As I was walking around Alejandro's neighborhood of San Juan de Aragón, I heard a familiar sound, that of a man ringing a bell to announce the arrival of the garbage truck.
It seems that in every Mexico City neighborhood, whether it be the affluent district where my apartment is located, or in Alejandro's working-class area, you will hear a man walking the streets ringing a bell.
At Alejandro's house, each day, usually around 10 A.M. (yes, they have garbage pickup daily, even on weekends) when he hears the bell, he gathers up the trash and takes it to the garbage truck which is parked around the corner. The neighbors are all doing the same, and sometimes it is an opportunity for them to socialize a bit. It is customary to give the garbage man a tip of two or three pesos.
Yes, just about every town in Mexico has bellringers. Ours comes at 6:30AM! So Josefina, my housekeeper puts it out the night before in a garbage can so the dogs can't strew (is that a word) it everywhere!
ReplyDeleteHere (at least in Alejandro's neighborhood) we can't set the garbage outside the door. We have to take it directly to the garbage truck. I once rented an Airbnb in Oaxaca, and it was the same. I had to take the trash out to the truck. On the other hand, at an Airbnb in Merida, I could set the trash outside on the sidewalk for pickup.
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