Dark Daze (sic.) in Africa

Yes, it’s been a while since my last entry but there is a “good/bad” reason for this.  I, can hardly be held culpable for this silence since, at home, we have been without power for over two weeks…so you see, I have good reason but it’s for a bad reason.  The upshot of this is that at sundown, that sacred moment around 7:00 p.m. when we have traditionally had a little bit of “juice” until midnight, I have taken to sitting and waiting for the lights to go on.  In the distance I hear the generator turn over; I think the one on the right is the only one that works…

Then I see the student dorms light up; this is a shot during early afternoon but you get the idea…

 

But alas, I remain in the dark!  You see, that generator can only power a portion of the campus now that the students are returned.  The administration, probably correctly, made the decision to keep the students in light so nothing untoward would happen when the power blinked off.  It’s like in my early days at WCU where they used to always remain open during snow storms for fear of the students wrecking the dorms if they were cooped up all day long.  So the powers that be categorically made the decision to black-out ONLY our chunk of the campus until a solution can be found.  We’ve called and complained, we are now petitioning them for relief, but I’m guessing we are going to be dealing in the dark for a long time to come. 

How do I cope with this?  As I think I’ve mentioned in earlier blogs, night crashes down on us quickly and without pity here in Africa.  I mean, it gets really dark here and without some sort of light, it is impossible to do anything.  I try to eat dinner early and clean up the dishes by 6:00.  Then, I go to the library at 7:15 where they do have a small generator that powers the lights until 10:00 p.m. (sometimes we even have internet).  More times than not, however, a huge storm has blown through and they are closed.

In that case, I bike back home in the dark, a harrowing experience in itself attempting to avoid ruts, puddles, students, and okadas (motorcycles carrying students) and listen to music on my portable CD player.  I find that if I sit on the porch, the only place that is cool that early in the night, I can take in an act or two of a favorite opera or listen to a symphony while the house cools down with the evening breezes. 

Then, with the assistance of the beloved headlamp that Halley insisted I have when we were shopping at REI last August, I can read a bit before the bugs start dive-bombing my face…again, a daytime picture.

I then get under my mosquito netting for a bit more reading and before my eyes slam shut about as absolutely as the African nights…another day done.

COMING SOON: a tidbit on teaching…I’ve only done a tidbit of it!