Talca

Thought it would be appropriate to let you know that life on the ground in Talca, Chile is still very, very much affected by the earthquake that rocked the central region the end of February. Truth is, I hadn´t expected to see/hear so much about that here, as it made the news only initially, and then for all practical purposes disappeared.

There was significant damage to maybe (I´d say) a third of the city. She lost her historic section, basically, as those buildings were (what looks to me like) a mud-brick construction. There are parts of 2nd story walls that look like they could drop still, any minute. And you can see the cracks from the sidewalk, deep in the walls all the way up to the tower on a couple of churches. But all of the rubble has been cleared out of the streets, and all of the devastated area in large part is behind construction covers and such,, and the re-building process has actively begun. I spent Thursday and Friday at the Hospital of Talca (my favorite site so far) with Claudia ---- who pointed out to me the space of an entire block that the 2-story hospital covered, is all that remains of it. I¨m amazed at how "high-class" their improvisions are during the re-building. You have to walk through muddy sections and into parts of buildings to get from one unit to the other, (for those of you not familiar with hospital-world, that´s not typical), but each unit is sealed off, has electricity and preps (lots of beds) for the pediatric section needs.

The University of Talca,, where I´m basically having a 2-week long job interview,, also suffered significant "hits". One of the saddest losses was their state-of-the-art library. And the University staff that I´m spending time with, each is telling me his/her version of what all was lost. I can see the cracks in the walls in the Director´s office,, and in the Clinic where we´ve attended to a patient of his.

But the biggest impact, I can tell you was on the people. I think in some ways they´re still in shock over it. One-by-one, as they spend time with me, they point out all the buildings down, all the loss, all the incredible impact, and "you should have seen it when". I think the thing that made me want to write you most today was the little old lady that met me on the bridge as I was coming back from the grocery store today --- who when she saw me, asked how I did through the earthquake.

I guess it´s hard to completely celebrate with the miners, when you´re still digging out of your own trauma. Thanx for keeping them all in your prayers. It´s another beautiful country, and I´m amazed at how far they´ve come,,, in spite of all the obstacles.

love
m