Kingston is a loud city. Car horns and traffic are probably what set the tone, then everything else must match that to be heard. And there is always music playing, wherever you go, often competing music, in fact. There are even ‘town criers,’ who drive around with loudspeakers affixed to their roofs, announcing events or promotions. This level of noise is a lot to become accustomed to, but I believe I have acclimated, as do others, it appears. A few weeks ago, I asked another volunteer what they missed about home, and at first they said the relative peace and quiet. They then stated that actually, the last time they were home, they began to miss the cacophony. It was too quiet, they said, and they craved the busy city they now called home. I think I would now place myself in that category, with one reservation: car alarms.

In North America, I would venture a guess that car alarms have been pretty much phased out. If a car is still outfitted with one and it goes off, nobody really reacts anymore. They seem almost a relic of the 80s, when cars were status symbols of the boom times. Not so here. Everybody seems to have a car alarm. That go off ALL THE TIME. And there is not just one sound- there is apparently a varied range of siren sounds and I believe I have heard just about every one now. In my apartment parking lot alone, they are always going off, and one seems to be set off every morning at five a.m. 

At times it feels like I am living in some sort of post-Apocalyptic city, as numerous alarms are blaring at the same time. This is to the point where I wonder if when I venture out, I will find a city in ruins. So far, so good. Apparently, there are just a lot of very sensitive car and building alarms. Crime is a problem here, but I would suggest that the number of blaring alarms set off everyday does not correlate with the attempted burglaries.