Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Robberies, earthquakes, and rain ~ oh my!

I had four hours of spanish lessons this morning. My brain can´t take much more!

Sometime around 10am there was a disturbance. Lots of students were gathered in the lower part of the school looking out to the hotel two doors down. (Our space is covered by corrugated metal and there are walls about 8 feet high, but is open otherwise.)

A woman was squatting on the ledge of the second story of the hotel. The story came to us that masked robbers (banditos) had entered the hotel and tied up the workers, but this woman had escaped and was hanging on to the outside of the building. The next couple hours were somewhat tense. For some time all the students crowded into the front of the school while the policia got into the hotel and looked for the robbers. We were never clear if there was one or more or if they escaped or not. I don´t know if they were found. Everything is back to normal now and there are police all around, so if you´re thinking about worrying, don´t!

Later in the afternoon, after lunch, I was sitting in my room and all of a sudden everything started shaking. I had a few seconds to think about what was happening, then I got up and went outside my room where the rest of the houeshold was gathering. We stood there in the courtyard for several more seconds as the ground kept shaking. It´s the strongest earthquake I´ve ever been in!

Tomas says earthquakes happen now and then, but not usually this big (muy fuerte). It was apparently 6.8, centered off the coast, and was felt as far as the border with Mexico. My first thought of course was the volcano nearby that is steaming, but I guess this is just an active area for this sort of thing.

As for rain, it has been threatening all day, but not much has happened, though I´m sure I´ve heard thunder a few times.

Adios,

aimee

4 comments:

Jed Carosaari said...

So glad you're safe! Just read about the quake in the front page news, and went to your blog to see if I could get any info. How is everyone around you doing in the aftermath of it? It can often be trying on the nerves if you're not used to it.

Aimee said...

Hey Jedidiah, you must be one of the few people reading this! It was certainly a big earthquake but there´s really no aftermath. My teacher asked where I was when it happened, but other than that I haven´t heard a word or reminder of it. It´s in the past. =)

Jed Carosaari said...

Oh no! After the quake, I told a number of people, and they've been visiting your blog!

So, was it fun? I've always enjoyed a good earth quake. Can't stand those weak-arse ones that are only a sonic boom. Did the building sway or was it more of a rumble? Any good liquifaction? Did you take bets on the Richter with anyone after? (That's always the best part.)

Aimee said...

I don´t know how I could tell, but the whole earth was moving. It seemed like everything was shaking back and forth. It was incredible. We didn´t take bets though. It was amazing how fast the news traveled. Someone from the US called me half an hour later!