In Which I Experience Frustration

Ok. So, I kind of knew what I was in for when I signed up of study abroad in Africa. I knew that there would not really be the conveniences to which I am accustomed. I knew that things work a little differently here. I knew that. I did. But I guess that knowing it intellectually and physically experiencing it are two totally different kettles of fish. The power was out today. For the entire workday. It went out at about 9am and didn't come back on until after 5pm. There was no power anywhere on campus. Except, of course, the building that have generators. But it is only the really important office buildings (thankfully including the International Programs Office) that have generators. So all of the students were kind of stuck. No power in the dorms, no power in the classrooms. I find it rather amazing that there wasn't some kind of mass uprising. I was talking with some of the other USAC girls, and we decided that we would never take things like internet access and air conditioning for granted ever again. I think that this is a bit overly opptimistic. I think that Americans will be Americans. Day to day life is much easier in a place with dependable utilities. That is just a face. And it is difficult to adjust to a different way of life. This is also a fact. I think that it is very unusual for the average American to experience life without modern amenities. I think that I am firmly in the camp of people who cannot live without the trappings of American life. I grew up with them. They are a part of the way I navigate the world around me. But while I'm here, I suppose I could give it the old college try. Do as the Romans do, and all that jazz. But I am really not looking forward to lugging buckets of water up three flights of stairs when the water goes out. Knock on wood, please.
I think that it is worth it to be here, though. I'm being very anthropological, attempting participant observation. I once visited a friend from Case, whose family was in a quite different financial situation than my family is. He made a joke to me about viewing my time with him as an opportunity to observe as an anthropologist. I actually took him seriously for some parts of the experience.
This is a deviation from my "people are people everywhere" spiel, I don't think that I'm going back on that. I think that what I'm commenting on is the situation of institutions in Africa. The institutions established post-independence were often based on failed colonial systems or were affected by corrupt and transient governments. African countries have not been given the opportunity to freely work to build infrastructure. There are just too many other things to worry about. I don't know if this makes my situation here better or worse.
Perhaps that is my lesson from this: that there are two sides to the coin, for every sweet there is a sour, nothing is every only black or only white.

Side note: I think that it would be interesting to study behavior in the large markets here from an anthropological standpoint, as well as an economic standpoint. I think that there are systems opperating that are very different from how Westerners tend to view such exchanges.