Power outages

I briefly noted on my first message after arriving in Ecuador that we had a power outage, but I should say more about them. Power outages have been happening here several times per week, on a scheduled basis. Most of Ecuador's electricity comes from hydroelectric plants [no surprise there, with lots of precipitation and lots of elevation difference, it really makes sense], but they have had less rain than usual over the last year or so, so to conserve power, they have been shutting down power to different areas of Ecuador for about 3 hours at a time, 3-4 times per week. Apparently most people are aware ahead of time when these outages are going to occur, but we are not in the loop, so it is always a surprise to us when the power goes off.

Yesterday afternoon we had an outage from about 2-5, and then we had one from 4-7 this afternoon/evening. The problem with that was that it gets dark here by about 6:20, so we really had nothing to do until the power came back on. Actually, we have a gas stove, so Susan fixed dinner by the light of a flashlight, so it was almost like camping out. It was also irritating because we could see that some other parts of the city had power. Oh well, we have been told that they are planning to end the scheduled outages on December 15, as the reservoirs have been filling up somewhat.

The weather here is much like it is in Los Alamos in July and August - mostly clear in the morning, but with thunderheads and sometimes rain in the afternoon and evening. We had a nice rain last night, and I saw it raining a few miles away late this afternoon. However, we get much less lightning and thunder than in New Mexico. I have heard some thunder, but only a few times.

And as promised, here are a few pictures. This is a picture of our kitchen. It is probably twice the size of our kitchen and dining room at home, and is nicely laid out. The window faces north, which provides very nice light, and there is a large skylight over the dining area so it is very well-lit during the day.

And speaking of kitchens and eating, here is an avocado that we bought in the market. At this size, they only sell two of them for a dollar.
Samuel and Ben should be arriving in Quito in a couple of hours. I told them to e-mail me on Ben's laptop if they didn't make their flight, and I haven't heard anything, so I assume that they made it. They should have an Internet connection when they reach their hotel in Quito, so we should hear from them then. They will be on down here tomorrow, but I don't know yet whether they will take the bus or fly.