Lights Out

It´s the rainy season, but it hasn’t been raining. The prices of vegetables have gone up, people are burning the mountains in an attempt to provoke rain, and many indigenous communities have been protesting the wasteful use of water. Yesterday in Quito President Correa caught the new Michael Jackson flick at the cine, peed two urinals away from Jacob, and then addressed the nation to declare a state of emergency and explain what would happen next. But did any of us in Ibarra get to watch it? No. Because the power was shut off. And the power in our sector will continue to be shut off every day from 6-10am and 7-11pm until it starts to rain.

At this point I actually quite enjoy it at night. No street lights, no buzzing sound of electricity, everything lit by candle light…or in my case, my battery free wind up flashlight which I never thought I would need in the city! You find new ways to entertain yourself. Like making animal shapes with your hands and using your super flashlight to project them onto the wall. It´s a little like when there is a storm and the power goes out…just without the storm. In the morning it’s a little less exciting, but still not that bad. It only means I can´t blow dry my hair, or watch Dave/Pride and Prejudice/You´ve Got Mail while I get ready each day. Those are luxuries anyway. And at least I still have a hot shower. It just strikes me as a little strange that they´ve decided to shut the power off during the hours that people are awake and at home. And there is all that stuff in the refrigerator that goes without refrigeration for several hours at a time. But at least I sort of feel like I´m roughing it….