Things work differently in Mexico. You can get all of the basic necessities here, but often in very different ways. The city of Puerto Vallarta is sophisticated and organized. I follow their municipal government Facebook page, which is actually quite informative!
We pay rent in cash, directly to the owner (don’t worry, we get official written receipts!) In our case, the owner covers wifi and water. We pay for electricity and gas.
Electricity is paid every other month using Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), either on a CFE card or in their app, using a barcode. You can make payments at any Oxxo (a Mexican convenience store chain).
Gas in our place consists of two very large natural gas tanks, that we manually change out. We pay to get refills as needed.
The gas refill truck comes by a few times a week at certain times of day. A guy on a megaphone yells: “el gaaaaaas!”, and honks a musical horn. When you’re running low, you flag down the truck, switch out an empty for a full tank, and they will haul it upstairs for you. Or you can request a delivery using WhatsApp!
Filtered Drinking water is also delivered by trucks. There are trucks that deliver 5-gallon jugs of water. It’s the same as gas– the trucks come by with a megaphone and a recognizable honk. You bring out your empty jugs and replace them with full ones. Some trucks make scheduled stops at larger apartments. Alternatively, you can bring an empty jug to convenience stores and buy a full jug. If you are really feeling ambitious, there are automated water filling stations that cost $ 12 MXN (about 66 cents!) for 5 gallons. Our closest filling station is four blocks away, but Dan thinks of it as free of charge strength training!
The water isn’t fluoridated here, but the salt is! Mexico has implemented mass salt fluoridation, which is distributed in all areas (except those that have adequate amounts of fluoride in the water naturally). You can still buy artisanal salt that doesn’t have any additives, if that’s your jam.
Garbage is paid for by the city. Instead of collecting garbage at each house, the city has recently switched to using designated garbage corners for residents to put their trash bags. The garbage trucks come by at least one time a day, and the pickup times are posted. There is no fee. Usually a pack of friendly dogs roam around town inspecting all of the garbage corners for treats before the garbage trucks come.
I think the luxury condo complexes handle their utilities and garbage differently, but I like the casual, hands-on setup we have.