When, I chose 'Off the Grid' as the name for my blog (and, yeah Dad, I'll give you credit, you helped come up with the name) I meant to evoke the idea of going off the American grid, off the known path, and stepping into a new adventure. I had no idea that the title "Off the Grid" would literally come to fruition.
I am usually a person who worries about everything, who plans for every possible worst-case scenario and who overanalyzes everything. It is for that reason that I find it interesting that I was so unprepared for my adventures here in Ecuador. I don't mean to say that I don't have enough sunscreen and bug-repellent to last a lifetime, or that I forgot to pack my underwear (Dad made sure to ask me before we left the house), it means that I did not really grasp what living in a developing country would be like. I never really thought through what life would be like, I just told myself, "You went to Spain and thrived, you can surely go to Ecuador and survive".
When I got here then, I was hit with major culture-shock. Whether it was remembering that I couldn't drink water out of the faucet (after 2.5 months I still try to fill my water bottle up at the faucet), or passing shack after shack on buses from Quito to the jungle, or having to constantly be aware of where I am walking for fear I will fall into giant manholes (really, there are 10 ft. deep holes 5 feet wide that just appear at intersections with no caution tape), everything was different. A lot of this is due to the fact that I am living in a developing town in a developing country. Sidewalks are surprisingly unwalkable, chickens roam the streets, roosters crow at all hours of the day, hospitals store materials in old gatorade bottles, recycling is unheard of, raw meat covered with flies hangs from hooks in open air stores, and many homes in town consist of tin roofs perched atop old boards haphazardly nailed together. This was all incredibly overwhelming to me in the beginning, and it took a few weeks before this became the new "normal" for me. A supportive technical team and welcoming and ever-worried neighbors helped with this transition.
My new normal has literally taken me 'Off the Grid'. I've briefly mentioned this before, but starting the first week in November, all of Ecuador began rationing power. Ecuador's power is hydroelectric and since Ecuador was suffering from a major drought, this meant we did not have power. Ecuador bought power from both Peru and Colombia, but this was not enough, and so, starting that first week of November up until today, daily scheduled power outages have happened in cities throughout Ecuador. At first these outages were 6 hours in length, then 4, then 3, and now just 2. In the beginning these outages disrupted my days, but soon I began planning around them, charging my computer when there was power, making sure my various lanterns and flashlights were ready to go, planning my meals (I quickly learned it is no fun to chop vegetables in the dark), and making sure I always had a good book to read. While the constant rain pounding on my roof since 4 this morning proves that Ecuador (at least the Oriente) is no longer in a drought, the power outages are still present. I am told the outages are scheduled to stop the 21st of December, though who knows if it will actually happen.
Water has also been touch-and-go. While I only drink filtered water that is delivered weekly in large jugs, I cook and clean with the tap water. During my first few weeks here, the water went out from 8:00 until 4:00 daily while road construction on the other end of town happened. I found these water outages just as disruptive as the power outages. More than once I came home from a day in the field, covered in chicken poop, dirt, sweat and bug repellent, made a beeline for the (cold) shower, and discovered that there was no water. Today the water has gone out once again, but this time not due to construction, but because of, according to my coworkers, the massive amount of rain we received that is overwhelming the water plant. I woke this morning at 9:00, ready for a day of laundry and cleaning, and discovered,when I went to brush my teeth that the plan would have to be scrapped.
When I get frustrated with these inconveniences, I often look out my windows at the mist settling on the tree-covered mountains and think "I live in one of the most beautiful places in the world". And in that way, living 'Off the Grid' has become my new normal.
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