I’ve posted before about unique Mexico City street sounds. In our old place, the gas vendor yelled “Gaaaaaas!” every morning at 7 a.m., and you had to run downstairs and flag him if your gas tank was empty.
There was the pandulce guy who tooted his bicycle horn in the mornings, and the raspy-voiced tamales oaxaqueños vendor who came at night.
In the new place, the most common street sound is something I’d never heard before. It’s a woman who says over and over that she’d like to buy old junk — specifically washing machines, mattresses and stoves.
The weird thing is… she sounds scary. Like, she should be up in a haunted house somewhere, lamenting that she has no children to eat.
Jesica heard it for the first time a few days ago, while we were at my house working on Eat Mexico stuff. I’d assumed Jesica would’ve heard her before, since we don’t live too far from each other. But apparently the wailing woman does not make it to certain parts of Condesa.
“She sounds like La Llorona,” Jesica said.
I don’t know if the actual vendor is a woman, or even if it’s the same person every day. I’ve peeked my head out the window but I can’t see down to the street. All that wafts up to my window is that haunting yet eerily catchy voice.
I think this tune may have the power to displace the famous tamales oaxaqueños.
What do you think?
*Photo above is not of the wailing mattress woman, but another mattress-buyer spotted on Rio Lerma earlier this year.
LOL. THAT is the SAME “wailing woman” I hear in my hood. Since I have a veranda, the first times I heard that announce I ran to the balcony and caught a large truck with lots of stuff they had collected. BUT never a woman on the crew.
I listened to your wailing woman recording and it is the same one used here. And then you mention the “raspy-voiced tamales oaxaqueños” vendor, same recording here too.
What I want to know is WHERE do they buy those recordings? I want copies so I can make a ring tone for my phone 😉
LOL – That’s freaking me out a little, seriously – probably because you mentioned La Llorona.
When I was in El Salvador, a woman used to pass by in the streets selling quesadillas and I loved the way she said it. “QuuuesaDILLAS” – going higher pitched on the “dillas”.
Jesus — Tamales Oaxaquenos ringtone available here:
http://www.zedge.net/ringtones/373001/tamales-oaxaquenos-ringtone/
Lesley, I would like to know how I too can get a simple audio player on my blog.
Please email me privately if you like. Gracias.
Saludos,
Don Cuevas
The background sounds of Mexico have woven themselves into our life, noises we hear without even noticing them anymore. The sounds I don’t like are the loud speaker announcements, on speakers so poor, you can’t make out the words, and so loud, our conversation has to pause until the truck passes.
Now a little car passes daily, announcing its sale of a newspaper. The recorded announcement includes a high decibel level police siren wail and gun shots, actually disturbing to listen to, given the predominant violence in the daily news. I’ll take the tamale lady’s shouts at our gate every evening over this noise pollution. But I don’t have a choice.
Wow! Kind of freaky sound that woman has! Is it a recording or a real person? I remember when little the sounds where those of the Elote/Camote vendors, then the bell announcing the paletas, and once in a while the man who used to trade old brooms for a chick! Somethings never change! Just the sounds do.
Oh! And thanks for the welcoming. It is appreciated. I enjoy reading about places, and things, I know from another voice than my memory. Thanks!
Love it. Man I miss the street sounds of Mexico City. I really do. We also can’t forget the knife sharpener with this bycycle whistle or the Camotero that sounds like a train steam engine whistle in the evenings, inciting all of the dogs within a mile radius to howl and bark.
Viva chilangolandia!!
That is seriously creepy! Is that really how they get people to buy things there??
And I totally appreciate the use of the horse 😀
Just remember another sound: El ropavejero! Although I am not sure exactly how his system worked, I remember his sound: Roooooooopa viejaaaaaa! But with no doubt, one of the best sounds, and I don’t know if they still do it, was that one of the Serenatas.
Definitely spooky!
I love your street sounds posts, especially of the food vendors. It’s interesting to combine the sensory details of food and sound…
This had been a recent innovation in the Philippines as well: people bike around with recordings. It seemed very silly and made us feel like the vendor was a deviant in his field.
On live sounds: It is sometimes a subject of conversation among my family, how a specific “call” is passed on to many vendors into part of a sub-culture, a common branding that allows them to be identified by people no matter which area.
We have people coming around at night selling balut (duck fetus in the egg), and their call is so creepy that my brother and I used to pretend our neighborhood guy was a shapeshipfter called “The Bad Balut Man”. The man carrying rice flour bread here has a horn, doesn’t shout. Those who sharpen knives shout like their instrument “Hassss-a! Kutsilyo, gunting (Sharpen! Knife, scissors)”. The one collecting old bottles sounds the most comedic shouting “Bwwwootiieee, dyyariowww (Bote, diario)!”. They are disappearing. Before they do, I want to know how they project their voices so loudly. It is remarkable.
The calls are certainly useful! When I was in Cambodia, I didn’t understand a word they said, but by the manner of calling of the noodle woman and bread man, I knew when to run down the stairs.
They are hallmarks of the beautiful informal economy.
Hi Bea: What a beautiful way to put it. It’s amazing that people in the Philippines choose similar ways to communicate — horn for bread there, horn for bread here. Creepy Bad Balut Man there, Creepy Wailing Mattress-Buyer here. 🙂 I do think they’ll all be gone someday, as the economy grows. But yeah: the street sounds are fascinating.
I’ve wondered about why vendors choose the specific cadence they do. My friend told me awhile back that vendors tend to speak in a monotone here — “10 pesos, 10 pesos, 10 pesos” over and over — because it enables them to just keep talking. It’s easier on their throats. I’m not sure how true that is, but it’s interesting to think that there’s an actual method behind all of this, and it’s not just a matter of a catchy melody or common branding being passed down.
I gotta show my boyfriend your blog, he’s from Mexico and would get a kick out of it. I can’t wait to live there- to have my very own scary vender lady- lol. That’s so funny! I can remember the tomates guy in Costa Rica when I lived there. Wonder why the US is so boring?
I think the cadence maybe follows the word construction. The projection is something else. My brother, a classical musician, says their voices are formidable as voice majors. His girlfriend (also a classical musician) identifies the voice as from the stomach area, like professional singers, unlike most “normal folks” who sing through their throats.
I suppose the “tunes” using this projection evolve as a practical matter and was passed on to new guys. There are several points where they can learn– mostly, those guys go every morning or so to their “supplier”, where they meet other vendors in the same field but from different areas. They could also learn from suppliers, who sometimes (not always) give them a start in terms of equipment, route identification, tips, etc.
I suppose it’s just like the signboards that vendors write for their goods in the market– there are some regional variations, but many similarities. Tradition, shared norms, passed on knowledge, etc…
Keep recording!
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This young creepy lady is famous in many neighboorhoods lol