More Challenges

POWER! Quite a word that. Now that load-shedding has arrived in Lesotho, I fully appreciate the concept of electricity being POWER. When it's out--when you've come to rely on it--you can feel quite...powerless indeed!

Last week I'd invited Mamoruti, along with Tokiso, Andy, Sarah and Dean, over for dinner. Who are these people? Well...

Mamoruti: going to UBC in August on scholarship, as previously mentioned

Tokiso: a brilliant young Masotho who was in the top (I think 5 or 10)academically in the country, so was given a full scholarship to Lester B. Pearson United World College on Vancouver Island where he's been for the past two years. He's the Masotho pro on adjusting to Canadian life and culture, so he was going to give Mamoruti his insights. (He's now off on full scholarship to Brown University.) An inspiration he is!

Andy: Sarah and Dean's neighbor and volunteer at Mavis' Orphanage.
Sarah and Dean: Tokiso was Sarah's language teacher before he left and they are great friends. Dean is Sarah's husband.

So, there are the people connections. A house full of company coming and the power goes out at 4:00 p.m. No problem, I think, I'll just wait until 5:30ish. If no power, I'll order pizza. Mamoruti shows up. No power still at 5:30 so I phone Scooter's Pizza. Their power is out too. Oh, oh... Hmmm.

I phone Sarah. "Do you have power?" Yes they do! So I beg the use of their kitchen, Mamoruti and I pack up all the food, and we head two blocks down to Sarah and Dean's. Tokiso is already there so the two start visiting while I get the food going.

I start the process, only to have the power go out there. Dinner must go on, so I keep cooking. On one side of me is Andy and on the other is Sarah. Each of them is holding a candle so I can see what I'm cooking. We chat; we visit; we laugh over the craziness of the situation. No power is kind of nice, socially.

Now, when I cook, I like to do the feast thing, so I’ve made dough for fresh rolls. Not to be deterred I make one batch—at least enough for dinner—and when ready, those get popped in Sarah and Dean’s tiny oven. Meanwhile, on the stove top, all four burners are ready to go. Great care is needed to ensure a wrong move doesn’t send one of the pans flying onto the floor. This is one tiny stove. No margins for error.

Dinner is finally done, served, and the power comes back on at some point in the process.

Ah, power! These outages are becoming common here. At least once per day we are out, and it’s still somewhat random in our neighborhood. And we are fortunate. The downtown business core has regular outages each morning approximately 9-noon. Just imagine what that does to business.

Just ask me. I spent two days sitting in a freezing cold hair salon getting my hair plaited…but that’s another story.

Meanwhile, dinner’s cooking once again. This time WITH power…so far, anyway. This time Annie, Michelle, their mom’s their cousin and Sarah and Dean will join us. Ah, the first one has arrived—Oh, it’s Benno. Time to go check dinner!