Stepping Stones: Coping with Hardship

It's been a bit of a difficult week.

We're learning to deal with the daily power cuts but it's definitely frustrating. If it ain't one thing, it's another. When the power comes back on- our Internet service goes down. For 4 out of the 5 past days we were without power from 9 til 3. Only yesterday was it shortened to 1 til 5 because it was the end of Ramadan and I assume the powers who rule the electrical supply decided it would be a good idea to let Muslim families have a little more time to prepare for their festivities. I had finished lighting all my candles at about 5 pm because it was just about to get too dark to see when the power came back on. Now I admit we do have the new generator but it is small and powers only a few necessities so I'm trying to learn to live without using it everytime the hydro goes out. Luckily the weather this week has been spectacular during the day with temperatures usually above 70F/20C. The nights do get chilly and we've piled up to 7 blankets on the bed! A really annoying part of these power outages is that anything I've put in the fridge in the last week or two is growing moldy. Now if I buy something and don't eat it and it goes bad after a few weeks, that's my own fault/choice, but when it spoils because of the lack of power, it makes me angry. It's the first time as an expat that I understand the term 'hardship posting'.

Not knowing when the hydro will go out is another irritation. If I knew that it was going out everyday from 9 til 3 I could prepare myself. But on Wednesday I had to leave the apartment at about 9:15 and the power was still on. What do I do? Do I risk taking the elevator and getting stuck in it for 6 hours or do I walk down? Well I walked- down is easy of course, but when I returned at 1 I faced the 170 stairs. I've now got a flashlight in my purse at all times.

The good side of all this is that I made a lot of headway on my cross stiching and needlepoints, and I finished listening to my audiobook today. Sitting in the sunshine and having an amazing view from my kitchen windows does make it easier.