Here is a song with the chorus: "Se fue la luz en todo el barrio" "The power went out in the neighborhood." I think the song is quite catchy and I sing it whenever there isn't any electricity.
The electricity was out in my town today from around 8am-4pm. Schools here don't generally turn on the lights in the classrooms so this didn't really seem to affect them. In fact that is something that I have noticed about Guatemalans in general. They don't turn the lights on until it is completely dark out. I'm guessing that this is to save electricity. I admire this, but I still like a lot of light in my room.
Power outages are a part of life here in Guatemala and are more frequent in the dry season. My site seems to have more constant electricity than some of my friends', but we still probably lose power at least once a month. One thing that volunteers joke about is our PC service ruined candlelit dinners for us. If you have electricity for goodness sakes use it!
You can't let candlelight dinners be ruined! I'm glad you're just joking. Candlelight dinners are one of life's simple pleasures, it seems to me. But I am very, very thankful for a stable electric grid.
ReplyDeleteIt surprises me to hear that the power outage doesn't affect the school much - but that's because I am unfamiliar with Guatemalan schools. Keep on keepin' on.
Another good reason to keep your cell phone and laptop charged up.
ReplyDeleteThe more I learn about Guatemalans from you, the more I love them. They seem very down to earth and practical about some things. And I loved the song although you'll have to translate it for me sometime. It made me decide we need to write a song for Boston - "La nieve vino a mi barrio". Will you work on that with me?
ReplyDeleteWorked at a data center in Bella Vista for a couple of years. One fall, every day, shortly after 4 PM the power would go out. This went on for months. Not that you could set your clock but you might as well shut your computer down at 4 o'clock and go on break. Turns out the power lines went through the pasture of a riding stable. The rancher let the horses out to pasture at four and one of them would go for a back scratch on a power pole. Care to guess all the reasons power could go out in Guatemala
ReplyDeleteI have heard a couple different reasons: the first is that some power line was damaged somewhere and more frequently that it has to do with a lack of water. I'm not exactly sure how this plays into power outages, but there are hardly ever blackouts in the rainy season and the electricity tends to go out more frequently and for longer periods of time at the end of the dry season.
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