Amenities

I have running water and electricity sort of…  It didn’t take me long to get over my disappointment of having electricity and running water.  Sure, I wanted to be in some small village somewhere getting the real Peace Corps experience, but the convenience of amenities like electricity and water cannot be denied and I’m grateful to have them when I do.

Sometimes though, it’s not about having it at all, but consistently having it.  And my water and electricity pretty consistently go off.  The best is when my power goes off in the middle of cooking dinner—I really like playing with boiling water and hot pans in the dark.  I also like having my water go off in the middle of a shower.  There are of course solutions to these problems, flashlights and bucket showers can go a long way, but if you aren’t prepared for it you can find yourself standing soapy in the dark.  Some people have said that in certain ways the people who never have running water or electricity have it a little easier because they are prepared for it and we spoiled people get stuck scrambling.

Back home in the US the only time the power goes off is from a major event like a big storm or some sort of accident.  The power or water being off for a few days is a news worthy event, not so much here.  Along with some grumbling, in the US the power going out was always noted by the need to reset the digital clocks, and I’m very glad I don’t have an alarm clock here that gets plugged in or I would be resetting the clock a few times each day and would only occasionally be woken up in time for work.

There are times when the power goes out for days at a time (providing an excuse for romantic candle-lit dinners) but mostly the power goes out for 15 to 30 minute intervals.  There is no apparent trigger and I really don’t understand why it goes off, or really why it comes back on.  While there is an audible sigh from my neighbors as their TVs click off and the whole city falls silent, there is no real complaining or calls made to the utility company, we’re in Togo, the power goes off sometimes, we are lucky to have it when we do.

Not having water can be a little more difficult than when the power is out.  I can have water fetched for me from somewhere else in town, but without water I cannot live.  So, I keep a big garbage can filled with water just in case the next time I go to wash my hands all the faucet does is gurgle a bit. 

I never really had to deal with these things in the States, things were much more consistent.  Living here teaches you to roll with it.  You can’t really be guaranteed anything, but with a little preparation and a deep breath it isn’t such a problem.  Give it some time, soon enough you’ll be enjoying the blare of your neighbors’ music and wishing the power would just go back off.