Who’s Got the Power?
At the airport, I bought a phone SIM so that I would have data and emergency calling capability anywhere I went. It seemed reasonable given that my co-teacher and I were headed off on our own for a month with no language. It worked great! I texted my husband on our drive to the next city and we talked on the phone the next morning before school.
Around 7:30 AM, I began to wonder if something was wrong with my phone. By 9:00 AM, after we had met with our supervisor and been oriented to the school, I knew something was up. When I connected to school wi-fi, messages came in. Concerned that my data was broken and I had purchased a SIM for nothing, I asked the IT lady for help. She informed me that the Minister of Education turned off all data in the country from 7:30-10:30 AM that day due to state exams. It’s to stop people from cheating!
I guess he’s got the power.
I have lost count of the number of brief power outages that I have taught, eaten, worked, and slept through. We don’t even pause any more. At this very moment, one of the longer blackouts persists.
Someone has got the power, but it isn’t me.
Blue Skies
I came to this city hoping to go to a recommended women’s gym called Blue Sky. My roommate was all in favor, so we made arrangements at the school for our driver to take us to the gym rather than taking us home a few days a week. A friend helped us set up a regular taxi ride home from there. So, the first day we planned to go, we confirmed multiple times, in English, with our point person who communicated “Blue Sky” to our driver. I heard him.
Sure enough, a few minutes after leaving school we were dropped off in front of a large building and one of the store fronts read, in bold English letters, “Blue Sky.” We went in, ready to pay for a one month membership and workout. The fact that there was a man behind the desk should’ve been our first clue.
We asked, “Blue Sky, gym?” He said, “Yes. Umm, men. Women (vague hand wave) park. Umm, animals. (Gesture out the door)”
We stepped back out into the blazing sun on an unfamiliar sidewalk asked some strangers for help, got nothing useful, and called all the divisions of the cavalry. After much back and forth in which we were told Blue Sky Women’s was around the corner and also that it was several miles away, our original driver came back for us.
Blue Sky Women’s is near the zoo and nowhere close to Blue Sky Men’s.
