April 28, 2007 - electricity and water

We´ve been getting a lot of electrical outages (and water outages at least elsewhere), and finally got some rain. The entire country is facing a water shortage (it is near the end of the dry season), and because 50% of the electricity is hydroelectric, electricity is also a problem. So, we are getting rolling blackouts (shades of California a few years ago, but lasting a bit longer). Yesterday we had no electricity from 9am - 1:30, and again from 3 - 7pm. Our fridge was warm this morning, so we are cooking all our meals today instead of going into Cartago. Everyone expects the electrical and water outages to continue for weeks, if not months.

We saw a picture of the local reservoir in the paper - it is *very* low. Even with a lot of rain soon, it will take quite a while to refill.