Power is OUT!

Well it was.  Last Friday we had two power cuts/outages.  Both were during class hours.  One at ten in the morning for about forty five minutes.  The power went back on for about an hour and then back out for another ten or fifteen minutes.  Do you have any idea how difficult it is to keep a handle on a class of forth graders with the power out?  The classes immediately get hot and sticky.  The visibility in my rooms was reduced greatly; the kids had a hard time seeing the chalkboard.  As you might remember from your school days, it seemed like the prefect opportunity to start screaming and trying to run about.

Courtesy of deskofbrian.com

My 4-1 class was twenty five minutes in to a forty minute class when the second power cut hit.  There was about a five second pause when no one moved or said anything.  Then it was like a wave, the shouts of joy came rumbling down the halls and reached us at the end.  These kids erupted too and I gave them a minute to hoot and holler while I laughed.  Windows were opened. Desks moved closer to the board, and we slogged on. 

Courtesy of tulikapublishers.blogspot.com.  I'd love to get a hold of this book to read in class!

We had a loss of power last Wednesday as well, at three o'clock when we are permitted to leave at three thirty.  The rub of it was I'd just spent several hours doing all my paper correcting, things I didn't need the computer for.  I had entered two of the forty five scores I'd marked and the power went out.  We all spent the next thirty long minutes staring at each other and the blank screens.

Courtesy of picturesof.net

When I worked in Pluit, we would go through spells of daily power cuts.  The school turned in to an absolute broiler with most of the classrooms reaching one hundred degrees or more.  The kids sweat, the teachers sweat, it was easily the most miserable I've been over a prolonged period of time. I'll never forget the look on my three year old's faces as they turned in to absolute puddles.  They didn't understand what was happening or why and still trudged along like troopers.  It wasn't until the school finally got into action and got a generator that the power cuts stopped.  Murphy's Law (Sod's if you're from across the pond).  They'd affect school, but since the shared houses were on the same grid, we'd leave work only to sweat it out at home.  Now that I'm in central-south Jakarta I'm rarely affected by power cuts and I don't miss them a bit.

Courtesy of blog.greenearthbamboo.com.  We all ranged somewhere between THIS sweaty. . . .

Courtesy of carrotsncake.com.    And THIS SWEATY!!

Yesterday the school didn't suffer from power cuts, instead the wi-fi was out.  As a result you'll notice there is a lack of blog from both Friday and yesterday.  I do allow myself the weekends off (and this weekend that time was put to fantastic use) but try to journey on during the week, especially as I can normally write from school.  Please forgive the absence.  As a note, I will also be away starting Friday until next Thursday.  I am heading to Singapore for more fun than can be imagined.  I promise to blog all about it after so you might enjoy the ride too.