Well I made it through my first earthquake yesterday. At about 2 pm Monday afternoon the 5.8 magnitude tremor rumbled through the Hindu Kush Mountain Range 120 kilometers below the earth’s surface. It was my first experience with earthquakes and I won’t soon forget it. I was working at the desk in my room on the second floor of our quarters. My building is a two-storey structure made of steel and concrete and is solid by any measure. Suddenly, the whole building started to shake and rattle. The broom that stands up against the wall in my room fell to the floor and the lamp on my desk began bouncing around. At first I didn’t know what was happening. It felt like I was in a fifth wheel trailer at Whistler’s Campground that was getting rocked back and forth by some drunken college kids. Once I realized that it was an earthquake my steely reflexes, honed to a razor’s edge by years of specialized police training and experience, kicked into action. I bolted from my chair and ran out into the hallway flailing my arms like a ragdoll screaming “EARTHQUAKE!! EARTHQUAKE!!”
Now like I said, I’ve never experienced and earthquake before. Apparently a 5.8 magnitude tremor 120 kilometers underground is not much of an event. The old salty veterans that live on my floor didn’t even blink when our building shook. Truth is that I caused more damage to the building than the tremor. While sprinting towards the exit in my rush to preserve my own safety I kicked over a garbage can and broke a light bulb. I never I said I made it through the earthquake gracefully but I’ll try and do better on the next one.
Today I made another trip into downtown Kabul. On the way I saw this resident auditioning for a part in the sequel to the movie “UP”. I think he may be the most cheerful person in all of Kabul.
Thanks for checking in.
Ken.
