Trash Day!

January is the time for swearing in public officials. We have a new congress, a new governor, and Andahuaylillas has a brand new mayor. The inauguration involved a day long celebration in the plaza that made so much noise Saturday night mass was canceled.

A new administration means some transitional difficulties. The most obvious one to the volunteers in the Mountain house is the trash. Usually in Andahuayillas, a truck comes around the town once a week ringing a triangle to let everyone know that they can empty their house of food scraps, empty packaging, and bags full of toilet paper into the truck. But because of the mix of holidays, the lame-duck period of the old mayor, and this being Peru, I hadn't heard the trash truck since I arrived (which was over a month ago).



We had a mountain of trash left over from all our visitors and feast days sitting in our back patio (I know it sounds luxurious, but trust me it isn't). So we finally decided to bite the bullet and carry the trash to the town dump. Even with three of us, we were going to need two trips. A few days ago Erin, Victoria, and I walked to the dump and found a new sign that said PROHIBIDO ECHAR BASURA POR PENA DE ARRESTO. Even if you don't speak Spanish you can probably guess at that last word. It translates to PROHIBITED TO THROW OUT TRASH UNDER PAIN OF ARREST. That's right, the dump was closed, and there was no trash truck. We debated for a minute and then we decided to throw the trash there anyways. (Sorry, my lawyer has advised me to redact the thrilling conclusion to our journey to the dump.)

So we still had trash in our patio and no way to throw it out without embracing a life of crime. Yesterday, I asked Nelson (who works at the parish) what we should do. Perhaps there was another dump somewhere? "No," he told me, "you just have to wait until the new mayor figures out a schedule for the trash truck."

"So we have to keep all our rotting trash indefinitely?"

"Yes. It's a real problem for the whole town."

But today, as we were emptying the chancho bucket (I'll explain that another time), Victoria heard the ding ding ding the trash truck. We ran to house and came running back out with our very full trash bin. Various neighbors also came running, yelling "espera! espera!" (wait! wait!) so that they too could empty their house of garbage. Vic asked the driver of the truck what the schedule for trash pick up would be. "I don't know yet. They haven't made a schedule. It's because we have a new administration. They have to make a new schedule."

So our house is finally clear of the trash from Christmas. We don't know when the truck will come back next, or if the dump will ever be opened. But we're just happy to be rid of the rotten meat that had been sitting in the back of the fridge for the last two weeks.