blackout

We didn't have electricity for most of this evening--actually, the entire country of Ecuador didn't have electricity for most of this evening. I'm not sure exactly what the cause was (certainly not a volcanic eruption) but we lost power twice, and so at one point this evening I was grading papers by candlelight. The best part of the rather inconvenient situation was watching the intersection just down the street from us cope with a lack of working traffic lights at rush hour.My roommate, Andrew, says that the traffic jam was a perfect metaphor for Ecuador: people are out for their own benefit and don't think about what will help the greater good, and then things get messy.