We’ve often been without lights in the past year and a half since we’re here. It happens, and generally no one is alarmed. So, we wait, and eventually the lights come back on.
But lately, the lights have been going off more frequently for seemingly no reason. Earlier this week, I noticed that the upper house had electricity while we didn’t. Hmm…
I mentioned it to Percy Friday evening. Of course, he was sure he could go around to the electric poles and find the problem and fix it. I’d noticed that when we had strong wind, we’d lose electricity. I was sure he’d be electrocuted, so I told him we’d wait until Monday and call the electric company.
Rafael’s came for supper Friday. We started out without lights, but they came on later… and then went off… and then came on. Rafael was helping me try to connect my U.S. bank account to PayPal, something neither of us had tried to do before.
It didn’t work. He tried setting up his own PayPal account to connect his local bank account to. That seemed to have worked. We did a transfer from my PayPal to his, which worked flawlessly. If the transfer to his bank works, then I’ll finally be able to get money from the States here without large fees. That will be a huge blessing!
Thank you to each of you who shared a gift with us after the robbery. We are very grateful. I was relieved to be able to make the transfer with Rafael so I could pay Percy.
Yesterday morning, we woke to no lights again. This was becoming a real concern because of our freezer. It had been without electricity numerous times this week. I asked Percy to call the electric company to explain our location; I still don’t know the best way to help people find our house since there are no house numbers or road names nearby.
Percy insisted on checking the poles himself. He found one supply cable that was loose and corroded. He decided he would just fix it himself. I was sure he was going to become a Percy McNugget.
But he was very careful. He used two rags as protection for his hands. Completely safe. Within twenty minutes, he’d moved the cable and secured it. We now have lights! He’s my hero.
Steph and I had wanted to go get coffee for our mensiversary. We haven’t gone out on a date without needing to also do business in Cusco in longer than I remember. But we weren’t sure if the roads would be open.
Things seemed to be calmed down Friday, but after the market at Compone was filled with people, a bunch of protesters came out and blocked the roads, forcing the police to become involved as no one could leave market.
Steph and I left by mid-afternoon yesterday. We were feeling drops of rain by the time we got out to the road. Thankfully, we caught a combi right away. In town, we were able to find a bus right away, too. The combi ride was S/1.5 each, which is down from S/2, but the bus was S/3 each, which is up from S/2.
We found a taxi at Plaza Santiago that took us across Cusco to Jirón Sacsayhuman next to Plaza Real. That is where the coffee shop is located.
On the way to Cusco, I received a message from a friend who said he wanted to give us a small gift. He said we had to use the gift on supper or something special. How sweet!
So, we stopped at the hamburger shop that was right next door to the coffee shop. They had bacon cheeseburgers! With real cheddar! And pickles! We were pretty pleased.
We enjoyed a relaxing meal followed by a delightful coffee. We left just before dark, getting us home around 7:30. China had everything under control, and everyone was ready for bed. It was a rejuvenating time.
Thank you to each of you who messaged or called yesterday. I haven’t replied to everyone yet, but your wisdom and encouragement lifted us up. Numerous of you said we needed to take some time to do something away, and we were able to take your advice immediately this time. 😉
Juan David 