We have all sorts of pictures from our weekend in Cuenca that I plan to put up, but you’re going to need to be a bit patient.
The city is currently having a water shortage (rainy season hasn’t quite been rainy enough) and since a lot of our power is hydro-electric, this is creating a bit of a problem. To save power, the city has begun enforcing rolling blackouts. The last two days at school, the power has gone out around noon and stayed off until after we went home for the day. This is especially fun since grades are due. At home last night the power was off from about 4-8 and then shut off again this morning at 6am.
It’s interesting how many things we take for granted that use electricity. For example when I plugged my dead cell phone in this morning and then realized it wouldn’t charge…duh. Or when I tried to buzz my Spanish teacher out of our gate last night and then realized I had to actually use the key. Or how about when the gas stove wouldn’t turn on I thought, ¨What on earth?!? It’s gas!!¨ and then realized the starter wasn’t working and that I needed to light a match.
On top of all this traffic has been terrible because the stoplights don’t work when the power’s out either!
Check out this article or this one to learn more.
So, long story short, the internet also doesn’t work when the power is off and it may be a bit before we get a chance to post our Cuenca pictures.
Instead you can entertain yourselves by imagining us at home in the dark, cooking by candlelight!