Tuesday 2 March 2010

In the wake of the quake - Dalooney's on the ground (but thankfully not in it) in Chile.

Regular colyoomistas will be familiar with Dalooney, the Cork Cowboy and my most excellent friend.
By means of reaching out to him and his Chilean girlfriend, below Double Vision runs the alarming and gripping email he sent from Chile, after I and many others had tried to contact him. Thankfully, he's alive, but hey buddy, when you're safe back home in Santiago, maybe you could leave a comment on the blog, telling me you're okay and suitably furious about my posting your private email on the internet for the world to see.
Sorry mate, it was just great reportage. Couldn't resist it.
Vot can I say?

email runs:
Howrya!
All grand ... Quite a f%$king sight to see the highway disappear before your very eyes tho...
We were travelling by bus(about 100km from epicentre) when it began to veer wildly between lanes. Thanks be to Jaysus our driver managed to stop about 200m from a bridge that had just collapsed.
No water,electricity etc. in most places. Managed to score a packet of crackers and some fruit this morning. Wahoo!
Hope to be back in Santiago Wednesday.
All in one piece. Be in touch soon
Simoncito x

Boy was I pleased to get that. The west of Ireland scores wind and rain and a bit of snow and more wind and rain and a bit of sun. We have floods and rare droughts, mudslides and frosts, but the ground tends to stay still beneath our feet. During my 4 years living in northern California, this paranoid fool worried each and every single day that the Big One might be about to rip.
Love that Connemara granite.

6 comments:

Paz said...

good to hear that he's Ok, true, with all the complaining people do, they still can wake up in the morning to the ground beneath their feet(even if theres a foot of water ;P )

Charlie Adley said...

True - I've been in a few minor quakes, up to about 6, and jolts, which are really scary, and the feeling that the ground has gone from under you is the most primal and disturbing of sensations. We don't realise how much we subliminally rely upon the stability of the earth below our feet.

Thousands of people get legless in Galway, but that's a different story altogether....

dalooney said...

Go raibh mile Big Man.Warmly apreciated.Finally made it back to santiago 4 days later. Even yesterday had aftershocks of grade 7...Surreal(and feckin scary!) to see the ground beneath yer feet doin a mexican wave of it`s own accord. Tierra firma me a$%e.Strange days indeed...Big manly hug from me and little lady x

Charlie Adley said...

Heard about that 7.2 aftershock and was thinking of you. That's a massive quake all on its own. Just because it came later they call it an aftershock! The lomo prieta in San Francisco in '89 was around 6.9 or 7 depending on your scales, so the terms they use seem pretty arbitrary. Still, bloody good to hear from you mate. Jeeze, Spire House must be looking dead dull and stable to you.

But as I say, mostly glad you're okay, and I hope yer wan's house and family are all as they should be too. When are you coming home?

dalooney said...

Ya...although spanish for aftershock is "replica" which is a more accurate reflection of the reality.
Home!? is it yer saying...Sure aren`t de cracks only mighty in Santiago these days...
I`ll get me hat before causing further offence;)

Charlie Adley said...

ah be god you're a tirrible man. Anyway guv'nor, great to know you're all okay, and please, no more divisive puns! The Snapper sends her love to you, and we all miss you, but isn't that the nature of Galway? Everyone goes, and everyone comes back at some stage... looks like the Guru and the Whispering Giant might be back here by summer, from Cork and Derry respectively.