earthquake
you're not going to expect this to come out of my "mouth", but we just had an earthquake. it's true. i have now experienced everything i am going to experience, i think, in Guatemala, and am ready to come home now. i've had enough. let me share with you how it felt...
i'm sitting here in the cafe, minding my own business, listening to semi-sucky jazz music and wishing my butt didn't hurt so much from sitting on this hard bench. i'm IMing with a friend and translating spanish when all of a sudden the building starts moving, as if someone picked it up and started running down the street with it on their shoulders. at first i didn't really notice. but then it dawned on me that i was indeed moving! and the guy next to me says, "it's an earthquake."
me, in the denial i am in for wanting to be in something disasterous, say, "no it's not." and he counters, "then what is it?" eek! i look around at others to get some kind of comfort, but the girls who work here, Guatemalans mind you, are smiling and walking toward the door to look outside! i follow them with my eyes and see the car across the street rocking back and forth as the guy continues to wash it. the guy next to me has gotten up and stood in the doorway to his left, the innermost part of this tiny little cafe.
i am officially freaked. i wonder, should i get up? should i stay put? should i try to save my computer? *L* finally, it stops. it lasted about 20 seconds and was so small nothing fell over, off, down, etc. and everyone continued to work as if nothing was happening. amazing!
it should be said, this was my very first earthquake. i really do not want to live in California where this is a common occurance. nor here, much longer, for that matter. thank you very much, Guatemala, for your hospitality, but i think i'd like to return to the cold and snow and safety of my United States home.
3 comments:
Dear Jenny/ Just finished reading your "evening with Eric" and then was wondering if you would get back home ok and was glad to hear you survived it. Next I read your account of the earthquake. Wait until you've been in a really bad one :-) Right after I had your Aunt
Dollie, I was at one of gp's sisters house sitting on her divan and she was ironing and I was watching her and looked past her at her fishbowl and the fish was swishing back and forth and water in the bowl was splashing over the side and Loleta just kept on ironing as if nothing was happening. It was mild though. Another time when we were living in the mountains there was a really hard one down in the Los Angeles area and was even felt in the area we lived in and made such a loud boom it woke me out of sound sleep. Not a nice way to be gotten up.
Gp is having a nap and I am trying to be quiet to keep from waking him. The phone has rung once already and he didn't wake up so I guess he really is pooped.
Better get off now and see what kind of mischief I can get into.
Love, gm
December 3, 2006 4:00 p.m.
Oh the joy of having the one thing you should be able to count on... the earth beneath your feet... start to betray your trust!! That is also another reason that I no longer live in California. I don't know but at least with all the other natural catastrophies you can count on the ground. Found it very unsettling to not be able to count on that! Understand your feelings to be sure. Be glad when you are back home too sweetie!
Love and miss you...Lady Kristianna
Hey Jenny!
I looked up the size of the earthquake and the web said it was 5.8. That's a pretty good size one! Guatemala lies on a fault line that joins North and South America - so earthquakes are really common - just what you wanted to hear. My summer of 2003 we had over 10 earthquakes in one week - however, they were all 3.0 or below...we didn't feel most of them. Enough to show me I don't really want to live in Cali either :o). Wow! Less than 2 weeks and you'll be home! I hope that these last couple weeks you will enjoy to the fullest somehow! Blessings to you!
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