The past few days have been quite eventful to say the least. One chilly evening about four days ago the power went out. Not even thinking twice about it, as this is a daily occurrence, I continued whatever it was that I was doing at the time. Usually it comes back on within an hour at most; most of the power outages are only minor inconveniences. Within a few hours nothing had happened. Around 11:30pm, just as my computer was giving way to its exigent need for power, I decided to call it a night as sitting in the dark was a feckless pursuit.
This was the earliest I have gone to bed in I don’t know how long, and I didn’t even wake up till around 10:30am. I awoke from a beautiful, albeit frigid, night’s sleep filled with random, crazy dream adventures, to find a heater that was still off. Despite my hopes that the rising sun would bring with it electricity, this was not the case. Hours later and still, regardless of my musings as to finding the source of the problem, and inflammatory cursing at the power grid, the entire building was cold and dark. At this point it became evident that I would need to a) put up with another night eating and sitting in the dark, or b) find someplace else to go. My friend Ali, luckily, offered up his house as a place to bide my time until our power returned.
Kurdish hospitality took full advantage of the opportunity to prove its worth once again, and within minutes of my arrival I was warmly greeted with snacks and fruits. Ali’s family was very kind and although there were no beds, only pads surrounding the perimeter of the room, I slept fairly well. I was kept warm under a hand-made Kurdish blanket and a nearby gas heater. The only problem, or better put problems, were Ali’s pet birds whose incessant chirping shattered my peaceful slumber at 7:30am. These birds were the least of my problems for the next few days.
Upon arriving back at the Zeri Land flats and still seeing a powerless building, along with a few others, it was evident that there was a larger problem at hand. After seeing a massive hole in the ground next to the cafĂ© that sits in front of my apartment, we stopped to ask what happened. Evidently some idiot decided it would be fruitful to dig into the ground with metal rods; it is my sincere hope that there was a legitimate reason for this, but in his bungling attempt to do God knows what he managed to sever and burn the power lines for 8 buildings, mine being one of them. After speaking with apartment management we learned that the problem could be resolved in, “one hour, or 4-5 days.” Typical broad based answer which leaves you asking yourself, why did you bother? At this point I was already mentally calculating that this could very well turn into a 7+ day affair knowing the oxymoron that is Iraqi efficiency.
Not wanting to inconvenience Ali anymore, Paige and I spent the next night at Sabah’s house. They also live in Zeri Land, although in a different part of the large 20+ building complex. Hospitality was served in large helpings, but no amount of generosity could alleviate the fact that being a transient is, frankly, a pain in the ass. Apart from these annoyances, I was particularly aggrieved by the prospective loss of our freshly purchased groceries. Most important to me was about 5 pounds of chicken in the freezer and the 16 yogurts that I had bought the day before. After 2.5 days without power, and a puddle of water formulating from freezer ice, you naturally expect that much of the food is going to spoil.
The next evening, when the power finally came on, I victoriously took a hot shower after soccer and warmed up my leftovers in the microwave…bliss. I slept comfortably in my bed, and despite my oncoming cold, I was warm and happy to be “home.” I knew that I was getting sick but in my state of joy to be back at the apartment, I blithely decided that I wasn’t going to throw away any of the food in the fridge. I proceeded to enjoy a hearty meal of leftover oatmeal with honey, apples, and walnuts, and followed it up with delicious strawberry yogurt. Big mistake. Within hours my normal cold had turned into the worst feeling my stomach had endured in a long time. It was a brutal combination reminiscent of a terrible hangover combined with the flu and a Pacquiao jab to the gut. For hours I laid in bed unable to even drink water. Next time I am considering being “miserly,” aptly described by a friend, I will eat the $6 loss instead of chowing down food that will make me feel completely dreadful.
Now that the power is back on, and I am near 100%, all is finally well. Even though I can’t find good fried chicken to save my soul; the shower still gets water everywhere; and I still have to dry clothes outside in the winter, this is still my “home” away from home and I’m glad that things are back to some sense of normalcy.