Those of us who are of a certain age remember the days when the milkman would make his daily home deliveries. The milkman is not a thing of the past in Mexico, at least not in Alejandro's neighborhood. In the past year, he has been traveling up and down the streets, not in a truck but on a bicycle cart, and the blaring recording he plays has become a part of the aural landscape. From the cooler attached to his bike, he sells milk, cheese and yogurt.
I have long wanted to make a video the neighborhood milkman, but, every time I hear his recording, either I do not have my camera at hand, or he does not pass directly by Alejandro's house. Then, on my last day in Mexico City, while I was taking a walk, I was able to record the elusive milkman.
The recording he plays begins with a song announcing the arrival of "el lechero" (the milkman).
The recording then goes on to promote the nutritional values of milk.
Love it! When I lived up on the hill a man in a pickup would come every day with containers full of unpasturized goat milk. The women of the houses had their ladles ready and the container for the milk ready as well. I miss hearing and seeing that now that I live in an area where the only person I still hear is the knife sharpener and the water men! Barbara
ReplyDeleteEven in the affluent neighborhood in Mexico City where my apartment is located, I hear plenty of street sounds... the sing-song recording played by the guys buying old metal, the eerie steam whistle of the vendor of sweet potatoes, the guy selling "tamales oaxaqueños" and the bellringer announcing the arrival of the garbage truck. The milkman, however, I have only heard in Alejandro's neighborhood.
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