Temblor in Ecuador

Last night we experienced our second earthquake in Ecuador. It hit at 10:15pm and was centered about 100 south of Puyo. The quake was 6.7 on the Ricter Scale and was strong enough to shake our apartment and to shake me out of bed. I was half asleep when it hit. Susan was in the other room working on the laptop. I could have sworn in my state of mind that she was shaking me while I lay in the bed - I turned to tell her to cut it out and realized she was not in the room. It was about that time that I heard her scream - I jumped out of bed and realized that we were in the midst of an earthquake. When I went into the other room it had stopped and Susan was by the door. Apparently she planned to run outside leaving her husband (me) to die in a crumbled mess of concrete and iron. Someone´s true colors really come out when danger looms.

Seriously, the quake was not severe and caused zero damage in Puyo. Talking with the locals around here, a quake like this occurs about once every year or two. Apparently, there was a little damage in Guayaquil with some of the larger buildings, but to my knowledge there were no deaths associated with the quake. The epicenter was somewhere near the Peru - Ecuador border in the jungle.

In other news, my omnibus lost two more people this week. Jessica opted to head home because of her father´s health. He has brain cancer and has had two surgeries since she´s been in Ecuador. She just feels that she needs to be with family. It is sad to see her go - she is a great volunteer and a great person.

We also are losing Zach - he is getting married to an Ecuadorian next month and apparently, this breaks some Peace Corps rule about not being able to marry until at least your 18th month of service. Unfortunately for him, when he inquired about getting married, he was told that it would be no problem. He planned the wedding and has family and friends coming. The powers that be in Peace Corps kept throwing road blocks in his path - each time he satisified their requirements - then they finally just said no. Had he been told upfront about the 18 month rule, he would have made plans accordingly.

Needless-to-say, I am disappointed that this has occurred. 2/3 of our mission here is cultural exchange and I think that a marriage between a U.S. citizen and an Ecuadorian citizen would qualify as a pretty good exchange of culture.

Qué más - oh yeah - GO BUCKS!!!

Jeremy

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