Four Days without Electricity

I think that the people on the Gulf Coast can sympathize with the loss of power when a hurricane hits; however, this happens every couple of years and the power is usually restored fairly quickly. Here in San Domingos, we were without power for exactly 4 days and 3 hours. This is a BIG deal. As I mentioned in a previous post, the electricity comes and goes, most often, we have power. People don’t use electricity during the day and at night, it is used sparingly. The real problem is refrigeration. After about 48 hours things start to get really bad, things start to smell and insects invade at a fairly rapid rate. It’s pretty gross. After 24 or 48 more hours, people become generally unhappy about the loss of electricity and begin to make crazy predictions about when the power will return. This is actually kind of fun. The common topic of conversation is “luz” (the lights). Everyone makes jokes about how we probably won’t have power for a month or two (they say this just to hear nervous laughter from the Americans).

Not only are the predictions fun, so are the “conspiracy theories” that circulate when the power is out. Townspeople begin to say things like “you know they have a schedule of when to turn the power off and on.” Or they suggest that at the camera (the local courthouse) they are just sitting around not trying to fix the problem (which may actually be quite accurate).

My favorite part of being without electricity are the Americans. It’s GREAT to listen to my fellow colleagues complain about not being able to plug in their IPODS or get their computers charged because of the power. The most commonly heard complaint is that the fans don’t work at night, so it is hot and difficult to sleep! I love it. We are in a third world country, lucky to have power at all and we are complaining about not having our music!!!! I think the Americans are the most concerned about the lack of power because when the power is out for 4 days, there is really not much to do at night and the beer starts getting warm. You see, the volunteers spend most of their afternoons and evenings in local establishments boosting the economy. So, when the power goes out, the beer and coca-cola gets warm, which is no good.

Let me just write about something that I recently heard, which I’d love to share with y’all. I was visiting a fellow volunteer in a nearby city and he told me that if Peace Corps volunteers do NOTHING during their service except eat at local restaurants, drink local beer, and buy local goods, they are doing a great service to the country of Cape Verde. Basically, we are given money by the United States federal government for our own living expenses, etc. If we put that money back into the local economy, then we are helping more than you can imagine. What’s more, most volunteers here have maids that clean for them and do their laundry (it sucks washing clothes here, so everyone hires someone, even the maids have maids). So, we justify having a maid by arguing that we buying into the health of the local economy! Not a bad argument. This is one of the most direct ways we can ensure that an economy will continue to grow. We are putting money DIRECTLY into the system, rather than giving money to the government here to do lord knows what with! I’m definitely in favor of this economic “theory”! In fact, this makes so much sense that I am certainly going to have a maid when I move to Praia (I’m actually pretty lucky here because my family has a woman who washes clothes for us, so I don’t have to do it!).

Alright, I hope all is well state-side. I miss you (and the electricity) dearly. It doesn’t take long for us to miss the creature comforts of home. I love Cape Verde, so I really have no complaints. I’d happily go without my fan and without my Ipod or laptop just to stay here for a while. I will say at this point, I’m glad the power has returned, and I really hope it stays for a while (for the sake of refrigeration). Okay, I’m out. Txau, ti logu. (oh, in Portuguese, they say tchau, ate logo). I think I like the Kriolu more, so I’ll stick with that! I’m still slightly boycotting the use of Portuguese, as I never hear it in my real life, only at school. I’ll be less resistant when I get to the college and everyone is speaking Portuguese and I’m lost!