Prior to my time working for Duffel in California, I spent about 5 years living in Chile.  I studied, made friends, worked for a ski resort, married a Chilean woman and had the time of my life.  My wife and I could not wait to get back down here for our friends’ wedding.  We departed for Chile on Feb. 20.

The flight was long, as usual, but the events with family and friends in and around Santiago early in our trip more than made up for it, as they always do.  We visited some of our favorite restaurants (see the duffel), got together for “asados” (barbecue’s), went to the rehearsal dinner, bachelor party, and were ready for the big day when we went to sleep on Friday night.

3:26 AM, February 27, 2010: My wife and I awoke to the room rocking back and forth, like a ship does, steadily intensifying as noises from kitchen cabinets, shelves, and the house itself began to grow louder.  Being a Californian, I am no stranger to earthquakes, and as the temblor progressed, it was clearly time to take action.

Laying on the floor next to the bed - a technique I read about a few years ago which is supposed to create “triangles of space” if things begin to collapse - the rocking motion had turned so violent that it felt akin to the entire house being rapidly pulled back into a slingshot and then released and slammed into a solid brick wall.  Over and over and over.  The feeling was terrible, but the noise was at least as frightening.  Like the thunder of a wrecking ball mixed with breaking dishes and trinkets.  We could hear my in-laws in the front hall, yelling for us, and my wife could wait no longer so we stumbled out toward the front entryway of the house as the slamming continued and desperation began to set in.  At that moment, it stopped.  Outside, house and car alarms filled the air like a bad high school orchestra.

In the next hours, we used a battery operated radio to learn that this was indeed a huge earthquake (we later learned is was an 8.8 at its epicenter and 8.3 in Santiago) and had effected much of the country which is widely recognized more for its shape than for its stable economy and wonderful tourist attractions.  In our area of Santiago, we got power back by 10 AM and tuned in to the local news where we, little by little, found out more about the devastation in more southern regions like Bio Bio and Maule.  Although Santiago stood strong for the most part (a testament to the modern construction practices in place here and good economy enjoyed for many years), in places like Talca and Concepcion, whole apartment buildings toppled, bridges collapsed, and some coastal areas were hit by tsunamis.  Situations were desperate, but the Chilean response has been whole-hearted and impressive.

Our friends’ wedding amazingly was still able to take place on Saturday night, although the ceremony had to be moved and the reception completely modified.  Friends and family came together to make the most of a difficult situation, and the bride and groom were touched at the comradery displayed by all involved.

As I write this, there are still tremendous rescue, relief and security efforts taking place in many parts of the country.  Many people are without water and electricity and there are still many unknowns when it comes to national and international travel (though it appears international flights will begin to leave Chile within the next 24-48 hours).  The Chilean Government is working hard to get people the essentials they need.  Things in Santiago have begun to stabilize and I promise you people are eager to begin the rebuilding process and further demonstrate the resolve of this country.  Trust me, it will not be long before trips to Santiago, Vina del Mar, the Lake District, Torres del Paine, the Altiplano and the wine country like this (see the duffel) are once again on the calendars of thousands of international tourists.  And so they should be.