Which would you rather have??

Over the last week the guys at my house created a number of games. One game we came up with was “you know you’ve been in Africa too long when…” and we’d complete the sentence. One way we were reminded of being in Africa was the water cutting off each day. Fortunately it would come on at night so we could get showers, but in the morning we wouldn’t have any water. When I realized the pattern, I stayed up filling water bottles with the filter so we would have drinking water for the next day. And I’d be the last to take a shower and go to bed. But the lack of water got me to think-what would I rather have, water or power?
In Dakar there has been terrible power outages lately. I am not sure if it is from the change in temperature and more people are running fans, or if there is a shortage of power available. At any rate, when the power is cut off, people here cannot work. Seamstresses cannot sew, factories cannot produce goods, computers cannot work-in short, life is at a stand still for the 5-6 hours that there is no power. The water just this week has become an issue as well. I understand that there was a main water line cut in Dakar, and apparently all the water in various cities is being sent to Dakar to alleviate the shortage. But it doesn’t help us in the other cities. We sacrifice all our water so they may have some. Just a reminder of being in Africa.
Now, to answer the question-which would I rather have? Without a doubt, I’d rather have water than power. I can do everything I need to do at my house without power. I can cook on my gas stove, I can flush and shower (the water powers itself when it is on), and I can read during the day or go out and talk to friends. No power at night makes for a boring evening, but I can still talk to my guard until I’m sleepy enough to lay down. But if I don’t have water, I cannot shower, I cannot cook (unless I use bottled water-which I will keep on hand), and I can’t refresh myself. I do have a reserve tank of water that I can store and run through my lines in my house, but it is a weaker pressure and does not make it to the kitchen. Also, I used to really enjoy the power outages that we had at home during a thunder storm. But if I’m without one or the other for an extended time, I’d rather not have power than not have water.