Here are a few fun examples:
I have been planning on updating this blog for several days now, however during the middle of the week, the internet in the office where I work stopped functioning. This happens frequently, with the internet normally magically returning a few hours later. This time, however, we weren’t so lucky. It’s still out. TIA
Since I’m used to the internet going out in my usual office, I have scoped out several other labs on campus where I can get online. On Wednesday I went to these other labs only to realize that electricity was out all over campus. No computers at all. TIA
I usually carry my laptop to and from campus with the idea that I’ll get some work done at home. I occasionally even follow through with that thought. Last week, however, when I arrived at home I was greeted with a propane lamp; the electricity wasn’t working. Again, this is common for electricity to go out different sections of Kampala, especially at night (I’ll give a nerdy explanation of this in a later posting), but this time it was special…the electricity was only out in the house where I stayed. The reason: the jimmy-rigged main feeder electricity wires were burning up (more in depth explanation at the bottom of this message). TIA
As you can see, electricity is not incredibly reliable over here. This is true for both the frequency of it working and the actual quality of electricity supplied. As you can imagine, I’m fairly paranoid of my laptop getting zapped by an electricity surge, so I brought my travel surge protector from home. However, the instant that I plugged the surge protector in for the first time, there was a huge flash/spark followed by an immediate blackout and smell of burnt plastic in my room. The reason: my surge protector was only designed for 60 Hz electricity. They run 50 Hz over here, which meant that I fried the inner circuitry and got to buy a replacement that would work on the electricity here. TIA
The shower that I use in the mornings has a lever that toggles a valve between flow for the faucet and flow for the showerhead. That lever broke two days ago – when I was about to jump in the shower after a run. I was drenched in sweat, so skipping the shower wasn’t an option. Instead, I get to just splash myself with water from the faucet. TIA
These are a handful of the fun moments I’ve had, and I’m sure that there are plenty more to come! It actually isn’t as bad as it sounds though. If anything, it makes me appreciate all that we can take for granted in a developed country. Being flexible definitely is a key trait while living here, and accepting that there will be plenty of fun stories (although they may not be that much fun the moment they happen) to share.
Well, the electricity is flickering right now - which means it's time for me to go!
Cheers!
Chris
P.S. I'm finally starting to get some pictures posted. You can find them at http://picasaweb.google.com/cwdeal
P. P.S. Electricity explanation for you fellow nerds out there: The main electricity feeder into the house is fused before it reaches the breaker panel. These fuses are all located on the exterior of houses and had recently all been stolen. As a quick fix, someone had taken a leftover cable and just short-circuited the fuse by connecting the two leads where the fuse was supposed to go. Two problems: (1) the main connection into the house had been partially severed during all of this and (2) the wire used for short-circuiting wasn't quite big enough to handle the current being drawn. TIA :)
Pic: Sunset over the Nile
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