A little over a month ago, I was looking forward to getting back to my blog and writing on Hive. The things that had taken up my time and attention in recent months had finally fallen into place. I had a ton of photos and experiences to share, but just one day after my last post on Hive, an earthquake, in fact two devastating earthquakes, left a trail of terrifying destruction in Caracas and La Guaira. And although every day I wake up and thank God and life that my family and closest friends are safe, these past few weeks I’ve been overwhelmed by sadness, helplessness, and worry.
That afternoon, my husband and I were running errands in Bogotá and walking down the street when we received a call from our son telling us there had been an earthquake in Venezuela I started to shake. We were lucky to be able to reach our family quickly, but as the hours passed and we watched the news, our hearts broke.
In the days that followed, we have the need to help in any way we could, even from a distance. The news that reached us with the days: my sister’s coworker who died when his building collapsed, my niece’s classmates who would never return, the mother of a close friend of my cousin P. Entire families were buried under the rubble. The frustration of seeing that rescue efforts weren’t reaching everyone. Knowing that, even today, a month after the earthquake, there are people who are still digging through the rubble with their own hands in search of the bodies of their loved ones is absolutely heartbreaking.
I have friends who are safe but whose homes were seriously damaged. And even though you tell yourself that material things can be replaced, in a country with an economy that has been devastated for years, it’s easier said than done.
Life is so fleeting and can change in a matter of seconds. That day drastically changed the lives of thousands of people and slightly altered those of hundreds of thousands more, because we’ll be feeling the effects of those two earthquakes for years to come.
That’s how I want to think of La Guaira, or rather, my beloved Vargas State. They should never have changed its name. The picture I want to keep in my memory
I’ve made so many fond memories in its streets and on its beaches throughout my life. It’s heartbreaking to see it so devastated.
I still can’t believe all the destruction. I find it hard to believe that the building where my parents used to had an apartment in the 90s and where I met my husband, no longer exists; it collapsed. Just like all the other buildings on that street. That night, one of my friends called me, the one I used to go to that building with almost every weekend in the ’90s. We used to go there on Friday nights after work to relax over the weekend. She said to me, “If this had happened 30 years ago, we could have been there.”
Despite everything, life goes on, and we’re grateful for each new day. I hope that we Venezuelans can pick ourselves up and help those who need all the support they can get right now to rebuild their lives.
I needed to write this, to vent a little about how I’ve been feeling these past few weeks, so I can keep moving forward with the blog in the coming days.
And speaking of the blog, earlier this month I got a message from Hivebuzz—it’s been 5 years already!!!
With its ups and downs, we’re still here, hoping for better times for everyone.
Thank you very much for reading!
All images and writings are my own unless otherwise stated.
