Catching the gas truck

Getting drinking water and gas for the stove and hot water tank has been a bit of a challenge. The gas trucks come around all the time, playing a little tune. And I do mean, all the time. We hear that tune constantly. When you hear it, you have to run out with your empty container to signal them to stop. They don’t drive slowly, allowing you time to get to the street. They go flying by at what seems like highway speed. The other problem is that even though you may hear the tune you don't know which street they're on or which way they're going. We kept asking people, “How do you do it?” No one could really tell us, just that you had to time it right and be quick. Everyone also helpfully informed us that there is a number you can call and they’ll deliver it for you. That’s fine if you can speak Spanish and you know your address. The day before we actually moved into our apartment we were here doing a bit of cleaning. Our propane tank was empty and we were getting a little concerned about how we were going to do this. We heard the tune so Dave went outside and waited. No truck came, so he finally came in. As soon as he was in, there it went, right by our building. The next day, we heard the now familiar tune again, so Dave ran outside and this time he was determined. He stood out there for about 20 minutes. Still no truck came. Finally he gave up again and came in. Then, of course, I heard it really close by. I yelled, “I hear it!” Dave ran back out and just caught it. We were so excited that we were finally successful. We are hoping that this will last until Christmas! Since we need water much more often we have decided that it isn’t worth the stress to try to get water from the truck. We’ll pay the extra 20 cents and get it from the corner store.

Then there is the garbage truck. It also plays a tune, longer and catchier than the gas truck. In fact it sounds quite a bit like an ice cream truck. They collect garbage every week day, compost garbage 3 times a week and other garbage 2 times a week. You're supposed to put it out on the street and then take your cans in right after they pick it up. When you hear the tune outside your house, you know to pick up your garbage cans and bring them in. Apparently people steal them because you have to have one of the official garbage cans and they cost $15.They usually come after we leave for school so yesterday we were wondering if  we would still have a garbage can when we came home. We did. Our landlord had very kindly put it inside the gate for us.

So we are slowly getting a few things figured out. More next time.