Christmas in May

You're probably wondering why I am constantly on about electricity recently. I've never showed an interest in it before (excluding last year's Pink House Debate on whether it cost more to heat water for tea in the microwave or on the stove--I am sure that it has to be the microwave that uses more power, right??)....well electricity has never THREATENED MY LIFE SO REGULARLY before.

First there were the weekly power cuts. Fine, but dangerous when the traffic lights all of a sudden stop working. Then, I got randomly stuck in an elevator. It lasted less than 3 minutes, but I am super claustrophobic, so I was already well on my way to hyperventilating. And now, I just got the hugest shock of my life. I was holding a string of Christmas lights and all of a sudden my whole body was jolting and crackling. In addition to the fact that South Africa doesn't have as many safety regulations or the culture of litigation that would ensure that Christmas lights don't shock the fuck out of small children during the Holiday season, South African sockets also produce double the output of American ones (220 volts versus 110). When my computer is charging and I brush my hand over the top I can feel the electric current.
I am telling you, South Africans are HARDCORE.

More clumsiness and pain for the day:
I stuck my hand in the dishwater and it came out with a huge gash. The worst part is that I somehow didn't even notice at first, so I tracked blood all over the kitchen and then had to clean all over again. Hot damn, though, I love band-aids like nothing else. In the spirit of Christmas lights, I chose a Santa one for tonight.


Essay of the week: Why the Rwandan Patriotic Front should not be portrayed as the hero in movies like Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April...because it misleads the impressionable Western public who then validate Rwanda's new (well, new in 1994) RPF-led government, and allow them to commit MORE mass killings along with Zaire (now Dem Rep of Congo). I love it when my essays make me feel all Zinn-ish.






Me: "Why is that woman wearing such a skanky tube top?"
My dad: "Because she is HOT."
He was actually referring to temp....no really.