Soundwalk

          So for this assignment I didn't really do an actual "walk", but instead I decided to sit and listen as the world around me moved. To explain this a little more clearly I guess I'd have to mention that I live in Staten Island, so every morning I take the ferry to the city. The Staten Island Ferry is about a 20-30 minute ride where I would usually listen to music, read a book, catch up on my studying, etc. Basically, I would do anything to distract myself and make the time go quicker. Instead of my usual routine, I decided to take a seat somewhere outside (which I usually avoid since it becomes overcrowded with tourists trying to catch a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty) and just listen to what is going on around me. I can't believe how much was actually going on! With my eyes closed I paid attention to so many sounds that I don't usually think twice about. There were people speaking all different kinds of languages, the clicks of cameras, waves crashing on the side of the boat as it ripped through the Hudson, horns blasting from cargo ships, and much more. After a few minutes all these sounds, and words, just didn't sound real anymore; it all became very surreal. This was on my way from Staten Island to Manhattan on the 10:00 AM ferry.

          Since I knew I would get a different experience on the way back I decided to do the same thing, except this time I took a seat outside on the hurricane deck of the 10:00 PM ferry. This experience was a lot different. There weren't really as many other ships on the Hudson as before, and even less people on the boat. As we pulled out of Whitehall I started to faintly hear the traffic of the city fade away as we cruised into pitch blackness. Of course I knew it was black because it was 10 at night, but it also felt black. The wind was much stronger and I heard the flags slapping against the poles with such ferocity, that I thought they might come down at any minute. I have been taking this same ride, back and forth, for years and I never took the time to think about the sounds. I almost always had headphones in, or something to distract me, but this assignment really showed me that a lot goes on in such a tiny span of time on a small ferry boat connecting Manhattan to Staten Island.