I would like to report to all of you once again...

...that I am not dead. Despite the country´s many and varied attempts to make that so. Chile, Chile... what did I ever do to you?

To tell the truth, I didn´t even know about the tsunami warning until almost an hour after the fact. I was at the university, filling out paperwork for my student ID card and the like, and there was a fairly strong temblor while we were in the courtyard but no one thought anything of it. Later I met up with Ragini, one of the ISA gals, so she could come to my house and use the shower (her house still has no water) and we took a bus back to Viña. There was one section of road that seemed even bumpier than usual, but again, we thought nothing of it. We got off the bus, began walking up all the hills to her house to fetch her toiletries (and her house is very much on top of those hills, quite some distance), and commented a few times on how many people were standing around in the streets. Why? We speculated. The temblors, maybe. Or maybe everyone was gathering to see the new president, who was inaugurated today in Valparaíso.

Eh.

We got ice cream.

When we finally arrived at her house and informed her host family of our plan, they put us under house arrest. No, no, they said, you can´t go to Arlegui-- that´s at sea level, and everyone´s been evacuated at least ten meters above that, into the hills. Maremoto warning, you know. Tsunami.

Great, I thought. Now the ocean as well as the land is out to get me. There is nowhere on Earth I can hide now, save for maybe the sky, and unfortunately a private jet runs a bit more on the costly side than I can handle. Also: it would have to land sometime, at which point a wave of either rock or water would do its best to demolish it and me both.

So I hung around Ragini´s house for three hours. Called Myriam, discovered that they were waiting it out on the next hill over (fortunately for a country with such a long tsunami-prone coastline, Chile has a LOT of steep hills), and that I couldn´t go back to the house even if I wanted to, because the police had cordoned everything off. That, and the evacuation of Congress, had been the first official act of Piñera, Chile´s new president. I like to call this the "OH GOD GET EVERYONE TO HIGHER GROUND NOW" declaration, and it's a heck of a way to enter office. There were signs along the route to Valpo this morning-- "Bienvenido Presidente Piñera"-- and at this point I expect the reverse side will be changed to "And Sorry About That, But We Really Hope You'll Come Back Soon (maybe when the ground stops shaking?)".

There wasn't a tsunami. I am in my house, and there are no fish flopping about on the patio. This is a relief. Despite the fact that a good fish would be most welcome right now (cubes and tuna just aren't cutting it).


In other less disastrous news:

There are several hundred extranjeros studying at PUCV, most of them from the US but a decent number from Europe and Central/South America. Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, Canada, Mexico, Columbia, Argentina, and so forth. As well as one rather confused-looking fellow from Japan. In the welcome speech, the word "terremoto" was mentioned at least twenty-six times. And also the university buildings are secure, in case you were wondering. Because we were. Most assuredly.

As part of the welcoming ceremonies, everyone was treated to a show demonstrating some folk tunes and dances of various parts of Chile (North, Center, South). While the crowd was initially not terribly enthusiastic-- it was quite early in the morning, still, for people who'd grown accustomed to waking at 11 or later, and standing around in a courtyard filled with cigarette smoke for an extended period wasn't helping-- this attitude changed after the dancers started swiping people from the front ranks.
Let's just say that my one-semester dance class came in handy.

I've chosen my classes. The schedule is daunting. Most of my destinations are in Valpo, which will mean extremely intimate acquaintance with the bus system in short order. Also, all of the times and locations for classes are in code. CC 0-15 at 7-8, for instance, means the class is in la Casa Central on the first floor, room 15, from 14:00 to 16:45, and yes all time is written out military-fashion and classes run two hours long at the very least.
I sign up tomorrow at 9:00 sharp.

Actually, speaking of which, it's past midnight and I almost slept through my appointment this morning. Best be off.

Here's hoping for lack of a tsunami alarm in the night~