No pasa nada, just candy corn and unicorns

I think a defining moment in any relationship comes when all of a sudden it isn’t unicorns and candy canes. One could say, when suddenly the light ain’t so bright; when you face confrontation.

Well, Lyndsay and I had our first defining moment in our relationship with Chencha, our host mom, this morning.

It all started around 8:30 am when I trudged to the shower. I turned on the water and stepped into the refreshingly warm water. (Sevillan apartments don’t have central heating, so the house in the morning is freezing) Shortly after putting the shampoo in my hair all the lights went out.

“Okay,” I thought. “Either our apartment building is having a blackout or I’m about to die.”

I slowly stepped out of the shower, found my footing on the cold floor, grabbed a towel and cautiously walked towards Lyndsay and my room.

“Chantel?” a voice came from our room. “I think I just broke the electricity.”

Okay. Not a murder.

Possibly a blackout in our entire apartment building. Thanks for that Lynds.

Lyndsay explained to me how she had accidentally tripped over a power strip in our bedroom. Her trip set of a chain of reactions that eventually caused all the electricity in the apartment to stop working. Don’t ask me how, it doesn’t make sense.

I grabbed my flashlight and Lyndsay and I went to check around the house for other power strips to put in place of the ramshackled power strip. I don’t know why we did this. In the back of my mind I knew we had to go to the power box and flip some switch. (which really meant we needed to wake our sleeping Chencha and have her fix it). But Lyndsay was scared. This would be a defining moment in our relationship.

Finally, Lyndsay gave in and we stood at Chencha’s door. I slowly knocked and she said to come in.

Literally translated, Lyndsay said: I’m sorry Chencha. I broke the electricity in the whole house.

“No pasa nada/(No big deal),” Chencha said. And all five feet of Chencha got on a very tall chair and flipped a few switches in the power box.

Ten minutes later, Lyndsay and I were enjoying our breakfast (toast with fresh garlic and olive oil, surprisingly tasty) with a fully lit kitchen.

The power strip has been replaced, light has been restored, chaos has been subdued and we got over our first confrontation with Chencha, albeit small. Yes, we’re back to unicorns and candy canes.