Tagalong with Valli to the Philippines: I'm Back

A lot has happened since my last blog; the earthquake, Typhoon Yolanda, evacuation and being sent home on Administrative Hold, being allowed to return to Inopacan, and then Typhoon Basyong hit doing more damage than Yolanda.

The epicentre of the 7.2 earthquake in Bohol on October 15, 2013 was 60 miles from here. It was a holiday so at 8:00 AM I was sitting in my room at my computer. When the roof started shaking and I thought what the heck are the painters (painting the inside of the house) doing up on the roof? When I looked out my window and saw the water tower rocking and rolling I knew it was an earthquake. What should I do, stand in my bedroom door frame, right? That’s what I did for a few seconds. No one else was around but I could see the two painters outside the front door. The Chinese urn outside my door was tipping back and forth and the living room chandelier was swinging. I decided I should get outside as quickly as possible. We sat outside waiting for the rocking and rolling to stop for a couple minutes. I was pretty shaken up. People have jokingly called me ‘Valley Girl’ but this Valli girl is used to terra firma being firma. The strong aftershocks continued in the mornings and afternoons every day. These were as disorienting and scary as the earthquake. I started feeling the movement non-stop. On the fourth day it was time to fly to Manila for our week long Mid-Service Training (MST).

We were put up in our usual Navidad Pension House the first night. I couldn't sleep because of the earth shaking I felt all night. I was really scared, feeling panicked, thinking another big earthquake was coming and being in Manila was a very bad place to be and the last place I wanted to be. At first light I was the first and only one up, showering, packing and being prepared for whatever happened. I was sure we needed to be evacuated to a safer place. I sat in the dining area drinking coffee as others showed up for breakfast. I started asking “Do you feel that? Do you feel the earth moving?” Soon I realised I was the only one feeling it. That day we left for the conference venue, a resort on the outskirts of Manila. I wasn’t feeling great. I was going on a week of feeling the movement which made me feel disoriented and dizzy. I didn’t feel much like participating or interacting. This was really a bummer as the conference was a time for reconnecting with everyone and having fun. I did my best and thank goodness for my roommate and friend Kathy Gavit. She was great.

Part of MST is getting checked out with doctor and dental appointments. While with the doctor I was almost falling off the chair asking her “can’t you feel that?” I’ll never forget the look she gave me and immediately started making arrangements with counsellor. It helped. I came back to site and gradually the earth stopped moving under my feet. Then Typhoon Yolanda hit on November 8^th.

I'm glad I visited Bohol and Cebu before the earthquake and was able to see things before so much damage.