And then the lights went out...

You know you’re in Kenya when…

1. Power rationing begins, and our apartment is plunged into darkness. It’s front page news today – black-outs across the country at peak hours as Kenya Power try to manage a major shortfall in electricity generation caused by the drought (hydro-power produces a lot of the electricity here); as well as because of broken down generators, rising demand, lack of investment in infrastructure, and the slow pace of energy projects. Mum – you would have been disappointed in me, as we had no candles in the house. But we did find three torches. I’ll buy candles today…

2. The internet is down. Again.

3. Yesterday it rained, so I was urged to leave work early in order to get home. The traffic here grinds to a stand-still when it rains (true story – despite leaving early it took me 2 hours to get home). I thought about mocking Kenyans about this, but then I remembered the recent snow in the UK which caused national havoc (and the hilarity this caused amongst my Canadian friends). It's all a matter of what you're used to, I suppose. I thought rain might be more welcome, given the circumstances, but for folk in Nairobi it seems to be more of an annoyance. I guess they're not the farmers...

And as I go about my day, the voice in my head recites “flexibility adaptability flexibility adaptability flexibility adaptability…”