Palabra del Dia: Terremoto

Terremoto:  Earthquake.

A 7.6 on the richter scale to be exact.  At around 8:45am I heard a giant rumbling and then everything began to shake, a tremor at first, the way I imagine it would be in the middle of an elephant stampede and then more and more out of control as the tremors began to overlap and send items rocking violently back and forth.  I heard crashes as pottery fell from the cabinents to the floor! And then came cries of terror from Lucre outside of my room.  Terror is no exaggeration.  After mentally questioning the structural stability of my small room I rushed out to try and calm Lucrecia....a job which had already been claimed by a not so clothing-clad Fabricio.  Apparently he had been sleeping.  He was holding onto a shaking and sobbing Lucre who remained quivering even after the tremors abated.  Victor was calm and Fabri took the job of fetching alcohol for Lucre, which she proceeded to shakily pour onto her shoulders and chest.  Fabri rubbed her shoulders and tried to soother her with words.  I didn't know what to do.  Once she was seated I sat on the floor, stroking her knee and doing my best to convey some sort of comfort.  She kept crying that God was angry with us, that we were going to die, that her spine was hurt, that she was going to have a heart attack, among other things.  I have never seen someone so genuinely afraid in my life.  I prayed for her and then told her that we didn't need to be afraid because God was more powerful than any earthquake and that He loves us very much.  Just as she was calming down we heard a tsunami alert.  That didn't help.

We packed up rapid style and went inland to Esparza.  Four girls who live with other members of Lucre's family as well as her daughter Janet, granddaughter Jeniffer and her children Sarai and Adrian.  It was a very full van, and it seemed like everyone in Puntarenas had the same idea, so the roads were quite blocked.  Once we arrived all of the USAC girls elected to travel around Esparza and explore.  I went on to Fabri's parent's home.  That is where I was when I initially wrote this entry in my journal (I have to admit I have sent the edited version out into the wild on the web)  Surrounded by animated Ticos all recounting the events of the morning.  Wild hand gestures and elevated voices, even some reenactments...so much noise in such a small space.

Throughout the day more and more family showed up, until we had at least 30 people in a house that would fit entirely into my living room.  Costa Rican culture is very very close knit...and they are all so animated.  It was a little bit exhausting.  I enjoyed meeting and talking to new people, especially Fabri's 13 year old cousin Melanie.  She was very patient with me in speaking Spanish and was very interested in the US.  We had a great time, and she proofread one of my stylistics assignments!  Being int the country home in Esparza made me very glad for the cleanliness and quality of my house here in Puntarenas.

I am glad to be safe, the thought that I was in danger never actually crossed my mind.  I wish I could explain to you how surreal the whole thing felt.  Yet another unexpected experience in Costa Rica.