Blog Assignment #2: “What I Hear”

Every day as I leave my house to go to college, I am aware of the fact that I am leaving behind the serenity of my quiet neighborhood in Brooklyn. When I exit the 6-train station at 9 am, I remove my headphones and listen carefully. I am immediately hit with a wall of sound. There is a constant murmur, hollow and deep: the traffic. The siren. The garbage trucks. The taxi accelerating. The cars honking. The kid laughing. The click of heels. The cacophony of multiple languages: Spanish, English, Chinese, and Arabic. The sound of a businessman yelling into his iPhone. The couple arguing about where to eat. The loud, yet distant, sound of drills and construction. The subways rumbling beneath my feet. And another sound, irregular: the wind. It comes in gusts and the movement of crunchy leaves follows. Just listening gives me a strange feeling as if, for a few moments, my brain freezes. I hear snippets of conversations from my fellow students. There is never a pause, just constant noise representing the symphony of the area. The hustle and bustle remind me that I am truly in the city that never sleeps. Perhaps, these sounds are the most distinct part of the vibe of this unique city. Slowly but surely, I begin to hear my own voice in my head, listing things I need to do and places I need to be. And just like that, my focus on the diverse sounds in New York City is disturbed so I leave.