Warning!
If you like to sleep past 5:30 in the morning, this is not the place for you.
First, let me congratulate Italian home designers for the quality of the interior doors. These apartments in this little peaceful town are centuries old. They are solid. The doors are hard wood and when slid shut, a bedroom becomes a dark and quiet habitat. Wooden shutters complete the dark and cozy atmosphere.
But......
Come 5:30, the action starts. No, it isn't party time. It's Refuti time!!!
During my last long stay in Assisi, I fond trash disposal to be incredibly easy. Each day, I carried a bag of refuse to a set of containers that were steps away from my apartment. The containers allowed for easy sorting of recyclables by the residents of the street. Done. No brainer. No trash collection.
Things have changed in the refuse world. Now, most of the D.I.Y. centers are either gone or locked so that they can only be used by a handful of residents, usually business owners. New problems.
So, every morning, almost precisely at 5:30, the trash truck enters my tiny street, lights flashing, engine running, and the trash-of-the-day is collected with a flourish. Lights, action, noise. If the bedroom door is not closed, there's no place to run. The first morning I was here, I thought that there was a murder happening on my doorstep! Holy cow. Now, I know better. Also, it appears that there are specific trucks and specific collectors for each type of trash so if on a particular day, two types (let's say plastics and aluminum) are on the schedule, crash, bash, bang! happens twice in succession. One truck and crew for plastics, another for aluminum for instance.
Mamma Mia!
I am just, just learning the system for refuti collection. It's taken me this long. Put the wrong thing out on the doorstep and it won't be collected. My landlord gave me a copy of the schedule but of course, I still flubbed it. "Leave your trash with me and I will put it with mine" he offered. Being one strong-willed woman, not one to let something like a bag of trash take me down, I refused the kind offer and explained that I was accepting the challenge. So, last night, Barbara and I got ready for action. The way we finally figured it, today was the day for plastics (a large bag that I had collected over the weeks) and glass. Not having a big bag for glass, we stuffed smaller bags and hoped for the best. Had I known this was going to be so problematic, I would not have drunk all that wine!! Not.
This morning, at precisely 5:30, I heard music to my ears. Clank, clank, bang, clunk......the trash collectors collected what I had placed on the doorstep before going to bed last night. Victory!
I nailed it.
Now, in addition to a new sense of pride, I feel liberated. The big yellow bag of plastics is gone, the bottles, no longer lined up under the sink, and I do not have to take my "organic" bits on a walk as I did last week. On that day, the kind clerk in the supermarket took pity on me, the dumb American, when I pointed to the bag of wet garbage that I had hauled in a bigger bag for one mile (I was looking for a D.I.Y.) and I explained to her.....Senora, guarda....oggi sto portando la mia spazzatura per un passagiatta! "Madam, look....I am taking my trash on a walk today"
She thought this was funny so she led me to their big bins outside the store and allowed me to dump my own refuti. Had I real command of the language, I would have joked with her that I was thinking of taking it to the circus, but I doubt she would have seen the humor.
If you like to sleep past 5:30 in the morning, this is not the place for you.
First, let me congratulate Italian home designers for the quality of the interior doors. These apartments in this little peaceful town are centuries old. They are solid. The doors are hard wood and when slid shut, a bedroom becomes a dark and quiet habitat. Wooden shutters complete the dark and cozy atmosphere.
But......
Come 5:30, the action starts. No, it isn't party time. It's Refuti time!!!
During my last long stay in Assisi, I fond trash disposal to be incredibly easy. Each day, I carried a bag of refuse to a set of containers that were steps away from my apartment. The containers allowed for easy sorting of recyclables by the residents of the street. Done. No brainer. No trash collection.
Things have changed in the refuse world. Now, most of the D.I.Y. centers are either gone or locked so that they can only be used by a handful of residents, usually business owners. New problems.
So, every morning, almost precisely at 5:30, the trash truck enters my tiny street, lights flashing, engine running, and the trash-of-the-day is collected with a flourish. Lights, action, noise. If the bedroom door is not closed, there's no place to run. The first morning I was here, I thought that there was a murder happening on my doorstep! Holy cow. Now, I know better. Also, it appears that there are specific trucks and specific collectors for each type of trash so if on a particular day, two types (let's say plastics and aluminum) are on the schedule, crash, bash, bang! happens twice in succession. One truck and crew for plastics, another for aluminum for instance.
Mamma Mia!
I am just, just learning the system for refuti collection. It's taken me this long. Put the wrong thing out on the doorstep and it won't be collected. My landlord gave me a copy of the schedule but of course, I still flubbed it. "Leave your trash with me and I will put it with mine" he offered. Being one strong-willed woman, not one to let something like a bag of trash take me down, I refused the kind offer and explained that I was accepting the challenge. So, last night, Barbara and I got ready for action. The way we finally figured it, today was the day for plastics (a large bag that I had collected over the weeks) and glass. Not having a big bag for glass, we stuffed smaller bags and hoped for the best. Had I known this was going to be so problematic, I would not have drunk all that wine!! Not.
This morning, at precisely 5:30, I heard music to my ears. Clank, clank, bang, clunk......the trash collectors collected what I had placed on the doorstep before going to bed last night. Victory!
I nailed it.
Now, in addition to a new sense of pride, I feel liberated. The big yellow bag of plastics is gone, the bottles, no longer lined up under the sink, and I do not have to take my "organic" bits on a walk as I did last week. On that day, the kind clerk in the supermarket took pity on me, the dumb American, when I pointed to the bag of wet garbage that I had hauled in a bigger bag for one mile (I was looking for a D.I.Y.) and I explained to her.....Senora, guarda....oggi sto portando la mia spazzatura per un passagiatta! "Madam, look....I am taking my trash on a walk today"
She thought this was funny so she led me to their big bins outside the store and allowed me to dump my own refuti. Had I real command of the language, I would have joked with her that I was thinking of taking it to the circus, but I doubt she would have seen the humor.
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