Iftar under the candle light

Iftar under the candle light sounds great, but it's not. It's one thing to enjoy iftar under the candle lights for one night, it's completely a different story if it's something constant, which it is. Since the start of the holy month, with the exception of today, we have lacked electricity for 22 hours of the day. We devour every minute of that hourly electricity we're getting. We often have so much to do during that previous moment. When the heavenly lights turn on, we jump with excitement. One of us quickly steps outside to turn on the water pump and the other gets the vacuum cleaner. Some days we both just turn on the computer and pray that internet connects quickly before electricity shuts again. Before we sleep my husband and I make sure to charge our two phones, two computers and of course our re-chargeable small lamp. At least if we charge those when electricity is cut we're able to use word for work or watch a movie on the computer to entertain ourselves.

Trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Walking down the streets of Sana'a you still hear the honking horns and the loud shouting of people. You also hear a lot of "trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" the generators that are in many stores. Everyone needs one now, and in fact yesterday we went on a four hour chase to try and get a tiny one. They are overly priced now, and in high demand. We will soon join this group of inconsiderate neighbors as we will have to buy a generator to be able to function. Internet is a must for work and light is necessary for my sanity. Yes, I truly am a product of the 21^st Century.

Sensory Overload for the past week, I've been on edge, with ears as strong as satellite antenas. I hear EVERYTHING and anything that sounds remotely close to a gun shot or an explosion I stop and think about it. I then turn to get a confirmation from my husband or anyone near by that what we heard was NOT an explosion. Given that we are having DAILY random fireworks and lots of thunderstorms, it's often hard to differentiate between thunder, fireworks and explosions. This is making me on edge with every little sound and making my husband really irritated by my constant questions.

Need a salary increase please $$$$ To go to our favorite cafe it used to cost us 250 Yemeni Riyal one way by taxi, now it's at least 500 YR. Fuel prices used to be 1,500 YR per dabba (20 liters), when fuel shortage occured it went up to almost 9,000 YR in the black market. It now went down to 3,500 YR and it is widely available (hence the trafic jams). While the prices has doubled from the original 1,500 to 3,500 YR I'm surprised that people are not complaining and in fact happy that we at least have fuel. Unlike the ghost town that Sana'a became for a short while, traffic jams are now back. The worry I have, and what seems very likely is that these price increases in fuel, transportation, and basic food items will stick even if prices are reduced.
But despite all these negative things, Sana'a seems to be coming back to life slowly. Sana'a is experiencing a typical Ramadan when life at night is the norm, but with major setbacks.

Of course these are very minute things compared to the greater issues facing people in Yemen such as death, human rights violations, hospitals that can't function, displaced people, malnutrition, water crisis.. etc.. the list can go on. This post is just a personal reflection of my day to day and as someone on twitter said, the accumulation of small distresses.

What electricity cuts mean for us?

** i was supposed to post this at 11:00 pm on the 11th but I only got back electricity 5 minutes ago (5 p.m. on the 12)

So, what does electricity cuts really mean?


It means the most obvious.. No electricity = no lights. It means reading and writing under a candle light, and while that sounds so nice, it's really just when you're watching a movie, in reality after a while it your eyes start to hurt.

It also means shortage of water. Why? because the water pump needs power and a long period of no electricity, means the pump no longer works. Ok so no problem, we'll just buy water right? Well, water now is three times the price. Even if we theoretically had water, no electricity means the water heater will not be working as it depends on the electricity, so IF we had water, we would only have cold water.

Long electricity cuts also means that everything in the fridge will go bad. You can't really buy much for fear it might get spoiled. You have to buy things on a daily basis, and for people that are super busy these days, and can't buy food on a daily basis it means our meals are limited to pasta, rice & canned goods. (I'm not complaining, thank God for this as many people can't afford basic food items).

No electricity also means no internet or TV. If you work from home and need internet (like I do), you must find an alternative place to work. For me I've practically moved into two separate coffee shops that I often frequent.

No electricity also means you can't charge your phone, your computer, or your batter =for your camera. Sometimes I plug those things in the wall just in case electricity turns on while I'm asleep. You never know when they decide to turn it on.

It also means that when you finally sleep, you may be woken up in the middle of the night by the lights in the room when the electricity suddenly returned at 3 a.m.

It also means you can't use your vacuum cleaner nor the washing machine. The other day, when electricity turned back on, I jumped to get the vacuum cleaner, I'm not sure when I'll see it again.

I used to love the romantic atmosphere of candles, now I'm starting to hate them.

All this however is luxury compared to the fact that electricity cuts impact patients in hospitals who sometimes die due to the lack of appropriate medical care.

So, why don't we buy a generator for electricity?

Well, petrol is in shortage and it's double or three times the price. We would have to spend hours getting gas, or try to find someone with connection that will get us the petrol. That would be ironic during a revolution when we are calling for change and an end to “corruption.” :)

In my village, we don't have electricity at night. I know this and because I know it, I accept it and I don't complain when I go. But here, we are supposed to have electricity, and I'm not mentally prepared for these daily cuts. The infrequent electricity is almost a tease. Maybe it would be better if we just never had electricity. Also, it's quite irritating to live behind the Parliament building (just 50 meters away) and see it very WELL lit, while we are in total darkness.

I just finished typing this but can't upload it because there is no electricity, and therefore no internet. My computer's battery will shut down in approximately 19 minutes. If I post this on June 11 it means electricity returned, if not, I'll wait until he next day.