Journal

Recorded from my bedroom. Saturday Morning, July 17. Kamina, Democratic Republic of Congo.

4:30 a.m. Just woke with a start, convinced there was a chameleon on my head. There wasn’t. At least I haven’t been able to find him. All is silent. Not even a rooster. Pitch black.

4:40 a.m. Bell nearby rings for approx. 30 seconds. Large, loud, possibly a clock-tower type bell, if there were a clock-tower in this town. Probably a church. Roosters begin crowing. A dog barks.

4:45 a.m. Bell again. Too big to be rung by hand. More roosters. One initiates, another responds. Dogs bark and howl in the distance. Strike my observation earlier this week that there are virtually no dogs around.

5:00 a.m. Same bell. Many roosters.

5:05 a.m. The dreaded bell. Roosters and dogs like the world is ending.

5:06 a.m. Man yells at full volume. Lasts over a minute.

5:12 a.m. Banging of drums. Chanting. Roosters at a distance.

5:15 a.m. Yelling man resumes; drums never stopped.

5:16 a.m. Bell comes back as chanting and drums continue. I count over 40 rings of the bell.

5:18 a.m. Drums slow, yelling ceases. Dogs and roosters pick up the pace, though.

5:19 a.m. Some sort of air-horn goes off in the distance.

5:21 a.m. Drumming resumes with a vengeance. Multiple people sing along. Must be a church or ceremony of some kind. Air-horn goes off again, lasting 7 seconds. Someone within earshot answers a cell phone. (Seriously.)

5:30 a.m. Drumming and chanting stops as a bell rings 15 times. Roosters resume. I get out of bed.