Lights out

It's been a steam bath the last couple of days. So when my trusted weather man (insert Nguata Francis or the hilarious adaptation of Shariff Nasir by redykyulass) said that we were expecting some showers, boy was i glad. Little did i know what would transpire as a result of having been running around my teepee like the Red Indidan that i am, praying for rain.

I had the day off. So i spent it the best way i know how...in bed. I slept and finally dragged myself out at around noon. It was already sizzling outside so even my plans to go to the bank were but on the back burner. After brunch which consisted of cereal, i went back to bed...again.
Hunger pangs finally got the best of me plus i wanted to save on electricity so i left the house at around 3pm. I was already disappointed with the weather forecast. I had been hoping that the rain would have started so that it could cool off. I dropped by the local library- for a read as well as enjoy their free a/c while at it.
Not long after it started raining and i just don't mean, a little sprinkle here and there, it was wicked weather.

After the weather finally subsided i head back home. I gotta say i never thought i would ever experience this in a country that brags about being a 1st world: powert had gone out. It was still early so i thot to myself, this wont last the lights will be back in about 30 minutes.

1 hour later...

Still no power.

It started to rain...again and i decided, "Why not take a nap after all it was still early and by the time i wake up the power will be back."

I woke up at 9pm and the power was still not restored.

I went into a slight panic...

I found out that i had forgotten all my "Power outage survival skills" that i had when i was back in Jamhuri.
I had no torch, matches, lighter, tilly lamp and the only candle i have is a scented one.
I hop over to my neighbor with my scented candle and ask for matches. I asked what's going on with the power, coz trust me these people have no patience- you know someone on the block had called the police station, the power company, 311 and 411. Something to do with the storm knocking out a transformer bla bla bla and the kicker was that they would restore power at around 4.23am, i know AM!! WT...H?!!
It's a Friday people, there may not be anything worth flipping or setting TiVo for (Kaggz) but darn it i needs my electricity, even if i will be using it to watch C-SPAN.

I head back to the house and decide to make most out of it. On my coffee table is a Ludlum that i had started reading last September but never got round to finishing it. So here i am holding the book over my Yankee Candle trying my best to get my read on. After about an hour i can't take it. I go for a ride, to see just how bad this power crisis is and would you know, it's only 2 blocks that are in the dark. Now i'm envious of the rest of the people with power. I don't know them, but i feel like making a visit to their comfy, air-conditioned house and ask for a glass of cold milk.

Now your probably saying, "Si you could have gone out?" Well you see this is not like the estate back home where we would all gather outside and make plots for the evening. Most of the people here tend to keep to themselves, well unless you live in the projects where Nay-nay and 'em will be outside on the steps yelling and cussing people out.
Plus, holding the candle jar over my closet looking for something cute to wear- that will probably need some ironing- was not exactly thrilling and it feels like 85 degrees in the room.
So i decide to fish for my phone and call somebody- okay anybody at this point- and just like in those crazy horror movies, my phone needs to be recharged (i have 2 bars left!) After a call here and there checking out on people i have spoken to in months, my phone dies in the middle of a conversation! I turn it back on and try calling back and it clearly tells me "Battery needs recharging" and goes off again. The car charger is the only one that would work right about now and i can't dare venture outside with that lighting flashing like paparazzi cameras. Uh-uh i am not going down toasted.

Next plan of action...sleep.
With the help of my trusted candle i look for a sleep aid, coz at this point my body is tired of sleep and i have to lure it down. The only entertainment i have is my CD man- thank God for small mercies, it actually had batteries in it.I look around for my "We are the world headphones". After i saw that report on i-pods and going deaf, the bigger the headphones the better.

Finally fell asleep 2 hours later and for some strange reason i wake up at 3:52am expecting to find power back on...nada!

The power was finally restored at around 11am this morning.

I honestly felt like life had come to an end just because i did not have electricity. Could this be the effects of being too westernized?

So my question to you is if you live abroad, have you ever gone thru a black-out situation and if so what did you do?