It's back

The electricity did not come back quietly. Since last Sunday, waiting for repairs to be made on two broken lines had everyone in our state constantly on the edge of the relief of having electricity back, and with it, the ability to get some work done.

So, when, in the middle of the market, it suddenly reappeared after days of speculation, suddenly, the town came back alive. The ironworkers were out soldering. The bars were blasting music. My neighbors were watching television as I ran around in a frenzy trying to plug everything in.

Suddenly, we were back in business.

When the electricity went out again six hours later, it left much quieter. 

38 days without electricity

2: Phone calls to my director to try to sort out the problem

3: Trips to my host father’s house to use his electricity

9: Walls painted

5: Days spent living at a fellow volunteer’s house in Savalou

2: Days he lost electricity, leading me to believe I was cursed

6: Radio Lab episodes completed

11: Books read

120: Hours spent charging solar lamp

1: Blog posts spent thinking about in retrospect, that for the fuss that I made, how little of a problem it was