My first candlelit evening...

After dinner at Imran & Elli's flat (my director and my boss/friend) - they dropped me off at the apartment/flat that I'm sharing with the deputy director (Erika). I thought that there was something unusual as I entered the landing for the apartment. We are on the fifth floor of the building and I was a little tired from walking up 5 flights of stairs, so I didn't figure it out immediately.

Note:
1.) Erika is in Cambodia for the month, helping her husband set up their new home. He's the new admin officer (or director) for the Peace Corp office in Cambodia.
2.) The ground floor of the building is labeled 0 - so my floor is labeled the 4th floor, whereas in the US it would typically be the fifth floor.
3.) Yes, there is an elevator - but when I'm sitting on my butt all day in the office and skip the gym...I force myself to get SOME kind of activity in by walking up the stairs.

I finally realized that the light was out in the landing. When I entered the apartment - I discovered that the power was out inside the apartment as well. Luckily - Erika left an electric lantern for me. It plugs into an outlet and charges while there is power. When the power goes out, the electric lantern turns on. So - the lantern was on when I came home. THANK GOODNESS!! It helped me have some light and not have to fumble around in the complete darkness. (And make a total fool of myself.)

The weird thing was that some floors had power, while my floor didn't. I wasn't sure if it was because we missed our electric bill payment or if the generator just didn't make enough back up power for the whole building. Our building has a fairly small generator, so I guess we don't always get back up power when the electricity goes down.

Apparently, this happens a lot, because Erika has candles everywhere. Luckily, Imran had given me a heads up when I arrived and told me that the power goes out frequently and candles are probably a necessity in Erika's apartment. By now, I've familiarized myself with the layout of the place and the locations of the candles and matches. But still - it was a bit unnerving to arrive to a completely empty and dark house. It took me a while to figure out that the power was out. =) Okay it was the end of the day - and my brains weren't entirely on the up and up.

So - that's how I spent my first candlelit evening in Dhaka. This is the first one in several weeks - but this is supposed to be a frequent occurrence during the warm season when everyone uses their fans and A/C. Joy! Can't wait to have to sit out the hot season without fans or A/C!! =) At least I'll have the electric lantern so that I can shower in the evening. But since the water is heated electrically, I may have to take quick showers when the power is down! =P

At least the power came back on yesterday evening a few hours later, and I was able to sleep with the luxury of the A/C on. I'm not taking that for granted anymore!! =)