LEAVES

So i´m swingin in my hammock in my patio, enjoying the tranquilidad, when my across the street neighbor aka my landlady starts to wander out from behind her gate toward my house. uh oh. she doesn´t usually leave her house...

so i say hello and make my usualy comment on the weather (haku! siii hakueterei.) Then she mumbles something about coming to look at the suciedad (dirtyness) in the street. This isn´t the first time she´s commented on the garbage in the street.

The first time I was by her gate getting another garbage bag (rice sack)when she said "look at all the garbage in the street". I looked. I looked a little harder. I saw nothing. Perplexed I went back to my house when I remembered "oh right, leaves are considered garbage here". I went back out and looked at the street in front of my house and realized through here eyes there was a toon of garbage!! Leaves everywhere! So I raked them to the sides of my house and onto these other leaf piles thinking about organic materials and biodegrading and science and let it be.

So back to my tranquilo hammock swinging...she comes out and comments on the dirtyness again!! This time i knew she meant the pile of leaves next to the house, a little later i hear someone outside raking and I knew what would come next... bonfire! I went inside.
This morning when i went out of my house there were two charred marks, one on either side of my house, of burnt leaves. no biodegrading allowed here! It´s interesting because they will leave a field, or street, full of plastic bags and bottles and wrappers..but if there are any loose leaves about..SUCIEDAD!! It´s like a trigger goes off in their heads: leaves leaves! garbage! must rake! must burn! burn burn!!
At Lauren´s site her host mom told her that they have to get up really early to sweep the leaves since they live on the road, people will drive by in the morning and look at their yard and talk about them if it´s full of "garbage".

this is silly, lets all compost these leaves! but what would they think of that, a giant pile of leaves just ready for the burning! And I think "Is it posible to change someones mentality about biodegradable "garbage"?" i sure hope so...
anyway, i gotta get home and sweep up the garbage my mango tree produces! What will the neighbors think!