In the future, I want to bring some sort of good microphone to record what it sounds like here. The pictures can give you some idea of what it is like, but the sounds are far more amazing:
- That annoyingly loud bird that sings every (early!) morning in our courtyard clearly sounds "exotic". While I imagine a toucan sitting somewhere in the tree, it is probably something that looks like a sparrow.
- The cows look a little unusual, but they sound much stranger. It took a while to realize that is what I was hearing - the "moo" was much more like a roar. Maybe it was a "I am so hot please bring me water" moo.
- In the evening, some monks are practicing musical instruments. I have been told that a group of them will come and tour the US through Emory. They have horns, drums, and cymbals. I'm not entirely sure where they are practicing, or what it is supposed to sound like, but it seems to come from a nearby field.
- During class, when the students are reading the Tibetan text on slides or on the lab activity, they quietly read it aloud. Having 100 students whispering Tibetan is incredible - since they aren't reading it in sync, it ends up being a continuous murmur.
- The most amazing sound, which I can barely describe, is the chanting from the prayer hall. I walk by open doors on my way to lunch when everyone is assembled. Sometimes it sounds like singing - many voices on pitches that vary in time. What is most incredible is the low notes that come out - we had to ask whether it was due to instruments or whether the monks themselves were singing that note. They do throat-singing, where they are able to use resonance in their throat to produce more than one pitch at the same time. Hearing this from the outside is indescribable, and I'm dubious that a microphone could truly capture it.
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