Sonidos en la Casa

We have quickly come to find out that the alarm clocks that we purchased at a travel store in Santa Barbara, are really not needed here. We are daily awoken by the multitude of sounds that pierce the early morning air compliments of our upstairs neighbors who rent the second floor. Alarm clock number one is the cocker spaniel named Pipo who has a variety of barks and whines that ring out over the balcony and into our room. I feel 10% sorry for him and 90% like I would like to get rid of him personally. The 10% is because I don't think he EVER gets out and spends his days peering down into our courtyard, head poking through the rungs, waiting for something to bark at. But at 6:30 in the morning, the 90% is the part that I am focused on. Alarm clock number two is a small child, sex unknown, who cries, loudly, every morning as well. I don't know what the problem is, everyday, but apparently there are crying sessions as routine as getting dressed and eating breakfast. Alarm clock number three is same crying child, but now-turned comforted, happy child blowing a piercing whistle over and over again (apparently practicing to be a traffic cop here in Quito...more on that later). Lately, there have been other sounds and noises that float through the air. These include Spanish musicals from the TV of the family in the room next to ours, the radio on in the kitchen cranking loudly for the person cooking breakfast, and the more recent, more pleasant melody of cooing doves somewhere on the roof, which I first believed to be someone breathing (possibly a heart-attack victim). City noises have become part of our daily lives here and as frustrating as the early morning sounds can be, there are also those that calm my spirit. Sundays I have come to listen for the music of a nearby church, the choir singing out songs of praise. The notes float up and over our roof, through our patio and into our room bring me peace and tranquility. I would gladly trade "early-morning-Pipo" alarm, for "choir-music" alarm, but I don't believe Pipo to be a reasonable type of dog. So, we go to sleep each night, alarms un-set, praying for a pair of really good earplugs from Solid Rock Construction.