Day 5: Insomnia and Blackouts

"Put your kerosene lamps up in the air. Put your kerosene lamps up in the air"

I had properly planned my sleeping on the plane to ensure that I had minimal jetlag. Unfortunately, I still had difficulties sleeping. Most nights, I manage two to three hours before I wake up in the middle of the night. I am not taking any naps during the day, so for most days, I have been functioning on 4-5 hours of sleep. Initially, I suspected the insomnia was because of the itchy mosquito net. Now I suspect the heat. It is not extremely hot here, just warm. I have issues sleeping in warm temperatures. Usually, I either leave the window open to make the room cold or just use a fan. I have been using that here since day one and it has not helped. I hope to at least have a night's rest of 8 hours before I live in two days.

So when I wake up in the middle of the night, I watch TV, read a book or read Bible passages. The previous day, while I was reading a book, the lights went off. It was not the first time. There had been five blackouts the same day. In my first two days, I experienced only one blackout. According to Josiah, blackouts on campus are rare because universities have a high priority for power. At each blackout, the Tanzanians would say something akin to "Welcome to Tanzania" or "This is Tanzania for you." I just smile and laugh. I tell them about my NEPA days during my years in Ife, Nigeria. After all, the blackouts in Tanzania lasted for a maximum of 2 hours whereas in Nigeria, it was usually a minimum of 2 days.

NEPA is an acronym for National Electric Power Authority, the previous name of the organisation that managed Nigeria's electricity. If you want to hear some hateful vitriol, come talk to me about NEPA. I haven't met an organisation I hated more than NEPA. I probably never will.