One of Life's Accomplishments

We successfully had our garbage picked up yesterday!  Now, that may not be big news for most of you, but it is for us.

In the states we had these three big, rolling bins - one for trash, a second for green stuff (lawn clippings, etc), and the third for recyclables.  Here in Mexico we have nothing.  It's all do-it-yourself.

In Colonia San Rafael the trash was picked up 3 times a week (good when you don't have garbage bins to hold the trash): Monday, Wednesday & Friday morning about 7:30.  We knew when the truck was nearing our street because the neighborhood kids would ring our doorbell and ask if we had any 'basura' - which they would be happy to hand in to the truck on our behalf, and thanks for the tip.

The trucks are not the automated things we had in the states.  They are open-topped trucks with high sides and there are at least a couple of men in the back, accepting the bags we handed up and spreading the garbage around the truck, separating any recyclables and putting them to one side.

When we moved to Fracc. La Lejona, we were told trash days were Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday, so we were prepared to take our trash out the first trash day after our move.  Surprise! The days are actually Monday, Wednesday & Friday - just like back home in San Rafael.  However, there are no children in our neighborhood to assist with the trash pick-up.  And there's no one to pound the piece of metal with a bar to alert the homeowners of the impending truck. 

The folks with the truck will pick up your bags of trash from the sidewalk if you aren't there to hand them up yourselves (thus ensuring their Christmas tips), but if you put them out too early, the neighborhood dogs are likely to tear the bags open and help themselves to a snack.

And since their pick-up time is variable - and we might not be home during the afternoon on a trash day - it's always a good thing when we manage to get our trash picked up.  Sort of gives you a sense of accomplishment!