Earthquake Update:

As most of you must know by now, Wednesday night there was a huge earthquake just outside of Lima, Peru. It measured 7.9 on the Richter Scale and is the strongest the country’s had since a deadly quake happened in 1970.

I was actually in Lima when it happened. The entire small business group was on a combi (mini bus) when it happened. We had just pulled over to the side of the road to park when I felt something that seemed like a combination between a crazy driver pulling up on top of the curb and some sort of sweet hydraulic lift system from “pimp my ride”. Turns out it was an earthquake. To give you a feel for how crazy/dangerous it is to ride a combi, most of the trainees didn’t even notice it, they just thought it was part of a normal bus ride.

Well, needless to say, I’m safe and sound and I thank everyone for your thoughts and concerns. In the future, if anything else bad should happen I’ll try my best to get in touch with people as fast as possible but it could take a couple of days. The phone lines were down all night and they keep going in and out all day. Tonight we lost electricity – so there’s no telling what could happen. In a situation like this my parents can always call Peace Corps in Washington, DC to find out if I’m OK. So if you are desperate, you can always get a hold of them.

As for the damage, you guys probably know more than I do since I don’t have easy access to the news. I do know that the house I stayed at two weeks ago in Chin Cha collapsed to the ground and is now in pieces. Unbelievable. Luckily Drew’s uncle and family are all OK. There is a volunteer who lives in Pisco, where the quake was the worst and 4 more who live in Ica where it was almost as bad. Fortunately, somehow all 5 of them were either in Lima for Medical check ups or out of their sites on vacation.

Peace Corps is considering sending some volunteers out to help with the relief work. I offered to go but since I’m still a trainee and won’t be an official volunteer until next Friday, I’m not sure if I will have the chance.

The people of Peru are going to need a lot of help to get through this. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.