Soundwalk of Burnside Ave

While living in this new fast paced generation, people tend to be more self involved than to actually acknowledge such simple freedoms we have like touch, smell and sound. I myself have been guilty of falling into this norm of not being as aware of my surroundings as I should be. As I began my walk, I decided to stay in my neighborhood which is in one of the most prominent areas of The Bronx. Its constantly busy no matter the hour and felt this would be the best opportunity to really take my time to enjoy what my neighborhood has to offer rather than just “living” in it. My neighborhood consists of private homes while huge buildings and businesses surround the corners of each ending block. From the MOMENT I stepped outside, I instantly heard cars honking and alarms going off by the dozens and Romeo Santos’s music playing faintly on the next block over. Where I live the majority of people are hispanic mostly from the Dominican and Puerto Rican descent so hearing bachata or spanish music is a normal thing but is HIGHLY appreciated due to my background as a Dominican. As I continued to walk I could hear the wind howling and the tree leaves rustling and crunching while a man next to me made his way up the block speaking spanish on the phone. A car zooms past going way faster than the speed limit is on this street but was blasting Drake’s Gods plan, which again I can appreciate cause I mean who doesn't love Drake? The further I walked the more I heard, from dogs barking to baby birds chirping to even a comforting sound of seagulls. Weird right? Seagulls in The Bronx but it’s true. I personally found that comforting because I was raised in Miami, Florida my whole life and hearing seagulls was a constant reminder of living by the beach. Oh how I miss those days. As I continued I was almost feeling like this assignment was meant for me, I chose a primetime slot to go out and journey which was at 4pm on a Sunday Afternoon, but it seemed like everyone was out as well which lead to so much material. A group of teenage boys rode past me on their skateboards. At same moment the UPS man was banging on the door to deliver a package while the next house over had construction workers sweeping their final assembly of someone's steps. As I made my way out of my street I continued on to the street behind mine which is considered the ‘main’ road. There ironically all I could hear was again Romeo’s music being blasting from a bodega’s storefront, I laughed because it was the same exact song playing on the other street. This road has many business including a check cashing where a couple was having a loud conversation, about what you may ask? I chose to just keep walking. Next was a dominican hair salon and if you're from New York you already know you hear tons of blow dryers and women's laughter. I passed two guys at the same time I passed the salon who both had headphones on but were singing out loud. Buses passing and car engines were a constant as well as plastic bags fluttering through the streets. I live in between 3 parks so you can hear basketballs bouncing all over the court with “pass it pass it” in the distance. A woman was yelling down towards her husband from the window to not forget something from the car but again was in spanish, his car keys jingled and doors slammed of building gates. I walked in silence for about 2 minutes before walking past the Methodist Church that is right behind my home, their music can be heard from the heavens haha, their doors were open since it was a beautiful day so you could hear a group of people singing along by the dozens. As I made my way to the final path in my neighbor I had already passed a great handful of people on cellphones talking spanish, men whistling to catch attention of whoever they were trying to talk to and more car alarms. As I turned back on my block a smile just happen to take over my face. I could see and hear this little kid throwing his basketball on the building wall and catching it, music being played from high up and business signs flapping in the winds. As I opened my gate to enter my home an elder lady just screamed out to me “ HEY, HAVE A GREAT SUNDAY,” which i responded back and entered my home. That was truly the cherry on top to hear those words cause im sure if i had headphones on I would've never acknowledged that. This exercise almost felt like a detox cleanse to be honest, something that I definitely feel came at a perfect time, I definitely want to make it appoint to take more advantage of my ears and just sit and listen.