EARTHshAking

Hellllllooooo all
Safe and sound. Last night, I went to sleep in my new apartment in Valparaiso, Chile. I was feeling a little unsettled, so I danced for a bit and took in my new space. At some point, I entered my REM sleep cycle, but was interrupted by the earth shaking and moving all around me. It was dark, and about 3:30 in the morning. My early, initial thoughts were something along the lines of "wha-what the fuck is going on!? wowowow...." And then i realized I was in an earthquake. I had heard that it is best to stand in a doorframe during a quake, as they are structuraly sound, but I was nearly paralyzed by the strange pressure of earth, moving miles beneath me. I stayed in my bed, and was waiting a bit for it to either get crazier, or get better and calmer. Luckily, the second option happened first, and it soon exhaled and calmed down. I was a little shaken, and was waiting another tremmor when my landlord came downstairs to make sure everything was ok. And it was. At around 5am, the tremmors subsided, and I was finally able to close my eyes peacefully. At around 8, I talked to my friend Margot who was very concerned to see how I was doing. Having ONLY experienced the quake from my bedroom, I said I was fine, and was a little confused as to why she was so worried. Ignorance is bliss??
She apparently was on the 3rd story of an old building when in happened, and immediately took to the streets to stay on firmer ground. She related to me that during the terremoto, people went crazy in the dark streets of Valpo. breaking bottles, screaming, yelling, dancing.... As if the end of the world were coming and they were glad to have it end this way.
It wasnt until this morning that I realized the real magnitude of what had happened, and realized that just hours from where I am, things were much worse and damage much greater. My city is realitively ok, and my building is, too. Everyone I know down here is fine, and I am very thankful for that. I saw on the NY times website that Concepcion is pretty destroied, and that Santiago got kind of shaken up as well. I cant see the sea rising up to my window yet, so hopefully no tsunamis come my way. Really, though. Everything is OK. You all may be better off just appreciating the calm world around you, and talking to loved ones and friends. Turn off the news. Turnon your favorite music and have a dinner party instead. Appreciate and find solid ground in any way you can, and enjoy it. You never know when it will start to trembel and shift. And Thank you, thank you for all of the concerns and good thoughts and wishes. I can feel those no matter how much the world shakes.
Until a calmer next time...
Chau!