noises and nightlife

Well, i previously write a huge entry that was all about the good and bad things in Oaxaca, including the noises, but i managed to lose it before it got uploaded. so this is my attempt to write it again and if it doesnt work out, then i guess you´re just not meant to know that there are some things that i´m not in love with in this city. best get to it then!
Its been said that mexicans have the highest tolerance for noise in the world, and after moving here i can completely understand why. I´ll put it into perspective, my house is on a quiet street full of trees and houses, but is in between two larger busy streets that run up the neighbourhood. So on a normal day sitting in my room, close your eyes and imagine: you hear the neighbourhood rooster crowing at all hours of the day. every once and a while the dogs will start barking at something, last night they were howling at a cat that was wailing for some reason. then sounds start to filter in from the streets beyond. theres the big old diesel buses shifting as they make their way up the hills after stopping with squeaky brakes to let someone on or off. Theres an array of cars honking their horns at the bus for blocking their route, or for the people on the street to move out of the way before they get run over, or perhaps its a cab honking to ask if a pedestrian needs a ride. once that subsides you´ll hear the a ringing of a triangle type instrument or the beating of a metal tub signifying that a man is selling flavored water as he walks up and down the streets. then theres a squealling sound of metal rings being dragged on the ground behind a moving truck resulting in the house mother to yell her son´s name, "José!!!" because thats the sound of the garbage truck and here you have to carry your own garbage out and put it in the truck yourself. It comes by at least three times a week. Then shortly after this, theres a cry of "AAAAAGGGUUAAAA!!!" and possibly a bell ringing along with it. Clearly this means theres a man sitting on the back of a truck selling big bottles of water to the neighbourhood. Theres more but that should give you a good picture of the constant noise in Mexico.
Downtown its worse, a thousand more honks of horns as impatient taxis honk at the cars in front of them to go through the red lights Theres also random men wandering around yelling to sell newspapers, and men in the mornings directing traffic through certain intersections. a spurt of sirens is heard every once in a while too. Then on top of all of this, theres the cat calling. Being a Tall white female i get mistaken for a Gringa, eventhough, technically since i´m not american, i´m not a Gringa. But that minor distinction doesnt much matter. Just an example of what thats like, one night i was sitting on a bench waiting for some friends next to a busy intersection. in the 10 minutes that i sat there, probably 8 out of every 10 cars either honked, flashed their lights at me, stuck their head out and yelled something in mexican or for the more adventurous souls, in broken english, and last but not least whistled. One, or a combination of these things happens when you are visible to mexican men, regardless of their age. I´ve had a boy probably around 11 yell something, and a man as old as 60 stick his head out and whistle as he drove by. Honestly though, it doesnt really bother me much. I find it more amusing than anything, especially when they yell out, "BEAUTIFUL LADY!" or the only other english words they may know, "WHAT TIME IS IT?"99.9% iof the time they are completely harmless. I have yet to experience anything that made me nervous. You learn to ignore it, or to be amused by it, which is easier for me than it is for my friends here because they understand more of what the men are yelling, so in that respect i´m glad my spanish is lacking!
Moving on to the nightlife! which is really oh so very interesting here! I´ve been told that oaxaca is very different from what it usually is due to the protesting, which i hope to explain in another entry very soon. Its been really quiet at night, with the exception of saturday which i assume is as close to what real oaxaca is like, with tonnes of people out on the streets buying from vendors, and lots more in teh bars themselves. We always go out in a big group and taxi it home, and no worries, we´re careful not to get into unmarked cabs, or ones that are associated with the APPO (the general grouping of everyone protesting here). Sure theres lots of guys that come up and ask "quieres Bailar?" but for everyone of those theres 2 average guys and at least 2 really nice guys around. i´ve met a few and they´re good to help out if necessary. The bar staff is always really good too, especially at this one place we went to called Sabina. It just opened. and was fantastic! We have lots of fun, and i´m never worried about things while i´m out. The night life is good here, and i cant wait for the protesting to be over so i can see what the say its really like.
I´ll try and figure out my picture situation early next week and explain more about the different places i´ve been and my friends once you can see what i´m talking about! it smore interesting for you that way and more fun for me! and on that note, i have to run to pick up some stuff before spanish class and then try and get out a ´double date´ i´m not interested in going on! Hope you´re all good and happy!