The Gas Man

I had my first experience today that really drove home the fact that I am living in a country where I really don't speak the language. I can get by travelling and in a store or restaurant, and often get the gist of a conversation. But...

Today we had a minor gas leak in our house. you could sometimes smell it, sometimes not. The tanks are outside, so it was not a HUGE problem, but obviously still something you want taken care of right a way. We know that gas is delivered by the Gas Man wandering around the neighborhood yelling "GAS" or something like that, truth is I can't tell the difference between the Gas Man and the Agua Man, and I know what they should be yelling. We figured he would be able to help us. Trick is, I was pretty worried about struggling through the Spanish.

This is where Rico comes in. He is our goto translator, and he told me he thinks we need to do it on our own, after all, he said, he is going to be in school most of the time and not around to help us. But he told me if I hire him for his services, he would help. He determined on his own, 5 pesos a day that he did translation work would be fair.

So his real test was dealing with the Gas Man. When Rico heard the Gas Man (or the Agua man, I wasn't sure) he ran down stairs and flagged him down, brought him in and we worked through the issue, and there was a small leak in one of the lines. He indicated that he could get a replacement line, but it would cost us, and he would have to come back later with it.  When he came back later, I was on a conference call, and couldn't answer the door, Rico took care of everything, (I am sure watching his every move) and paid him, tipped him and saw him out.

Part: 45 pesos ($4ish)
Service: 45 pesos
Tip: 10 pesos
Translation 5 pesos
Experience I won't soon forget: priceless :)