Mexico is full of sound. Especially in the cities it is very rare that you will find silence anywhere. There will be music playing, televisions blaring, fireworks going off, brass bands marching. It is completely apt then, that when living in Mexico you need to learn different sounds to know when the trash is being collected, when the gas men are passing, when the water man is selling his wares, when the tamale seller is on your street, the list goes on and on, each one has their distinctive sound. Once you learn the sounds things tend to run smoothly, but until then getting gas and water and knowing when the trash people come can be totally confusing.
For the last week or so I have been recording the sounds of Oaxaca and have put together a little quiz on the different sounds. How many will you be able to get?
Every Seller has a Sound
Susannah Rigg is a freelance writer and Mexico specialist. Her work has been featured in BBC Travel, CNN Travel, Conde Nast Traveler, AFAR and The Independent among others . Check out her portfolio here. Contact Susannah by email, info [at] mexicoretold [dot] com and join her on Instagram and Twitter.
Mexico Retold 
FANTASTIC! 100% baby! I have a bunch of these recordings, too. We should make a sound collage!
Definitely, then do a quiz about how many sounds you can spot!! Nice one on your 100%! True Oaxaqueña!
Dang! I got a 60%. Loved the quizz. It took me back to Mexico, thanks!
Glad you liked it! Sometimes just a few sounds can make you think of home! 🙂 It was quite specific to Oaxaca this time but I am going to try to do another one soon with more sounds from all over!
Love the soundtrack of Oaxaca and have thought of recording and posting. Thanks, glad you did it!
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While I didn’t do so great, love the idea! Many of our sounds are quite different here in Quintana Roo.
Yeah it is fascinating how the sounds change all around the country. I might do another one asking people to send sounds from all around the country…Ooh I quite like that idea. Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