Comfy, but Noisy

Tweet I found what I thought would be a cozy place to read -- the second floor veranda of my hotel here in Dili. It is hidden away with a big comfy couch. There's never anyone there.

Cozy, but....

I think I know why.

I had forgotten about the noise pollution of Dili. It is absolutely horrendous -- made so by motorbikes without mufflers, big trucks with screaming engines and small cars with big stereo systems going boom, boom, boom.

I was determined to make this place a hideaway -- on several occasions today I went out -- stayed a few minutes and just couldn't bear it any longer. Even though I was trying to get "lost" in my book, I found myself getting irritable for no reason at all. As soon as I walked back inside -- I was fine.

Some of the culprits!

It is common knowledge that noise pollution causes stress -- can even lead to health problems if it remains a constant in your life.  I remember my old apartment here in Dili -- it, too, was very noisy. In fact, it was so much so that if you wanted to watch TV -- I had to run the captions.  Now, at least, I can escape from that cozy couch, back into the AC where the noise is masked!