I never thought I’d be a slave to electricity, bowing to its every whim and at the same time, wanting to covet it.  But here in Yemen, that’s become the case.  I’m living in a country in which electricity is not only power in the literal sense but has power over those of us who can’t live without it.  And that pretty much includes the entire population of Yemen.

Power consumption increased these past six weeks and put a strain on the country’s already taxed electrical system.  Power outages are common in Yemen during the spring and summer as temperatures climb and folks crank up their cooling systems.  I started to get used to the outages, some which occurred twice a day.  Well, at least that’s how it started.  Soon, the outages would last for hours and then the power would come back on for a couple of hours and then… Zappo!  It’s out again, only to return sometimes at a crazy time like 3:00am.  Like a temptress, electricity beckons to us with her charged tentacles and then pulls away right when we begin to taste her energy…

Okay, enough with the lame analogies.  Yes, the electrical system in Yemen is overwhelmed.  And in May, a bunch of ticked-off tribesmen retaliated against the government by blowing up part of a major power plant in the northern part of the country.  As a result, the electrical power in some major cities goes out more than it stays on.  Yet each day, the situation seems to improve.

So yes, there’s a reason why my blog wasn’t updated.  And even now, it’s hit or miss as to when and how much computer and Internet time I can grab.  I’ve also learned to have a back-up plan for teaching my lessons in case I’m unable to research activities/ideas/information from the Internet in advance from the apartment.  A pain in the tuchus?  Yes, but frankly, this fiasco with the electricity is helping me to become very creative in my teaching, if I look at it from the bright side. (No pun intended.)

Ah, we have power, at least at the moment.  I’m hustling to get my blog updated.  Oh shoot!  Now the Internet is down!