Life goes on, the next news replaces this one within less than a day...
Yes, life goes on.
However, for some it changed dramatically...
I was in the plane from Istanbul to Panama City, when the captain announced, we are redirected to Cancun, because PTY (Tocumen Airport in Panama City) is closed.
I had been worried about the quality of the concret of the first floor of the hostal for a while , due to the way they make concrete here, and how they don’t ensure the blocks of the walls are well filled with concrete. (I described that problem in an earlier post about building in Panama…)
When my seat neighbor showed me the following map, it was a big shock!
The epicenter of the quake was just a few km to the east of Santa Catalina, where our hostal stands!
Iris was still in Colombia. But Iris' son, Tyler, and his partner Helena were at the hostal. And our dogs and cats, too. Her stepson Michael also lives in Santa Catalina, at the hotel he's working at. Their buildings, too, are of concrete.
The internet connection in the plane was very weak, I could barely send a text message to Iris, asking if she had heard from Tyler, Helena, or Michael.
I reached Cancun and the hotel until I heard from Iris.
Everybody was well. The house was still standing. The restaurant, too. Only most of the dishes, glasses, and cups, and other breakable items had been destroyed.
 |
| Glasses fell off the shelf, all in pieces on the floor |
 |
| Old fridge, which we used to store dishes, fell over |
These Hours of not knowing were super stressful, to say the least!
Before, I could only imagine how people felt in the past, when there was no WhatsApp, no telephone. Now, I know!!!
Well, we were lucky! We got away with a black eye! Only minor damages, nothing that money couldn't buy!
