The Case of the Missing Power Line

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? For the past week, Jamie and I have been experiencing "life in Ghana without electricity". Last Thursday, we woke up to realize the power was out.  Actually, we didn't notice until lunchtime, when we tried unsuccessfully to combat the heat by turning on a fan.  Exploring outside, we saw that the rain and wind had knocked over some of the poles holding up the power lines leading to the house/school... mystery solved!  Mr. Kabutey bought new poles that afternoon, and when Jamie and I left to spend the evening in Accra (we went to a tribute concert at the Alliance Francaise for the Ghanaian musician Mac Tontoh) our minds were at ease, with the confidence we'd be plugged-in upon our return.

As it turns out, fixing the poles didn't solve the electricity problem.  As our cellphones died that night, we were unable to set our alarms; and as anyone who knows me can guess, I overslept the next morning.  Just my luck that the one time I need to get up at 6:45, I have no alarm.  Jamie roused me when she woke up at 7:20, and luckily my tardiness didn't cause any problems (as I've mentioned before, time here is pretty flexible). That morning, after asking the kids, I did learn that most of them don't have alarms, and instead have just trained themselves to wake up automatically at 5:30/6am -- SO impressive... But back to our electric mystery.  That morning, Mr. Kabutey discovered the cause of the power outage:  sometime on Thursday night, someone or someones came and cut the power lines, removing about 200 yards worth. They probably stole them in order to sell them again... the profit margin is infinite when the cost is 0!

Since then, Mr. Kabutey has been working (in true Ghanaian fashion) to get electricity restored to the house and school.  During this time, however, I've made some observations:

• It is possible to survive without electricity, if you have a neighbor who is willing to charge your cell phone for you.  Luckily for me and Jamie, Irene, the local shopkeeper who we've become friends with, has been more than generous in letting us charge every couple days. 
• Most Ghanaians, at least those with electricity, sleep with fans on.  These people have been quite impressed with our ability to do without for a few days... and we had assumed that we were being wimps for occasionally wanting one!
• Madame Emma, our "host mom," says it's not really any harder to cook without electricity, as long as she has a torch-style flashlight.  But Jamie and I are still impressed with the quality of food produced in the dark with charcoal fires.
• No electricity = earlier bedtimes.  As soon as we finish dinner and our showers, Jamie and I have been climbing under the mosquito nets.  True, I've been reading by flashlight a little bit... but much less than normal! 

Our one concession to our obruni (foreigner/white person in Twi) dependence on luxuries has been coming to this internet cafe to check our email, reassure our parents that we're still alive, and update our boss in New Hampshire about the situation.  Needless to say, our "daily online reports" haven't been submitted since Wednesday, so I'm sure he's wondering what's up. Mr. Kabutey is hoping to have the new power line installed by Friday afternoon, so hopefully when Jamie and I return from our beach trip on Sunday evening, we'll be good to go.  Keep your fingers crossed!