I wish my first blog could be of a lighter note, but as it is supposed to tell what I feel is most important at this particular moment, I feel compelled to write about the quake that struck Chile earlier this morning.
At about 3:30am this morning, 1:30am in New York, I was woken up by the intense shaking. The closest I can come to describing it is a reeeally horrible ride on the A-train- and mind you, my home-stay is 197 miles away from the epicenter. Anyway, in accordance with all those school safety lessons that we received when we were five (apparently they come in handy), my host and I stayed a doorway, which is supposed to be the most reinforced section of the walls in a house. The quake lasted about 3 minutes (judging from what I read afterwards, I wouldn’t be able to tell you just from memory), after which we got dressed. Then my host and I stepped outside to see what was going on.
The sirens were blaring while some people screamed and while others lit candles in the courtyard- those of you who were in NYC for the blackout will have some frame of reference for what I’m talking about. But all of the panic is something that I witnessed from a distance- from the doorway to the apartment where I am staying. In the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you why: Here in Chile, I do not exactly blend in (21 year-old Black New Yorker in a South American city whose general population has skin with less than half the melanin content of my own), and in certain situations it is best not to draw attention- particularly when people are frightened, and there is the possibility of vandalism. So I chose to stay to the side. The domestic phone lines were overwhelmed and the web wasn’t working. I was lucky because I had not had a chance to call ATT to disconnect my phone from the US, so I could still use it- unfortunately this also means that ATT made a fortune off of me today. Anyway, after 10 minutes of trying, I was extremely lucky to get my one and only call to my mother. I told her that there were some problems with the service and that I expected not to be able to speak to her until later on Saturday night, but that she shouldn’t worry because I would call her when the wireless started working again- and of course, that she shouldn’t worry because I was perfectly fine….But I didn’t tell her about the earthquake. (My intent was for her to at least finish getting a good night’s sleep before the coronary that she was sure to have the next morning once she turned on the tv and saw the words “Chile” and “Earthquake.” As it turned out, mom’s peace of mind lasted about as long as our conversation, because one minute after I hung up, my very freaked out aunt in England gave mom a call- she had already started her day (they’re 5hrs ahead) and was currently watching BBC, which was telling her all about the earthquake that had devastated Concepcion and affected Santiago, both of which I had mentioned to her when I told her about my trip (I’m staying in the latter, and am supposed to visit Concepcion in a few weeks). And naturally, my aunt’s call was followed in close succession by my former and much beloved H.S. guidance counselor, my mother’s friends, and our family in NY, England, and Jamaica. Needless to say, mom didn’t sleep at all last night.)
After mom, I couldn’t call anyone else, but I could still send texts. I sent some to two of my best friends in NY who, thankfully, never turn their phones off (Everyone should have at least one best friend who is tied to their phone- in times of crisis, they’re like lifelines. Prepare in advance- you just got arrested, and you are allowed one phone call (in my case, it was an earthquake and SMS texts). Some people might say call the person with the money to bail you out- I say call the person who you’re absolutely sure will pick up, take you seriously and, if you need them too, personally hammer down the door of the person who has the money to bail you out if they don’t have it themselves). I didn’t ask Kev and Ravi to hammer down any doors. I requested that they (1) put a Google alert on Chile- especially Santiago since the radio in the apartment wasn’t working and I had no clue what was going on in the rest of the city/country- I needed them to tell me, just incase it became necessary for me to leave Santiago, or Chile itself (2) I asked that they call mom in the morning and let her know what happened- but to tell her immediately if anything else happened in the country (such as a major aftershock or whatever else), especially if they didn’t get a text from me right afterwards. Then I got a bag together with some emergency money, etc, and sat down to wait for a bit with my host. After speaking with some of the neighbors, we went back to bed. I tried to fall asleep, but nerves kept me up, and what sleep I got was interrupted by the aftershocks that racked the city for the next few hours, and by texts from Kev and Ravi about what was going on.
