When the lights go out

Things are heating up in BA, both literally and figuratively. On Thursday, when most of you all were enjoying turkey and some crisp weather, the temperature hit more than 40 degrees celsius in the city here. That's more than 100 degrees fahrenheit.

 

Besides a serious shedding of clothing and a run on ice cream, the heat wave has caused major power outages in the region. When the lights go out here, access to drinking water becomes difficult and traffic lights all over the city shut down. As you can imagine, water and traffic lights are serious necessities in a city of more than 3 million people.  The only word to describe the result of this situation: kilombo, which translated (approximately) means "downright craziness."

I'm thankful that my building only lost power for a few hours while I was at work. However, my neighborhood, Villa Crespo, is one of those most affected by the outage, and some people haven't had power or water since Tuesday. Last night the issue came to a climax when protesters shut down parts of Corrientes - the main thoroughfare that I can see from my bedroom window - marched down the street banging pots and pans and yelling that the power company needs to fix the utility issues.

"Villa Crespo 5 days without water, without light"

There were TV cameras and the procession stopped for a good hour a block away from my house to protest, shutting down a major intersection and basically causing havoc. 

Clarin says that the power outages continue today. However, I have noticed that the traffic light outside my window is working, which means I can now cross the street without my heart in my throat.  Of course, Amanda and I paid a little visit to the grocery store and now have a cabinet full of bottled water. Por las dudas.