Once again, there’s an elephant in the room.  It’s essentially the same elephant and I don’t want to bore you with repetition.  However, it is real.

I could tell you about my pretty wallpaper, or the latest piece of furniture I’ve bought, but neither of those sing.  And I want to be full volume.  You may like the music … or maybe not.

So here goes …

I went to bed around 11:00 and immediately fell asleep.  At midnight the electricity failed … and stayed that way all night.  No air conditioning.

The fear returned, that I wouldn’t sleep, that I might even die.  (I’m so creative in my tormenting thoughts.)

The sweat poured. The hands shook. I saw the overwhelm coming and I couldn’t stop it. But I had an idea. I had packed one pair of jeans and the accompanying underwear. I went to the bathroom and soaked the Jockeys under the sink’s tap. Then I laid it on my forehead and let the water drip. There followed copious rubbing of the face and neck. I’d guess I did this at least twenty times throughout the night.

Panic came and subsided … again and again. Partway through the night, I realized that my breathing was laboured. The air was “close”. The only ventilation was a small window way up high in the room with the toilet, and another for the shower room. I took the chair and moved it into the toilet room. The breathing was easier. I thought of standing on the chair to be closer to the window but I realized I was too woozy to do that safely.

Then back to bed and underwear … then chair …

In the wee hours, I saw that my mind was going to some strange place. Clear thinking was morphing into spurts of phrases. I was lost somewhere.

About 6:00 am, I heard a human noise outside. I pulled on some clothes and rushed out. An elderly fellow was sweeping. I heard my voice saying something about “aircool” in French, the words slurring. His response was rapid and I couldn’t understand a word. His face shimmered.

Eventually another employee, who speaks English, said he’d phone the air conditioning technician > no answer. My body twisted away and wobbled to my room. Bed, underwear, chair.

Finally the manager said the technician was on his way. As muddled as I was, I decided not to stay here anymore. I’d walk to the Keur Saloum hotel to get a room for the remainder of our stay. The Keur has far more dependable electricity and aircool.

Half-an-hour later, one of the managers at the Keur told me they were totally booked for Tuesday and Wednesday nights but I could have a room starting on Thursday.

Back to the Auberge, increasingly unsteady. The technician had fixed the aircool. (Sadly, the fix only lasted two hours.)

Anja and Curd, two Belgian friends, came to the room and heard the slurring, saw the no doubt glazed eyes, heard me yelling.

I was crazy. (There’s a word for that that I’m not currently remembering!) Ahh … delirious.

“Where’s my key?!” Curd was the kind recipient. They gave me more water and something to help me sleep and put me to bed … with love.

Later the aircool failed again … and fixed again.

I could go on and on but I’m sure the story is clear:

It was one of the worst nights of my life

To be followed by, I’m sure …

By many of the best nights of my life!