Fast forwarding to right now, people are pretty shaken. Some of the older buildings are a mess, and I am not even in the part of Santiago that is the most damaged. I am just glad to be safe, particularly when there are families here in Chile who have lost people they love in the earthquake.
But, speaking of safety, I feel that it would be a good idea to review what I did right and wrong this morning- and hopefully this blog will prove more beneficial that just letting you know where to go dancing should you come to Santiago (that may be in the next two blogs).
What I did wrong-
Error 1-Thinking it was a possibility to delay, or even that I should delay, news of the earthquake from my mother. Aside from the danger of her not knowing what had happened, which, I admit I tried to mitigate by telling others what had happened, it was also completely futile. (I should note that earlier this morning, I sent a text to Kevin asking that he call mom and calmly explain to her what happened. His text began with “lol” and said that, not only was mom l aware of what happened, but that she and my guidance counselor had almost caught a flight to Chile to “dig me out of the rubble.” Kevin apparently spent quite some time last night helping them look for flights-a fact he neglected to text to me (if you’re wondering why, your guess is as good as mine). And, if you think that rationality was what stopped them from taking a cab to JFK, you’re wrong (they’re both moms, so neither was really rational in this situation)- they only stopped packing once they heard that the airport in Santiago had closed.
Error 2- Not having the information for the U.S. Consulate readily accessible (but you can be sure that I have it now), as well as its emergency contact numbers. Sure, it might not have been terribly difficult to ask someone where it was located, but had I needed to get there quickly, that might have taken me more time than I’d have liked (Parallel- how many New Yorkers could tell a distraught Chilean how to get to their consulate- in Spanish)
Error 3- Placing my laptop under a hanging mirror. Luckily, no damage was done, but my heart stopped when the earthquake hit and I heard the mirror drop from the wall inches from my mac.
What I like to think I got right:
Good Idea 1-The extra (non-Chilean) cell phone. Its expensive, but it saved my mother a plane ticket (although she panicked when my aunt called, she was less panicky because I had called a moment ago, which she realized was after the earthquake had hit. She also knew me well enough to realize why I hadn’t told her, which stopped her from telling me off). More importantly, the phone allowed me to communicate when my Chilean phone and internet connection both stopped working. Still not entirely sure why SMS still worked on the American cell….any thoughts?
Good Idea 2- Having emergency money- personally, I’m rather paranoid about this. I try to keep more than enough for a long cab ride (dirt cheap here in Chile) and in Chilean, but also U.S., currency. My reasoning for the latter is that, if world around me has collapsed, chances are the U.S. gov’t hasn’t, and the greenback will still be valuable enough to get me where I need to go. Extreme thoughts, but still…
Good Idea 3- Having what I would need to get home within easy reach (knowing exactly where to find my passport, cash, credit cards, ID, and of course mta metrocard).
Good Idea 4- Finally: Knowing that I could get out if I needed to. True, I’m having a blast in Chile, and the next three months are going to be amazing- both in and out of the classroom. But to be frank, if safety ever really became an issue, I would have no qualms about hopping on the next plane to any U.S. state (or Jamaica, since its closer). However, I think it’s just important to know where that threshold is, and in the case of the quake, that the situation hadn’t reached that point yet. What made the different for me was that I was reassured by the fact that when I couldn’t get in touch with my program coordinator here in Santiago, the home-stay coordinator (who actually lives only a few minutes away) knocked on the door only an hour after the quake had hit-just to make sure everything was alright. I figured that if they could get to me quickly (and that I could still communicate reliably with home to communicate (second-handedly) with mom, and still stay informed through Kev and Ravi about what was happening on Santiago’s streets), then the situation was still safe enough for me to stay.
Anyway, that concludes my first blog. My heart goes to the victims and their families.
To the Macaulay students reading, I hope that my next will be a tad more cheerful and that this one is (shrug) I don’t know, somewhat helpful?
Until next week, Suerte y chao.
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