In the US, being without electricity for any period of time can be a huge hardship. So much of our lives are entirely reliant on electricity...TVs, computers, internet, microwaves, electric stoves...My goodness, I know people who could potentially go crazy if the internet is down for just a couple hours! The West Coast region of the Gambia is well on its way to becoming reliant on electricity, but down time is still somewhat common. But like Americans, outages are greeted with a similar response. Last night, the electricity went out at the PC transit house. I was walking to toward the bathroom to brush my teeth, several PCVs were in the living room, others were in the bedrooms, as the darkness descended one giant aah arose in chorus while we all froze in place, waiting for the generator to kick in so life could resume. When I move to village, there will be no generator and my electrified life will be punctuated with breaks. In Togo, adjusted to a simple life of kerosene lanterns and candles. A battery powered radio my only link to the outside world. Here in the Gambia, there is an odd halfway there feeling. I will have electricity...most of the time. I will have internet...even if it is sometimes so slow as to be nonexistent. I will even have a refrigerator which feels quite a bit like a luxury item to me! In some ways, I am one of the lucky PCVs. I haven't been up river yet, but from what I have been hearing, most of the volunteers outside of this heavily developed West Coast region, are not so lucky and their daily lives are much more similar to my life in Togo. In some respects, I wish I could live that simple life again, but then again...a refrigerator and grocery stores with diet coke...I am a lucky girl...as long as the electricity stays on!
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