Today I got some good news and some bad news. This past month has really been a nightmare, and it feels like we’ll never wake up from it. Just when I think everything will be okay, something happens that fills me with anxiety, and honestly, I already feel like I’m starting to break down a little. I haven’t had time to process so many things… The good news is that they inspected the building today—can you believe it? Almost a month after the earthquake, they’ve only just inspected the building’s structure.
These photos are courtesy of the condo board, by the way, all credit goes to Mr. Orlando. The thing is, I thought the inspection would be a bit more thorough—maybe checking the apartments—but they really only inspected the building in general and the roof. It’s a little disappointing, and at the same time I’m a bit worried because I’ve noticed some strange streaks on my walls that seem to be getting more noticeable. Even though they’re pretty small, I don’t know what to make of them. According to the experts, the building is in perfect condition. They also came to inspect the elevator a few days ago, and it’s in good condition as well. Despite my concerns about the things I see at home, I’m a little more at ease knowing that the building as a whole didn’t suffer too much from those two deadly earthquakes.
And just when I thought I’d get a little peace, my mom sent me this photo, telling me that today—three weeks after the earthquake—this streak appeared on the wall. She says it wasn’t there before, since she compulsively checks all the walls every day, so I believe her… My stomach churned with anxiety when I saw the photo because, even though it isn’t deep (or at least it doesn’t look that deep in the photo), it’s something that appeared out of nowhere and makes me think that the building where my mom lives is silently suffering on the inside. I’m really scared because they haven’t inspected the structure there since the earthquakes either—no one has gone to check because the people who live there simply don’t care. I was really shocked to see how irresponsible and indifferent people are about something so serious.
I had my mom scrape off a little bit of the paint to see if it might just be surface damage, but it looks like it’s directly affecting the concrete, so now she needs to keep a close eye on that small crack and see if there are any changes in the coming days. According to my mom, someone is coming tomorrow to inspect the building’s structure. I hope that’s true, and if not, I’ll have to find a way to get someone to go to that building, even if it’s against the other tenants’ wishes.
So this situation really brought me down again. I was already feeling a little better emotionally, but I took another downturn. This affects my health too, since the anxiety and stress give me migraines and stomachaches. I’m really scared; I feel like my life has changed so much since June. I don’t know how to pick up the pieces of myself that have broken off, and every day a new problem pops up that I have to deal with.