Fotografo de Bodas, Santiago

March 11, 2011

On Thursday I went to the Shakira concert in Santiago. My hips didn’t lie all night long. I screamed until my lungs were hoarse. I was moved to tears by songs that moved me to tears when I heard them on the radio for the first time when I was 13, living in Chile scared shitless, trying to learn Spanish.

I am an unabashed Shakira fan and I do not apologize for it. I think she’s an amazing musician, an incredible performer and gets far less credit for her clever lyrics than she deserves.

Needless to say, I enjoyed myself.

Afterwards, Seba picked my friend and I up, dropped her off, and then we went home and I was on a concert high. I couldn’t stop talking about it. I made a playlist of the set list and started listening on repeat. I told Seba all about every little detail that he didn’t want to know (he’s a really good husband).

Friday morning I woke up early and the first thing I saw when I powered up my computer and started my day was “8.9 earthquake in Japan.” “Devastating tsunami hits Japan.” “Death toll in Japan earthquake estimated to reach over a thousand.”

And for some reason, I felt an immense wave of guilt come crashing down upon me. I shouldn’t have been so happy while other people were scared for their lives, while some people were dying. I shouldn’t have went to that concert. I should’ve been at home all night long watching the news, and I should’ve known about this as it was happening.

I have no idea why I was thinking these thoughts. They’re completely irrational. The earthquake would’ve happened regardless of where I was in the world. People were going to suffer regardless of how I was feeling at that moment. It’s the most egocentrical point of view to think that my emotions and whereabouts matter somehow. But that sensation of being totally powerless to stop death and destruction is an awful one.

I began watching some of the video footage from the earthquake — people screaming, people so afraid, people driving in their little Japanese cars as fast as they can away from a gigantic wave that will surely catch up and swallow them whole. It hurt my heart. It made me remember Chile’s earthquake last year. And my mind immediately went to the same place as Phillip DeFranco’s. I remembered calling my mom to tell her that we were fine, that the earthquake wasn’t a big deal, that it looked way worse on television than things actually were in real life. And then I thought of those in Japan right now, trying to reach loved ones, feeling that sense of panic when they can’t get through, feeling that desperation when they see the bad news pouring in and phone lines are down.

I remembered thinking the house was going to come crashing down on my head. I remember how totally eerie the complete silence afterwards was. I remember poking my head out of the house the next day when it was light out and looking down my street and seeing houses crumpled and turned into piles of rubble. And now I think of Japan and I hate that they’re going through that — except even worse.

Don’t tell me because I already know — there are no more natural disasters now than there were a million years ago, it’s simply that we now know about them all because of technology. But, I have to say. It feels a little bit like the world is ending.

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9 Comments

With all the hype about 2012 predictions, how can your mind not go there? John and I joke about the world ending all the time (dark sense of humour, I know). We’ve felt like we’ve been dodging disasters this year, floods in Australia, cyclones and the earthquake in New Zealand and now having just moved inland from the Chilean coast we were spared from having to evacuate. I’m so relieved that the tsunami did not damage the coasts of the Americas.

By the way, even with my taste in music, I really like Shakira too…especially when she sings in Spanish. My roommate in New York was Colombian and used to play only her Spanish albums all the time and that just made me a fan =)

Comment by Andrea — March 12, 2011 @ 7:25 am

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Ahhhh, I wish I had been at the Shakira concert with you. I’m SO glad you had that amazing of a time!!!

There simply are NO words regarding the disasters that just occurred in NZ and Japan, nor for all of the other countries like China, Haiti, Chile, etc. When Mother Nature is upset there is just no stopping her. My thoughts are with the Japanese today…

Comment by Andi of My Beautiful Adventures — March 12, 2011 @ 10:18 am

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Hey girl I totally feel ya on this one! I get the impression that there are SO MANY MORE natural disasters/tragedies than before, but realize that it’s just that we are more aware/these events get more coverage. This is the sort of thing that paralyzes me with fear and almost makes me not want to travel! Luckily, we are unaffected here in Hong Kong and Friday and Saturday have passed without incident, but it’s crazy to think of all the devastation that has taken place that not too far north of us here! HK is not on any fault line that I know of but this sort of thing still hits close to home, and the tsunami in Sumatra, Indonesia in 2004 is now back into my consciousness and I book hotel rooms for my upcoming stay in Bali next month! A couple of my friends here were planning to fly to Japan for easter, but I don’t know if they are still are going to be up for it given the circumstances!

Comment by Oneika — March 12, 2011 @ 10:54 am

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I am with you. Whether the world is ending soon or not the point is to be prepared. Like I wrote on my last post http://unbailefor5.blogspot.com/2011/03/if-ye-are-prepared-ye-shall-not-fear.html if we are prepared (emergency essentials,food storage, etc) we shouldn’t fear as we are being obedient and will be blessed for it. I don’t know what those blessing entail; maybe they could be that after an earthquake our food storage would be intact, or our home wouldn’t collapse, etc..I don’t know..I just believe in obeying what I’ve been told and having faith that everything will be all right!
By the way love reading about you shaking your hips with Shakira. I wish I would’ve known that’s were you were heading last night…I would’ve made a couple phone calls and maybe gotten you in backstage to meet her …(yes…we are friends…going on 20 years now)

Comment by Vivian — March 12, 2011 @ 2:30 pm

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The photos look devastating . .. I can’t even imagine what they are living through right now.

Comment by Rita — March 12, 2011 @ 7:51 pm

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Well first of all I’m totally with you on appreciating Shakira’s musical talent and intelligence. I’ve always been impressed with her.

I had this conversation with several people about how it seems like there are more natural disasters lately, or at least more “big” ones. I know we can attribute some of it to the access of information we have and also many of us being more globally aware. But, it still seems like it’s just one thing after another these days. No idea what it means and hoping it’s not the end of the world!

Comment by Laura — March 13, 2011 @ 10:32 am

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You’re the second blogger who’s used that phrase – “the world is ending.” So many people are going crazy and saying this is a sure sign that 2012 is going to happen. You’re totally right that we definitely hear about more natural disasters now because of technology but you also have to think of factors like global warming and what we’re doing to the environment plays a huge part in making these disasters occur more frequently. It’s such a tragedy.

Comment by Ceri — March 13, 2011 @ 12:57 pm

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I took a journalism class when doing my masters and the teacher said there is no such thing as “natural disasters” because the in nature things like that happen all the time so nature isn’t a disaster, it’s only the human beings on it that make events like this a disaster.

It is really horrifying though and I hope beyond hope that people learn from this and stop building nuclear power stations…

I always thought shakira was ok, but then in college my best friend was totally into her and then I became a pretty big fan. I think you’re right, she is totally underrated.

Was there tsunami damage in Chile? I haven’t heard anything on the news here in Australia about it.

Comment by Deidre — March 13, 2011 @ 4:04 pm

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There are not enough ways to say “I feel you.” First of all, I am a huge Shakira fan. Secondly, I too tend to suffer from that form of guilt along the lines of “is it okay for me to be indulging in x or enjoying y while someone nearby is suffering?” It is a monster that rears its head a lot in conflict zones. It is hard not to think that the Mayans were right when they thought the end of the world is coming in 2012 on days of earthquakes and tsunamis and nuclear meltdown and civil war. All we can do is keep our head up, smile and find the beauty in the world — something you already excel in.

Comment by Roxanne — March 14, 2011 @ 10:22 am

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