An Earthquake and an Accident

In this post I talk about experiencing my first earthquake. A fight with my parents. Sitting in traffic while people are fighting for there lives in front of me.

Costa Rica, 2021

Two nights ago there was an earthquake. I woke up startled. The squeaky bunk bed which I lay upon was rattling. It felt as though I was on a kayak and we had gone over some waves made by a large crew ship. Or on a little jet plane that was going through a thunderstorm. Waking up in such odd circumstances at 1:30 am was frightening. My mind was rushing through every possibility. Being in a developing country like Guatemala my mind instantly rushed to bombing, but there was no loud noise. The thought of a tsunami crept in but I realized I was on a lake, not an ocean. Finally, my mind made its way to an earthquake.

I got out of bed after realizing what was going on. Wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt and underwear. The other four girls in my room also awoke. In some type of haze, we all communicated. I rushed up to the kitchen and I confirmed my theory on the earthquake with a man from California. He said it was not that bad and they got earthquakes all the time in California. I thought to myself if it was not that bad then why am I still terrified. I used the washroom, then went back into bed. I texted my mom telling her:

“I love you”

“Just awoke to an earthquake”

“Whole room was shaking, absolutely terrifying”

“We are out of power”

I had no internet connection meaning the messages did not go through. I wished that if I died that she would see the unsent messages on my phone. I then lay back in my bed and closed my eyes.

I have not talked to my parents in just under 2 weeks. We have family zoom every Monday with my parents, sister, grandparents, aunts, uncles and sometimes cousins. This Monday I did not join. I had nothing new to tell the group. Last week I was in a travel slump. The feeling of wasting time, not being productive, being constantly alone and having no motivation to do anything. These slumps come and go but the best thing to do is to change locations and book a tour to let someone else plan the day. However, I leave for Colombia in a few days and everywhere that I wanted to go was either too far away, or fully booked, so in the slump, I was left.

Earthquake February 16th, 2022

Now, what does this have to do with the earthquake? Well, you see my parents never called me on my birthday. I got a text from my mom and a happy belated email the following day from my dad. Although I was not upset in the slightest, I just could not care to talk to them for the following week. I am not a person who likes Easter, my birthday or Christmas. I find they are all materialistic holidays. I have not been in Canada for the last 5 years on my birthday and I have not been in Canada with my family for the last 2 years on Christmas. I am not someone who buys my family members presents either on those holidays including birthdays. It is not because I do not love them or because they don’t deserve it but I find it not genuine. I rather buy my sister a plane ticket, pay her rent for a month, sacrifice my time to help her move. Something that has meaning, that will better her, not a clothing item or alcohol. I understand why people get and give gifts, it’s a form of reassurance knowing that the person loves you or has feelings but I find it an easy way out. Show me you appreciate me by writing me a card, planning an afternoon to spend together or opening up to me. My favourite gifts I have received in the last few years was the cake Luca made me out of fruit in Vietnam, a trip my sister planned to Mexico, last year I was living in Costa Rica and some friends that I had known for a few weeks were all a bit sick but still managed to surprise me with a cupcake and singing happy birthday. This year I got the most wonderful text message from a close friend explaining to me how they view me and a collage of photos and videos. These gifts are all timeless and I will remember them for the rest of my life.

Last night I was lucky. It served as a reminder of how important it is to reply to texts, to take 15 minutes out of my day for a phone call, to join family zoom even if I am in a bad mood. It reminded me of the dangers. I will try not to be sassy and petty towards the little things. I try to find meaning out of most things that happen in my life. This earthquake served as a great reminder to realize how precious life is and how easily it can be taken away.

I was originally going to end the post there however another tragic experience occurred last night as another sign of how precious life can be taken away. I was in a shuttle on my way from San Pedro to Guatemala City. We were about 30 minutes away from my destination when we jolted to a sudden stop. We were stopped for around 5-6 hours. The shuttle driver got word from a friend that there was a bus that flipped over on the highway. That message came alongside a photo of the huge multi vehicle pile up and in front of the vehicles were 4 or 5 bodies lying to what I presume as lifeless. In traffic multiple ambulances, tow trucks and police cars whizzed by going the wrong way on the opposite side of the highway.

At first, when I saw all the traffic I thought what an inconvenience. I am going to the most dangerous city in Guatemala in pitch black. I had no dinner, nowhere to use the bathroom, no one else on the shuttle could speak English nor can I speak Spanish. After seeing those photos I thought thanked god I was safe in the shuttle. I thanked god that I can sleep tonight. I thanked god that I was still alive. All my problems, my worries, the hunger disappeared and I sat in the shuttle quietly watching Pride and Prejudice on my phone trying to wipe out the photo from my memory. I do not handle bad things well. I try to remain oblivious and always look for the bright side and when there is no bright side I have no clue how to deal with it. So anyway here is a reminder that you need to live every day as best as you can, doing what you want, because one day you may be on a bus or a car on the way home from work when suddenly it’s all over.

P.S. Two people died in the earthquake. I cannot find a report unfortunately of the accident that occurred yesterday.

I am finding my groove in these blogs. I am also new to writing and I am trying to find a style that works for me. You do not have to live every day to the fullest, it sounds quite tiring achieving that. You should live everyday with happiness. Find a purpose to be alive. You do not need to be rich to be happy. Those who are rich may not always have money but amazing memories instead. Good luck with things. Stay safe. xx

Guatemala 2022