Garbage trucks

So I like to think after studying Latvia for going on eight years and having lived here numerous times that I know a lot about the country. That was until yesterday when my host dad came to me and said Laura I have a job for you.... and being the good American worker that I am I jumped at the chance.

So he walks over to the window and points down to the street below. You see that barber shop or beauty salon (dependent on your translation). I said yeah. At 8:00 pm precisely you must take the garbage down and wait in front of that shop. I said ok then what. Then a garbage truck will pull up and you must throw the garbage into the back of the truck! I was secretly thinking don't you have a dumpster or something to just throw it in? But no the people of this advanced European Union city have a specific time every day that the garbage truck comes... slows to a somewhat stop and hurl all the garbage they have into a truck hoping not to miss or hit one of the fellow garbage throwers in the process. Of course if you miss the truck you must wait until the next night and let your smelly garbage sit in your apartment.

Its all very interesting and just goes to show you even when you think you know a lot about a country you are continually surprised by its quirks on a day to day basis. As as result I have two words about the garbage industry in Latvia privatization!