Festival and Power In Essaouira

Whew!!! Power is back! We were without power for about 48 hours. Which is a huge problem for them here in Essaouira because they are hosting the Gnaoua World Music Festival. In one way we were lucky. Elena booked her flight out of Morocco back home to her hometown to see her Mom just in time--just seconds before the power went out. Literally seconds--like 10 seconds. Whew!!! It took her a long time to find a reasonably priced flight. Were were trying stuff with Ryanair, etc, but we finally found a single flight. It has one problem--an overnight layover in Milan, but otherwise, perfect and only about CAD$350.

But after that, no power. There was a small restoration of power at night, and all were relieved, but it was shortlived. We had a little milk that Elena was able to move the next morning. But Our white wine and beer warmed up. We have a wheel of Camembert which got warm and is right now rechilling.

The last two nights, we used my rechargeable flahslight and lantern to read. It is nice to have those. They provide good light and are rechargeable by cranking or cell-phone recharger. Yay!!! They were definitely a good buy. I didn't expect them to be needed already in Morocco.

I went out to watch how the Moroccan Electricity company deals with the problem. They trucked in 3 (at least, maybe more) generators. They had everyrhing there. I think it was a major event for them. There was a guy in a dark blue suit ordering technicians around. People were laying wire high along the wall, they dug up at least 2 chucks of sidewalk where there were wires. A guy with some sort of sensor (Hall effect current transformer?) was trying to detect the presence of current near one of the holes in the ground. More Moroccan Electric trucks than you can shake a stick at.

Now it is almost 3pm. If the electricity hold out until 4pm, Elena gets a free scarf (we made a bet about the electricity). They are only 20 dh (US$3).

Today is the first day of the festival. Many foreigners are here. Their estimates for the number of people range up to 200,000. I don't see how they can fit that many people in this city which is not all that big. But, we'll see.

There are supposedly 9 outdoor stages. We've seen 4, one at each of the 3 gates, and one on the beach. Not sure where the other 5 are. There isn't much space for them--the place is small. Elena and I are not quite sure what to expect. But we are excited to have chanced upon this music festival. Elena doesn't like crowds, but she loves music, so we should have a pretty good time.