Que dia!

Upon entering my apartment in BA after having flown back here from New York, I noticed there was no electricity. I went downstairs and the portera (building superintendent) walked down to the basement where the main electrical breakers are and mine was off. She didn't know why, but she reset it and everything was fine....until yesterday.

Yesterday morning (Friday), my electricity went out three times in three hours, each time requiring me to go down to the basement with the portera, where she had to unlock the electrical closet and reset the breaker. Well, she finishes work at 7 pm so when the electricity went off at 8 PM, I realized I would be spending the night (80 degrees and 95% humidity) without air conditioning. It wasn't pleasant. I spent the early part of my night at a friend's, drinking wine and around 1 am, I headed to a boliche (club) to stay cool, because I knew it was air conditioned. Around 4 am, I stumbled home and tossed and turned for a good 30 minutes because the heat was so overwhelming. Around 4:30, I eventually fell asleep and got a solid 4 hours of rest before waking up in sweat.

This morning, I decided that something had to be done. The portera recommended I call an electrician named Cacho, who is the portero for a building across the street. I would see him every day and wave, but I never realized I would desperately need his services. Around noon, after resetting the breaker twice only to lose electricity shortly after, Cacho came up to my apartment. He examined my fuse box and told me the wiring throughout the apartment was new (less than three years old). We then went to the basement and he tested the wiring there and said that it was also newly updated. Just when we were both ready to throw up our hands without a solution, there was a huge bang in the elevator shaft. We rushed over to it and Cacho went back to the basement to see if my breaker caused the bang. It did.

Apparently, the electricians who rewired my apartment only did the job up to the door, leaving an old 30-40 year old wire still attached and delivering electricity into my apartment. Well tha wire was run down the elevator shaft and, over the past few months, wore thin and eventually became exposed. After Cacho turned the breaker on again in the basement, we could see sparks shooting out from the wire, providing us the solution to the problem. Since it is extremely hazardous to keep the old wire in place (especially in an elevator shaft), we mutually decided it would be best if he rewire it to conform with electrical code. So tonight, he taped up the exposed wire so at least I have electricity until Monday when he and I will make a trip to Easy (similar to Home Depot) to buy 40 meters of electrical cable and spend the rest of the day installing it.

With residents of Buenos Aires often getting a bad rap for their unwillingness to assist others, I was really, really pleased and grateful for the help I received today - from Maria (the portera), to Cacho the electrician, to a neighbor on the 8th floor who offered to lend me 20 pesos to buy a phone card (I only had US dollars at the time) and offered to cook for me since I didn't have electricity - the hospitality and willingness to help from my neighbors overwhelmed me.

While it was obviously a stressful day today and I am thrilled that I will go to bed in an air conditioned room tonight, I remain thankful for having the material things I have that many in this city do not.