my new apartment is on a tree lined street, close to the ukranian catholic church. the neighborhood is filled with all sorts of people, mostly ukranian. though i am only a few blocks away from my old place, this new place has less car traffic and none of the shady characters. instead of gang bangers when i walk outside i run into older ukranian people who have lived in the neighborhood forever and young ukranian families. the neighborhood is insular. most everyone speaks ukranian and there are several ukranian churches, schools, shops, and grocery stores. as a new resident in the neighborhood i'm often ignored. though i pass by the same people on a daily basis and i frequently smile and say hello, i'm more often than not greeted with silence and a look the other way.

from my living room window, i can see the top of the church close to my house, st. nicholas eparchy for ukranian catholics. while i am much more spiritual than religious, i still appreciate the architectural beauty of the church. at several times throughout the day, mainly in the mornings around 7 and in the evenings at 6, the church bells ring and the neighborhood reverberates with song. every day is a different song, sometimes there is one long song and sometimes there are several shorter ones. the sound in this clip is the sound of my new neighborhood at 6 on a monday night. the birds in the tree outside my window sing, a few cars drive by, someone honks, the bells begin to play their song while the bird continues to to sing its song too. in the distance there is the faint song of another church bell which simply tolls the time. the sound of the church bells pause their song and an unidentifiable rhythmic clacking noise makes itself heard before the song begins again. for a moment my ukranian neighbors say something i do not understand, there is a small crashing noise and the church song continues as a car drives by. the church bells pause again, there is another pause as more loud clacking is heard, and the song begins again. people talk, a dog barks, cars go by. the birds are persistent in their calls, unfazed by the church bell which pales their own songs.