When Disaster Strikes...

...go to a resort!

We are currently in Olmue, in a resort packed with rich Chileans. Leather seats, tiled floors, open bars (that we aren't allowed to use, boo hoo), eight swimming pools, palm trees, flowers, the lot-- all surrounded by a twelve-foot hedge so we don't notice the abject poverty on all sides.

Bizarre.

We're in an area not hit hard by the quake, although the roof of one of the rooms is looking a bit buckled, and we're to remain here until tomorrow. There is quite a bit of quake damage in Valparaiso, with a few host families out of a house and a number of buildings fallen down, but there was no tsunami and the buses, taxis, water, and electricity all work and are running.

Chile is very well-prepared for earthquakes, in general. There are very strict regulations regarding building, and most of what fell down are older structures. An earthquake isn't a real earthquake (terremoto) unless it breaks 8-- anything below that is a 'temblor,' or tremor, and they happen all the time.

So... right now I'm in the lobby of this resort. I'm planning to go to lunch at the buffet, and then... I don't know, lounge around and watch birds or something. We had an aftershock this morning, but all it did was shake the beds. I was too tired to care and the picture frames weren't banging around, so I just went back to sleep.

My camera has dead batteries, and I don't know if I can buy any here. There's no real store, and the wireless is jumpy, so communication will be infrequent until tomorrow at least.

I'll send pictures of the quake, such as it was, a bit later. Computer's almost dead.

I love you all and I thank you for your comments and concern and everything you've said. That said, I'm not running away from here, and not just because the airports are shot and the road to the south is cut in five places.

:D