In the dark

For the first (and hopefully only) time in my life, I had my electricity cut off. The usually very responsible owners of my house had forgotten to pay the electric bill, and as a result I spent three days in the dark at the end of last week.

At first I thought that the power had simply gone out in Tactic, which is not a rare occurrence. But I realized there was a problem when I came home in the evening when everyone else’s lights were on and mine still didn’t work. I went to inquire with my neighbor, Angelica, who told me flatly, “Yeah, I saw Osa [the nickname of the nationalized electric company] disconnecting your power earlier today. You must have not paid your bill.” Not my fault. Great. How embarrassing.

Though frustrating, the situation was far from dire (and I probably got a small taste of how volunteers in less developed countries spend their whole service). Angelica let me keep my perishable items in her refrigerator, and my sitemate, Michelle, let me shower at her apartment (no electricity means the calentador doesn’t function which means no hot water). I blew through two books reading by candlelight.

And once again I am blaming Canada for this one. Had Tactic not been without mail service for over a month (we finally have a new postman), the owners of my house would have received the electric bill and paid it on time as always, and I would have not had my power cut as a result of a delinquent payment. You have failed me yet again, Canada.