My friend Bean has just written a wonderful post about Western perceptions of Africa.
I thought of it this morning when I woke up and there was an unscheduled power cut. But you know, I don´t live in a mud house or a tin shack, and I´m lucky enough to have power most of the time. I don´t like what power cuts are doing to our economy. And I am unable to function without my morning cup of tea. But really, there´s not much to complain about compared to Nigeria.
Mim and I were just about to head off to Hyde Park* to get our caffeine fix, when Ceremony started blasting out from the sound system (bizarre, as it wasn´t playing when the power went off). My spirits immediately lifted and I tripped off to the kitchen to switch on the kettle.
* All the shops here proudly display "we trade during power outages" signs in their windows.
Wednesday, 25 June 2008
"Darkest Africa"
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2 comments:
I remember during the first Koeberggate Disaster, we were shopping at Pick 'n Pay and the lights went out. We were tempted to loot, but instead kept diligently shopping in the dark. Some of the staff appeared like Florence Nightingale with candles and it was actually quite fun, especially seeing as the less stoic among us bolted, and that meant shorter queues at the tills. I must say, however, that this would cease to be fun if I still had to deal with it all the time!
When I lived with Gabriel in CT, half of our house was on one electricity grid, and the other half on another - always handy during powercuts!
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