Hours of Hell

My friends call the alternating five hour power outages as five hours of hell. And who wouldn't? Imagine staying at home all afternoon without electricity - no electric fan, no air-conditioning, no television, no computer and internet access and no way to charge cellphone batteries in case they die out. Last week, I've experienced three alternating days of power outages, and they were also indeed five hours of hell. I've been worrying about the rotational blackouts incessantly - What about my work? Can I sleep without the electric fan/aircon on? I started worrying if I could even survive five hours without electricity - let alone three more months without electricity for five hours, every other day.

At times it feels like it's a bad thing, especially when I pass by areas affected by the power outages at night and see upturned cars and crashed motorcycles (true, these things have become very common these days.) Sometimes it feels like an omen, like a warning that 2012 is just around the corner.

But then again, I also like to look at it at another perspective. I was riding the jeepney from school earlier tonight, and I couldn't help but be amazed at the semi -darkness (or quasi darkness? thank you, dear generators) that engulfed the city. The pace was slower, plenty of people actually walked in groups and stood closer to each other on the streets, people were hanging out in the kantos with their candles and fires.

Tonight was the first night we experienced the 6 - 11 PM blackout schedule at home. Off all the blackout schedules (8 - 1 PM, 1PM to 6PM), a lot of people agree that among all the blackout schedules this one is the worst. But I actually enjoyed tonight, in a way. This is because I've been glued to the computer lately. Before I even went back to school I have always been on the computer, working. Now that I went back to school - it's always school, studies and then the computer for work. Add the fact that I'm running the household (parents both work out of town) and raising a 17 month old baby girl - and things can get MORE than hectic and stressful.

The power outage was a fresh experience for me - everything was silent, everything was still. Oh, well, because of the silence I could hear heavy equipment working faintly somewhere near - but who cares? Because of the power outage, I was able to stay in bed for five full hours, talking and cuddling with boyfriend (who shall be henceforth referred to as BF in the following posts) in the glow of the warm candle light. I was also able to enjoy playing and putting Daughter (who shall be henceforth referred to as D in the following posts)to sleep. The power interruption enabled me to just lie down and do nothing and even catch an hour's sleep - without actually feeling guilty about wasting precious time doing nothing. The only catch was that I had to slather on D's smelly citronella insect repellent and fan myself with a plastic folder to keep the mosquitos away.

But still, the experience was a lovely one. I'd love to do that even more. The whole staying in bed thing. But I'd love to do it even more with the aircon on.