Coffee at Dusk

As I mentioned earlier, Saturday we had a planned blackout from 7 am
until half past 7 in the evening. I wish they would plan the blackouts
from 6am to 6pm because it gets dark around 6:30 in the evenings here. I
had been immersed in reading a book, and since the lights weren't back
on yet, I lit a candle. However, soon there was a knock on my door; it
was Birkay, the housekeeper, and she had a candle in each hand. I told
her I still had my candles from Tuesday, but she replaced a short candle
on my nightstand with a new one she had brought. A few minutes later,
Sintayehu came up the stairs and said I could join them for a
spontaneous coffee ceremony downstairs if I liked. I followed him down
and found my coworker K already sitting there in candlelight, along with
Birkay, the gatekeeper Ato Malica, and Max the dog. I took a seat with
everyone and waited as they prepared the coffee in small china cups. We
drank the first cup and chatted, Ato Malica trying to teach me a few
words in Amaharic, and then had a second cup. After 30 minutes or so,
with renewed energy, K and I excused ourselves and headed off to catch a
minibus and get dinner somewhere in town. As we walked along the road,
the streetlights slowly flickered to life just slightly ahead of schedule.