return to normal, kinda

Its Friday morning now and school is back in session - at least for the teachers. We came back today to do some safety inspections and training, to prepare for the return of our students on Monday. The mood was a rather somber one as we all gathered in the auditorium for a short message from Carol Klusnik, the superintendent of FDR.

We did what you would expect us to - we talked about it. Each of us chatted with our friends and professional peers with a genuine interest in how each experienced the 25 earthquakes that have rattled Lima over the last 36 hours. Those who live in high-rise apartment buildings got a bigger ride than those of us closer to the ground. Tim, who lives on the 13th floor, had water slosh out of his toilets. Troy and Sam's apartment has cracked interior walls. Jeff thought his windows were going to implode. Claudia was in a store where things on the walls and shelves were flying off, smashing when they hit the ground. Blake and Laurie had their water heater explode and flood their bedroom. I feel lucky to have gone through this all with the small amount of shaking (relatively speaking) I felt.

After our meeting, we were instructed to go back to our classrooms and do an assessment of structural damage. While in the process of doing my inspection, another 5.9 aftershock hit, causing some concern among certain staff members. I figure that most of the energy was released some time ago and the aftershocks are going to be relatively mild. Others are a bit more alarmist in their attitude and are a bit more panicked than I am. I'm not being critical of them because I know that we all react differently to stress, we all need to express our fears in different ways. I've sought the comfort of a baseball cap today, although it is unprofessional, because of the feeling it gives me as I begin to deal with the stress of the events that have unfolded.

The morning came to a conclusion with the entire school (meaning faculty and staff) having an earthquake drill and reassuring ourselves of the procedures we need to take when the students come back to us on Monday. If we do have another quake during school hours, we all need to be mentally prepared for the scenario so that we can be calm if the students begin to panic.

The routine is starting to return and along with it, a sense of familiarity about what is normal. While the aftershocks are still present, the fear of the moment is passing and we in Lima are getting back to something that resembles normal. As for the residents of Ica and Pisco, I can't even imagine their plight and my heart goes out to them. I wish I could go there and help although I don't know what I could do. Maybe donating some food and blankets to the Civil Defense is all I can do. Another feeling of helplessness...