Running the Gauntlet and Shutting Down the Party

Every time I go for a run it's like running the gauntlet.  It's always an obstacle course. Obstacles include: dogs, potholes, traffic, exhaust, smoke from burning leaves or trash, dog turds.

Garbage from stray dogs

Stray dogs

When I lived downtown I was forced to run at 4 am because running during the day when traffic is flowing is impossibly dangerous.  Even though I live in the country I still run at 4 am sometimes.   If I run in the afternoon I can run through the sugarcane fields which is a lot more pleasant than running through a squatters village or on the highway. The most dangerous thing about running through the fields is that the trails are not well kept and one misstep gets a rock through your sole.

Sugarcane fields

A few months ago some neighbourhood had a fiesta going very loud.  I couldn't tell exactly the source but I had a general idea. In the morning I woke at 4:30 as usual and I could still hear the distant boom-boom-boom of the fiesta.  So I decided I would find the party.

I ran off toward the squatter village I thought it was coming from but there was nothing. Making my way through the village and into the open sugarcane fields I still heard nothing.  But then I heard it.  BOOM-BOOM-BOOM.

So I rushed across the newly plowed field and towards the sound which I now knew was coming from a different squatter village, one I am familiar with and run through regularly. 

After crossing a muddy creek, cutting across private property, running a gauntlet of dogs, and then turning the corner I found the fiesta.  It was at a basketball court.  The entire court was surrounded by an impromptu fence of corrugated roof metal and netting.  I ran around the court banging on the metal and finally made my way into the fiesta.

This is how the basketball court normally looks

They had speakers like these set up

There were two guys asleep at the control board so I reached around them and turned the volume down.  Then I ran back out.  People were staring at me and  I shouted that it was loud and I could not sleep, thanks. For a moment I thought someone might be inclined towards violence and follow me but no one did and I did not hear the volume increase.

The way back home was the usual gauntlet of dogs, burning trash, and vehicle exhaust. It's really not pleasant to be out for a run and then come across a large cloud of smoke. Not pleasant at all.

Typical smokey leaf pile polluting the air

This is not the first time I have confronted loud noise and physically turned down the volume.  The very first time was during an election when someone parked a jeepney outside and walked away with the volume going full blast with an election song.  I walked right over and turned the volume off.  No one said a thing and no one turned the volume back up. I have also been to the church (they meet at a basketball court and not in a cathedral) in the next village over and turned the volume down a few times. They play the sound of bells for 3 hours over a large loudspeaker which can be heard for miles around.

Confronting people, especially drunk people, about their noisy fiestas is a little unnerving and I always expect violence though none has happened. I would not recommend shutting down a party.  But I would do it again personally.