Moving Forward

Much to be said of the past couple of months here in Santiago.  We experienced a magnitude 8.8 earthquake which shook Santiago real good and destroyed much of the epicenter being Conceptcion.  The short time period afterwards saw Chile and its 17  million inhabitants pulling resources together and lending hands in whatever way possible.  Many of the Universities here allotted the first month of classes towards aiding in the south.  It really was a fantastic display of humanitarian efforts here.  I aided at a High School and was very impressed at the number of youth who stepped up to the plate in their country's distress.  We all worked diligently at accepting donations and then packing them in preparation to be sent to the South.  Hats off to all those who took part in this enormous effort.  As can be assumed, there is still countless volunteers and continued donations needed at this point.  Folks effected the hardest are still living in mock housing, mainly tents and such, with none of their once available comforts.  As for me, well I have it good here in Santiago with no damages to speak of and things returning to normal fairly quickly.  Extremely fortunate and grateful.  Not at all the way Chile was expecting to start the new year and presidency of Pinera.  But from what i've seen this grand obstacle is being met head on and will hopefully only serve as a testimony to Chile's heart and might.

The picture I'm attaching is of the new Titanium Building which now is the tallest in all of South America!  It is an incredible display of Chilean engineering, and rightfully so.  This 55+ story building had but a few windows broken and minor cosmetic damages. "8.8" =  Fuerza Chile!!!