Electricity or Water: Which would you choose?

It’s not like we really have a choice these days in Côte d’Ivoire.
Typically, once or twice a week, I am at home getting ready to
Prepare dinner or take a shower when I realize that the water has been cut off.
I can only guess that they do this in order to ration the resources. But everyone is used to it. People buy buckets and pails in order to keep a backup supply of water available for when this occurs. However, this week has been more challenging than usual because as of
Feb 1, Côte d’Ivoire has had a shortage of electricity thus every day since then, the electricity has been cut off at least 8 hours each day. Last night, they cut it off at 7pm and it only came back on at 9:30 this morning. Can you imagine spending a night sleeping in the heat and then waking up in the morning to take a cool shower only to find out that there is no water? Now I know some of you who lived through Hurricane Katrina can relate. But for those of you who do not know, it is a very humbling experience. I have had all sorts of thoughts sitting in the dark. When you must use candlelight in order to see your own hands in front of you or in order to cook or take a shower, you start wondering why people think it is romantic to be in the dark when they do not have to (i.e. candlelight dinners). LOL I mean, I know…it is romantic but really, it is less romantic when being in the dark is a way of life…trust me. But then again, as the humans that we are, we long for what we do not have…even darkness when we have light and vice versa!

To return to my point, not having electricity and water from time to time here in Côte d’Ivoire has indeed been surprisingly humbling. Yes, it is annoying when you have to cook all of the meat in the freezer before it spoils because the fridge is not working. Yes, it is annoying that the water is not running when you want to wash your hair. But honestly, the lessons that I think I have been taught - how to do without, how to respect silence and meditation, and how to look up at the stars every now and again- even if it has been just for a little while, have been invaluable.