the end of days is nigh

Earthquakes. Floods. Locusts.

Well, ok, there's no locusts, but crazy stuff is happening in bocas town. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

One week ago today, we had an earthquake, or as I like to call it, an "oh my god what the hell is going on? We're all going to die everyone save yourself". Well, not really. It wasn't all that bad; in fact, I almost slept throught it. I was resting peacefully, off in my little slumber world when the quake struck. The earth was angry that day my friends, but I remained mostly oblivious. You know when you wake up, and you're kind of half awake but still dreaming? Well, that's what happened. I was jolted to alertness, but didn't quite wake up. I vaguely recall knowing that I was in the house, but the sleepy guy that I was thought that the house was on a boat and it was just the ocean acting up. I relaxed, and let the violent shaking rock be gently back to sleep. The next morning, I didn't even remember what had happened until someone asked me if I felt it. The more I thought about it the more my little dream came back to me and i realized that I'd slept through and earthquake. Fun times. The epicenter was on the border of Costa Rica and Panama, or thereabouts, and we didn't really even get the full force of it, but it was still enough to shake some things.

So that was fun, but it was just the beginning. Then the rain started. It has been raining, nonstop, (not an exaggeration) since the day after the quake. We're going on nearly a week here of just a steady, moderately hard rain. I'm safe, i'm ok down here in bocas, but inland there's a lot of damage. The roads are washed out and there are landslides all over the place. The only real bad nature thing here is the super super high tides. I went to the store the other day to get a bottle of water, and at the counter, i was in knee deep water. Carenero is pretty much underwater already; the whole thing is just a big swamp except for the beaches that skirt the island, but there were some waves crashing and flowing inland. It was interesting to watch. Not only that, the floods have knocked out the internet, the cell phone service, the landline service AND the ATM's on the island. (They all used the same dish tower) No planes have come or gone for several days save one or two privately chartered flights. People are stranded. I'm fine though, except I pretty much ran out of money yesterday. With the ATM's out, my cash was dwindling. I didn't have any groceries because I had just moved into a new apartment and i was hungry. With seven dollars in my pocket and no idea when the ATM's would come back online, i headed to the store. I stocked up; a can of tuna and a bag of chips cost me three dollars. It was so hard to spend that money because I just knew the ATMs would never work again and i'd run out of money and starve to death. Back at my place i ate my feast and watched a movie. It was a sad night. At one point, I was looking for a pen or something in my backpack and came across my little body-purse thing that I had worn in panama city. I vaguely recalled my dad telling me store some money away somewhere in case of emergencies, but I couldn't remember if i had done it or not. I checked the pockets and pulled out the most beautiful $100 bill that I had ever seen. I put on my bed, straightened it out so I could revel in its glory, and said a loud genuine thank you to my dad. It was a great moment, and just in time for the thanksgiving season.

Today though, everything is pretty much back up, ATM's included. It hasn't rained all that much today and I think the sun may actually come out. The bad news is that more rain is on the way. I'll be fine everybody, i promise, so instead of worrying about me, think about the people inland that need help. All things considered, the whole thanksgiving thing has taken on a whole new meaning to me. I'm so thankful and humbled after everything that's happened and i want to say an honest thanks to everyone that reads this, consistently or not. You guys are great, and although I've had a great time here, I've got the itch to get back to texas.

Once again, thanks for everything so far guys, I miss you all and I'll be thinking of you on turkey day when I crack open a fresh can of tuna.

adios.