Lilli Cloud

I swear I am not making this up. My homework today (Thursday – 10/13) consisted of answering several questions including “What would life be like without electricity?” Right after I finished that answer, as I was enjoying a piece of pizza between questions, the power went out. I’m writing this entry by candlelight (on my laptop) because the entire town is without power.

My answer was that it isn’t difficult to image what life would be like. One only need travel to some of the tiny villages in the mountains here to find towns that do not have electricity or do not have regular electricity. This explains why they sell brand-new, foot-pedaled Singer sewing machines here.

What life is like in the big city without power is loco. I decided to walk home before the streets emptied of cars that would hopefully provide light. I gave up hopes of watching the debate at a local bar. I usually carry my handy Mag Lite, but I had taken it out of my backpack last night because there had been a power outrage in my neighborhood in the afternoon. Walking in Xela is tricky anyway. Between the cobblestone streets, broken cement and narrow sidewalks that result in having to jump in and out of the street as buses, trucks, cars motorcycles and bikes fly by, it is always an adventure.

It was about 6:15 p.m. when I started home. Although there are no street lights in my neighborhood, there was a traffic jam the likes of which you would have if you had lights that weren’t working. People were honking as if it would change something, which they do a lot around here. A bus trying to make a tight turn nearly took out a few cars. I tried to cross a main street and nearly got taken out myself since only about half the people ever use their turn signals and it was difficult to see me in the dark even in light clothes.

The thing that was probably making everyone really crazy is that tonight is the big football game between Guatemala and Honduras. It’s part of the playoffs for World Cup 2006. No, that is not a typo. That is two years away. An Internet place in my neighborhood with a backup generator moved two-foot tall speakers outside the store and was blasted the pre-game show into the street. I could hear it down the street inside my house.

When I got home, I found my Mag Lite and lit a candle that was in the living room from the day before. Susana, the 25-year-old daughter in my family, went to the movies with her boyfriend. I guess there is plenty of entertainment in a dark theater, with or without a movie. I played with the dogs for awhile until Veronica came home from church.

Somehow when the electricity stopped functioning, apparently my brain did also. She asked me if I was going to eat, and I said yes. But I thought she said: did you eat? Oops. I guess I’ve flunked Spanish this week. And I guess I shouldn’t have had that last piece of pizza because when Veronica called me for dinner she insisted I at least eat the scrambled eggs she had cooked me by candlelight. A few minutes ago she knocked on my door to tell me the lights had been on for 10 minutes, but I was still sitting here in the glow of my computer and candlelight. Perhaps I should call it a day.

My next entry is the blog I wrote earlier today while I was waiting for the Internet connection to come back on.

Footnote added Friday afternoon (10/14): The electricity conveniently came on just before the big game started. Guatemala won. Immediately after the final whistle, the entire neighborhood erupted in gritos, yells. Thirty seconds later, the entire neighborhood erupted in fireworks. Fortunately, my bedroom does not face the street, and I slept like a baby.