40 days of darkness

Well, not really.

Thursday:

I woke up at 9 am, and noticed na nakapatay ang electric fan and ilaw ko. I ignored it and tried to go back to sleep, when the sweet smell of garlic rice wafted through my open door. I got up, stepped out, and found the dining table as it usually was... except the fan above it was not spinning and the light above it did not shine. I then learned from my family na nawalan kami ng kuryente kaninang maagang umaga. Fine, I thought; it'll be back after a few hours - oh gahd, how wrong I was - and I washed my face in the bathroom, dimly lit by sunlight from outside.

I lounged around the house, and then I remembered: Hindi ko pa tapos Envi articles and TXV ko. They were due tomorrow. Aagh. So I panicked and flung out all the Time magazines in the small closets around the house, and skimmed through them for anything at all related to air pollution. I found something like two, adding to the four I already had before. I needed four more. And for that I needed to go online. *panic* Then I went to my phone and texted a message to Ahura Martin about extending deadlines due to power outages. Biglang... "Message sending failed" ang lumabas. I tried again and again...
"Message sending failed"
"Message sending failed"
"Message sending failed"
"Message sending failed"
"Message sending failed"

WTF?! naisip ko. Tapos I looked. Walang signal. As in nada. I double panicked and raced outside, where I got one bar of the much needed reception. After a while, nag-reply si Sir. "Deadlines remain the same unless school is cancelled tomorrow." sabi niya. AAAAAAGH! 'Di na 'ko pwede mag-apply for director! *sobgasppanicwaah* Umikot-ikot na lang ako sa bahay in panic, nagbasa ng "A Separate Peace," tapos umikot-ikot uli... tapos kumain ako compulsively ng biscochio (I eat under stress. Sugar + toast + butter + glass o' milk = :D).

Then it began. Malakaaaaaaaaaaaas na ulan at hangin at ulan at hangin at malameeeeeeeeeeeeg na hangin at maiiiiiiiingay na ulan. It was kinda cool. First time akong nanlamig sa loob ng bahay na hindi naka-aircon. Imagine me walking around na may kumot na nakasabit sa shoulders ko; parang si Linus from Peanuts. :D Hahahah. And while the wind was howling and stuff, naka-upo lang ako sa may isang sulok. Walang ginagawa. Habang 'yung pamilya ko tumatakbo sa kung saan-saan. Naghahanap ng kandila, pinapasok 'yung aso sa bodega, at nagsasara ng mga bintana. In-announce ng mom ko na walang pasok bukas. Medyo halata naman 'yun. So I rejoiced - andaming na-postpone na kung anu-ano. My family got into a candle-carving frenzy at the dining table, while I blissfully slept. *snore*

Friday:

Woke up ng walang kuryente pa rin. Naisipan bigla ng mom ko na pumunta ng Celeb. So we went. On the way, we witnessed the scene of devastation in the UPD campus. Trees were uprooted, and the beautifully peaceful scenery that was UP's was now beautifully messed up. Past the fallen and torn trees, we finally got to Celebrity Sports Club - and fully powered sila! and nag-swimming ako. Parang I prepared for our practical and stuff. Nag-enjoy ako, actually. And ang sarap maligo. :D I continued my TXV on my mom's laptop (Celeb has wi-fi) but we had to go soon after. So afterwards we headed home, and here I did practically nothing...

...well, I continued "A Separate Peace" and began my Geom homework, but do those really count as something? Then my sisters had to go back to Celeb because they have ballet class. Naturally, we all went along, making any excuse to get out of the house. Upon arrival, we literally lounged around the lounge. I read a strange but intriguing book titled "The Bible Code" (this thing is really creepy, someone please relate) and tweaked my unfinished TXV a bit. A little while later we ate dinner at the Celeb grill (honestly, the only decent food they serve in that place is at their grill). I love sisig. We prolonged our stay aaaaaalll the way until 10:00, when Celeb had begun to close already. Entering the realm of darkness that was our house, I slipped into bed, afraid of what I might have seen in the shadows of my room. [You try sleeping in my room with my imagination, and with enough light to create shadows and faces on your walls and things. Eeeep.]

Saturday:

Woke up (once again) to an electricity-deprived room. I had agreed to going with my older brother to Philcoa, so we could finish whatever work we had to do at any of the Alva's computer stations. So we go there, and I became moderately productive - finding articles for Envi and Chem, and pounding away at my TXV story. I also texted kuya like hell - and I love it when we talk about things like that. xD

Coming home, I decided na magpaka-nerd, so I bring out my Chem stuff and study for the inevitable LT na pinostpone for Tuesday. And I enjoyed it! I actually understood dimensional analysis and stoichiometry and combustion analysis and all that other Chem related crap! (no offense to all the people there who like Chem or Sir Segs) My neko-chan also called, which made things feel ten times lighter - it was fun listening to her talk happily; it made me happy, too. Things were looking up in our powerless house - the Milenyo blackout seemed to be better than my horrible brownout experiences before. And then...

*click-ick* (tunog ng nag-on na printer)
*squeaaaaal!* (tunog ng babaeng sumigaw nang nag-on ang mga street lamp)
"Ohmagahd!" (mom ko na sumisigaw)
"WOOOOOOT!" (me.)

MAY KURYENTE NAAAAAA!!!!

Rejoicing and jumping up and down with glee, I had actually done it.

I surviiiiiiiiiived.

I survived nights of pitch-black darkness.

I survived nights of sweltering heat.

I survived nights with minimal contact from the outside world.

I survived the Milenya blackout!