Garbage, elections, and electricity thieves, oh my!

Today was not an unusual day here. Early morning I heard the neighbor shouting the names of everyone around. The garbage truck was coming, and she was alerting us. You see, it can easily sneak by, and you would have to wait till the next time. Whoever sees it first, has to alert all their neighbors. When the garbage truck comes---which can be at any time, any day, everyone scrambles to get all the garbage out to the truck. On this side of town, we don't put out big garbage cans. They would get stolen. (And yes, I've had one stolen.)  They do that where the rich folks live. Here, we wait till the truck comes. If you  put out plastic bags, wandering dogs will tear them open, as well as people who just want to check through to make sure you haven't thrown away anything usable (no one much does).

The big truck, will honk its horn, as it goes down the street, but still goes quickly, and you really have to run to get the garbage out before they are gone. The small truck that came today didn't even honk. It was just trying to sneak down the street and hope we didn't notice I guess. Usually I give the guy ten pesos when he takes the garbage. If you pay them, they will actually pick it up from the curb, otherwise you throw it in the truck yourself. I like to pay them, because I know these guys don't make much. It also can be an encouragement for them to come back.

The trucks can come daily, weekly, or even monthly. You never know when they will show up. But when elections are coming up, things tend to improve, temporarily. You get more electricity, road repairs, lots of water, and garbage pickup--till the elections are over, at least.

What else happened on my street today? Well, pre-election campaigning is in full swing. There was a 20 minute political parade that went down my street around six thirty tonight. It was complete with buses full of people, people marching down the street, large boom-box political campaign noise-aka-music-makers blaring loudly their political songs and slogans. People waved large white flags, because this was the white party. We still have the purple and red to come in future days, and I'm sure the white party will be back as well. Each political party has a color, just like the Republicans and Democrats have elephants and donkeys in the US. Most Americans would probably not enjoy the elections, but Dominicans make the campaign one big party. They are much more into politics, because if your friend wins, you win.

The last thing I noticed  happening on my street today, was a guy up on the electric pole, hooking up the electricity for someone who hadn't paid their bill--or someone who just didn't even sign up for a bill. This is not at all unusual. It is a very common sight. Do a lot of people get electrocuted here? Yes, as a matter of fact, they do. But not most who do this job. I've seen guys climb up an electric pole in a matter of a few seconds, as if they were climbing a coconut tree. No ladder, nothing. Of course, the more sophisticated have ladders. Does anyone report this? Why bother? The electric company is well aware that I'm in an apt. house with five apts. of which only two of us have accounts. Yet somehow, all five of us, including the cop who lives upstairs (without an account), have electricity in our apts. In fact, there are huge sectors of homes where people are even putting in air conditioning(!) and don't pay a nickel. The electric company is aware of it. So I pay my bills, and mind my own business.

Random garbage collection, election parades, and electricity thieves, are all just part of this Dominican Life.