The Auditory Zone

Okay y’all. I have a task for you. Yes, I’m asking you (!!!) to do something other than read my musings. We are going to use a different one of the 5 senses today. The photos? They won’t be of anything I write about today. “No visuals you say? You’re a crazy lad!” I know, I know. How audacious of me to ask y’all to use your imagination today. Today, if you are a willing traveler, you shall take a journey that is not ocular. It shall be one of an auditory nature. Imagine the sounds I present to you, and build your own version of Lisbon. Be as creative as you would like. All I ask is that you listen, and imagine. Your imagination is boundless. Use a percentage of that today…in the Auditory Zone.

It’s a Good Life (Season 3, Episode 8)

Our first stop is a apartment located on a bustling city street near the heart of Lisbon. Half a mile down the road is a huge roundabout with a towering statue of a man who was the architect of a seismically destroyed city. Cars putter by at all hours. Horns honk as pedestrians weave their way through the jigsaw that is rush hour traffic. The rumbling of bus engines result in the spewing of diesel into the atmosphere with a “Poof!” Coughing is often heard after these discharges by the poor pedestrians unlucky enough to be in their paths. Motorcycles whiz by at indiscernible speeds, weaving their way in and out of the gridlock. The high pitched whine of their motors is heard at all hours of the night, when it is not uncommon to see them pulling wheelies as they roar into the night. We continue walking down this avenue, and walk past the many shops, with the buzz of quiet conversation permeating the sounds of the kitchen. We arrive at our destination, an underwhelming 4 story apartment squeezed in between two other dilapidated structures. We hear the huffs and puffs of its inhabitants as they labor up the stairs, while the elevator laughs, as it enjoys its retirement, never to be repaired. We make it to the top floor, and the jiggle of the key in the sticky lock alerts every inhabitant that someone has arrived home. We hear the scuttle of chairs across the hardwood floor, and the jerking open of the door. Salutations greet our ears, as we return them, and walk up one more flight of stairs to the loft, ready to sleep. The creak of the stairs is loud enough to wake the dead. The only thing louder in this apartment is the slamming of the bedroom doors when wind gusts of a Lilliputian nature weave their wicked way through the apartment. Other sounds heard as we try to sleep are the whir of construction at the wreck of a former skyscraper two buildings down; the inhabitants watching reality TV shows in the dining room; the clang of pots and pans as pasta is cooked for the millionth time. The sounds of this apartment are consistent. So much so as to lull you….into the Auditory Zone.

Nightmare at 20,000 Feet (Season 5, Episode 3)

Imagine you could teleport to another place. Jump 4 kilometers away to a small university campus, and have a seat in the seemingly peaceful plaza, lined with shaded benches beckoning to cool off under the branches of the leafy trees. But, something seems off. We listen to the sky, and hear booming sounds, some of the loudest known to man. Airplanes from all over the world reach their final destination at the Lisbon Airport, flying directly over this university, drowning out the numerous conversations babbling like a brook. These conversations are of interest to us, although many of them are not understandable. What secrets do they hide, as they speak a maelstrom of languages: Portuguese, German, French, Italian, and so many more? Do they talk about the latest football scores? Could be. Do they talk about their marketing classes? Maybe. Do they talk about how their professor is traveling for 2 weeks and rescheduled all the classes to make their lives living hell? Probably. Will we ever be able to understand these questions? No, we will not. There are always limits…even in the Auditory Zone.

Time Enough at Last (Season 1, Episode 8)

We are whisked away to another university walking distance away. The artsy students talk about the languages they are learning whilst practicing them. Hundreds of them congregate in the courtyard, creating a cacophony of sounds that are indiscernible from one another. Then, a haunting sound rings through the courtyard. The students scatter at the sound in a Pavlovian manner, knowing they need to get to their place. Our place today is Room B-43, a dark dingy room in the corner of a tower. The sound snaps us to attention. This sound is a clock tower. Each gong is an emphasis that it is time to depart to a different place for now. There is no more time to flit around from conversation to conversation. It is time to listen to the knowledge flowing from the learned professors of the university, instilling knowledge that will build a new world. In our room, Portuguese is taught rapidly, hoping to help the students acclimate as quickly as possible. A posse of Germans murmur under their breath, hoping the professor won’t notice. The students repeatedly drone what their professor says. They are stuck in this cycle for two hours, with the only sound breaking the monotony being the clock tower, ringing on the half hour continuously faster until a final explosive ring. At the end of the hour, another explosion will happen. The students will leave to head whence they came…into the Auditory Zone.

You Drive (Season 5, Episode 14)

Now we head below the ground, intrepid voyagers looking for the life pulse of this national capital. We stumble into a tunnel. We have found the arteries of the city, transporting thousands of humans in the same manner as blood cells. Odivelas? It’ll take you there. Baixa-Chiado? It’s got you. We have entered the Metro system of Lisbon. The whine of the train wheels on the rail heralds its arrival, along with the ominous gong that sounds at each stop. As the gong sounds, all conversation on the platform halts, and jostling is heard as a line is formed. The train screeches to a halt, and the doors rapidly slide open. Everyone departs business-like, rushing to get to work, or school, or wherever their lives take them. Those waiting file in silently, hoping to get a seat next to two old grandmothers gossiping, or a college student with their music turned up loud enough to be heard through their headphones. The last sound one hears is the shout of a late-comer hoping to make it in to the train. Their shoes strike the pavement noisily, but their pleas fall on deaf ears. The doors slam shut, and these hopeless riders are left to wait for another train…one that will take them to the Auditory Zone.

 

Thanks for reading! Please click the subscribe button for e-mail updates of when I post if you’re new! I hope you appreciate my attempt to spoof the Twilight Zone. That’s a great show by the way, you should watch it if you haven’t already (not the Jordan Peele version, the OG Rod Serling version). But, honestly, these are the sounds I hear every day. I feel that people take for granted what they hear. Heck, our bodies nervous system often cancels out certain senses if they don’t trigger a large enough reaction in our neurons. It takes extra concentration to hear all the sounds. In fact one must have the discipline to enter… the Auditory Zone.

Jeremy Caldeira