All the noise, noise, noise, noise

It is rarely quiet here.

Right now, my neighbor across our courtyard is singing so loudly it sounds like she’s sitting next to me. I can also hear babies and goats crying at the house behind my back wall. There is the quick beep of a motorcycle horn as the driver signals around a sharp turn. The thud of the wooden mallet on the wooden pedestal while people make pounded yams lulls me to sleep every night. Roosters crow whenever they want, not just when the sun comes up. The sweeping outside starts as the sun comes up.

There is always some rhythmic drumming being broadcast over some speakers somewhere.

I know when my neighbor is making dinner because I can hear the clack of the metal bowls hitting the concrete floor from my back garden.

I know when the middle school has let out for lunch because there are suddenly a lot more whiny voices coming from the direction of the road in front of my house.

I know when the power is out because it is the only time that I can hear the trucks and taxis on the paved road a kilometer away from my house.

When is there the least amount of noise?  

12-3 p.m., the generally understood time when you’re supposed to take a nap.