Rolling waves.....

As Tim mentioned in the last post the earthquakes have returned and continue happening even as I type this. Many you cannot feel but there have been a significant number where the ground rolls under your feet or the walls and windows vibrate.

Yesterday I had returned to the office and was typing up some notes from a meeting that I had just attended. I wanted to make sure I didn't forget anything that came up and so I quickly took my own minutes. Then it was time to head up into the lab, 7th/top floor, to take care of some chores before the weekend. In reality our lab isn't the cleanest place so almost from the beginning of the program I've instituted "lab clothes" so I don't have worry about getting my regular duds dirty. Interestingly, other people in the lab have started doing this as well. With that said I popped into the bathroom and locked myself in the smaller of the two stalls. I changed jeans and socks and was just pulling my t-shirt over my head when the entire stall was started rolling around me. My first thought was, of course, "Oh shit!" and that was quickly followed by "well, I don't think anything can fall on me in here but maybe I should still get on the ground until it stops". So I crouched down while still trying to fight my way into my t-shirt as the waves kept coming. After the building settled two of my office mates ran into the bathroom to see if I was ok. :) Together we decided it would be best to leave the building. At this point there was no word of a campus evacuation but everyone seemed to be outside on their cell phones checking in with friends and family. It was then I realized that my phone was dead and I wanted to let Timmy know that I was ok. It will be no surprise to you that he was back in the teaching lab directing students in the activity they were doing for the days tutorial. It was almost like nothing had happened. :)

After a quick chat I went back up to the office, staggering up seven flights of stairs as the elevators were not to be used, to get my stuff and glancing at my inbox saw that our head of school was directing everyone to evacuate our building. So I said, "ok, I can't really argue with that". I went back over to tell Timmy that I was heading home because we were ordered out of our building. I wasn't sure what to do and felt a little shaky so I walked home feeling the tremors emanating up through the ground. I swear it feels like you're on a boat - I felt a bit seasick :( Arriving home I found our place with no damage and decided to cope with this bit of stress by purchasing The Racketeer by John Grisham on the Kindle and getting lost in it. :) A little later on Timmy let me know that they had cut his tutorial short and cancelled a training session right afterward so he would be coming home. While I read and waited for him there were several more earthquakes and I lost count of how many times I jumped up from the couch to scoot over into the kitchen doorway. Sigh.

Overall: We're safe and looking forward to embarking on our Europe trip at the end of this week! It goes without saying but there is sure to be a plethora of blog posts and pictures along the way. :)