

We can't overlook the steady beep-beep of the thousands of taxis that cruise the streets of the city. The beep-beep of their horn is both to notify you that they are available for hire and to warn other vehicles, pedestrians, and animals that they are coming and to get out of their way. Several we have ridden with have added an additional horn which sounds like a siren and is effective in warning  anyone or anything in front of them. The beep of the horn or a short burst of their siren is also used to greet an acquaintance that may be walking on the sidewalk or to attract the attention of a pretty girl along the way.

One of the nicer taxis.

The Sights -

There are so many, we don't know where to begin. Here are a few that caught our attention. We will post more in the future.

Let's start with a picture of the town and mountains northeast of us, taken from our roof.

This is the "Bodega La Familia" (family store) across the park from our apartment.

 

What do you do on Saturday morning in a light rain? Block off the street and play volleyball. In front of the family store.

 

Nice volley! Note the rain clouds in the distance.

 

As you can see, the volleyball game is in front of the "family store". Note the spectators sitting out of the rain.

Skateboarding in the park in front of the apartment is also a popular activity on Saturdays when it does not rain. He is attempting to jump over the pile of cardboard and newspaper. He made it.

This is a fire hydrant. Did somebody pour the cement too high?

New apartment building going up nearby.

 

Closeup of the construction crew. The sign says 2 & 3 bedrooms, living, dining, kitchen, laundry, maid's room w/bath, elevator, parking. Our landlord says they are selling for US$140,000. Anyone interested?

A colorful daycare and kinder near us.