Electricity is asleep

Friday 23rd June 2006
Gaza City

How does electricity go to sleep, well according to Arafat, not the deceased former President of the Palestinian People, but Arafat my friend at the Beach Hotel, who seems to work 24 hours a day, as a waiter, overnight clerk, room service and TV fixer. The local electricity grid was off line, I only asked this as I was washing yesterdays spit and saliva from the car this morning in the hotel car park and the hotels generator was running, well running is a polite way of saying it sounded like a locomotive was winding up in the corner of the car park.

Arafat had come out to watch me do my morning vehicular ablutions, and I had asked him why was the generator running, with a great stone look on his face "Electricity is asleep"

He continued to watch me washing the car before the noise became to much for him and he went back inside the hotel.

Just another morning in Gaza, another reason to smile.