Would you rather go without water or electricity for a week? Ladies of hive contest 53
I could go without power for a week but not water, absotulely not. I think for this question, almost everyone will agree with me on this. As you all know the importance of water to our lives, I am going to tell you how my family and I lived without power when I was small.
These days, it might feel uncomfortable to live without electricity for a week. In fact, since arriving in NZ in 2017, I have only experienced a power cut off one time because of a storm. So to be honest, I am not so sure how I can cope with it in reality. However, when thinking about it, I feel really fine thanks to my childhood experiences living in a small village in the north of Vietnam.
At that time (around 15 years ago), the power supply in our village was often in short, especially in summer, so it was quite normal for us to live 2 or 3 days without electricity. We didn't have a fridge at that time so we didn't worry too much about our food going off. No laptops or smartphones so no need to charge them. We also had limited access to TV and other electric devices. So I could say our lives were pretty simple back then.
To cook food and boil water, we would use wood or dry rice leaves. It was an inconvenience way but we got use to it as we didn't have electric cookers or gas stoves during that time. Thanks to it, I had developed my ability to do multi-taskings by organising and preparing things together so we didn't waste our time and resources.
To light up at night, we would use candles or oil lamps. It was a bit hard to see things clearly but we all managed to have our dinner, cleaning and doing our own stuff. When my brother and I needed to do our homework, we would do it together so we both get enough light but not burning so much oils and candles. I said it was not perfect and consider not good for eyesight nowadays but back then we were all fine. In fact, I feel both my brother and I finished our homework earliercompared to the day we had electricity.
Photo Credit: Gia Lai Online
The humidity of summertime in Vietnam and together with no power, it was difficult to stay inside the house. To be able to sleep at night, our family would go up to the balcony on our first floor to enjoy the cool wind.
By spending my nights on the balcony with my parents, I had a chance to enjoy the beauty of the night sky. As the whole village didn't have electricity, it was so easy for us to see the Moon and the stars. My brother and I would try to spot the shapes of star clusters. It was a fun thing to do for both of us.
Photo Source: Pexels
And sometimes, we saw air-planes passing by. I always wonder how cool it was to stay up there? what were these people doing at that moment and what destinations were they heading to. And then I dreamed about me growing up and I could travel to different places like them.
So when I ask myself if I can live without power for a week, I immediately picture the moments that our whole family were together on that balcony. I would stay very close to my Mum to enjoy cool wind from her paper hand-fan. My Mum also taught us how to tell if the year was going to be good for the rice crop by the distance of the stars and the moon. I am always grateful to have such quality time together with my family.
That's why I think I would be perfectly fine for me to live without electricity for a week. Even though for now it might be uncomfortable at first but I believe it is going to be fine.
This is my entry post for 
