As you often hear us say now, it is hot season, and the adjective "hot" does not by any measure encompass what the weather feels like for the next 4 months. Having power during this season is vital to yes, I am going to say it...survival.
Phnom Penh doesn't have the power grids to reach all of the neighborhoods and homes in the sprawling city, so everyday they shut off the power in areas and give it to another, and then switch it until everyone has had power for some part of the day. However, we live in a neighborhood that never has power outages because we live near many government officials, so when the power goes out, a call is made and boom the power is back on. We love our home, and mostly for this reason. A fan is a must around here.
Many of our friends don't have this luxury and are out of power for 5+ hours everyday. Yes, we are spoiled, and no we would never move.
But on Monday night, something went wrong and we didn't have power from 8:30pm to 5:30pm the next day. Yup...21 hours of no electricity, that is longer than most hurricane Sandy victims (I love the efficiency of the US). But I wish I could of been a fly on the wall or taped Chris and I's ideas on how to sleep through the 99 degree 89% humidity of Monday night without a fan or aircon.
Leanne's attempts:
8:30pm - Read by candlelight in our bedroom after opening the window and back door; apply 1st round of mosquito repellent.
9:00pm - Move to guest bedroom that has a better breeze coming through.
10:00pm - Take pillow and move to lying on the cold tile floor next to the bed.
11:00pm - Stupid dog won't stop barking and motos are still zooming by; apply 2nd round of mosquito repellent.
11:30pm - Can't handle the barking anymore, move to our bedroom (a little quiter) and lay on the tile floor with head inches from the back door to get a breeze coming in.
12:30am - Can't do the tile any longer, move to our bed and hope for the best; apply 3rd round of mosquito repellent.
5:00am - Wake up and take our perishable food from the fridge and go to Logos to shower (when the power goes out we also lose running water because it is on a pump) and eat my precious newly bought yogurt, cheese, and milk for breakfast (there is no way we are letting that food go bad.)
Chris' attempts:
8:30-9:30pm - Sit on the porch and watch the city turn on and off; apply 1st round of mosquito repellent.
9:30pm - Join Leanne in the guest bedroom and try to get a breeze.
9:40pm - Take pillow and mosquito racket to the porch and try to sleep outside.
10:30pm - Stupid dog won't stop barking and motos are still zooming by; apply 2nd round of mosquito repellent.
11:00pm - Decides he is super hungry and sits in the pitch black and blazing hot living room and downs a package of Ritz crackers and a zucchini muffin (yes he double fisted it).
11:30pm - Return to guest bedroom and with racket in hand kills I don't even know how many mosquitoes through the night and tries to sleep.
5:00am - Heat coffee on our propane stove (we love that it is not electric) and sit on the porch trying to recap the night. Leave for Logos to start the day of work.
On our way to our shower and to start our day we laughed at our actions and our hilarious attempts to cool off and get some sleep. But we are reminded that we do this rarely and our Khmer neighbors do this every night. We are thankful that we have fans, aircon, and a fridge to keep perishable food. Those around us don't live with such luxury.
Electricity pole and old hotel destroyed during the Khmer Rouge.
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