Terremoto... not just a drink this time.

It was a Friday night in Santiago when the huge earthquake hit. Mark and I were over at our friend Alejandro's apartment building, fifteen stories up at the balcony, talking and drinking with two of his Chilean friends.

I hadn't notice the shaking until Alejandro said, "Stop. Do you guys feel that?" Then I felt it and waited for it to stop. I thought it was just one of those tremors Chile receives every once in a while. However, this one did not stop; it only became stronger.

"Shit we gotta get outta here," Alejandro said.

We quickly got up and made out way out of the door. One of our friends Sebastian was in the bathroom and his fiancée Oheña went to get him, but he was in the middle of peeing so he didn't come out right away. I took my purse and left the apartment with Alejandro by my side. People from the apartment across us opened the door and we saw a couple in a state of panic. The woman was crying, scared out of her life. They came out of the apartment, ran for the stairs and disappeared.

As Alejandro and I stumbled through the hallway, the lights went out and we couldn't see anything. I called for Mark and heard his voice calling my name from behind. We found him under the door frame of the apartment and all five of us gathered under the door frame and waited while the building shook and rocked.

What was I thinking for during those 30 seconds of rocking? "It's okay. It's okay. It's going to stop. This is a new building. It's earthquake proof. It's going to be okay."

Mark was thinking, "What's going to happen if this building were to go down?"

Ojeña was crying and saying, "Mi Padre! Mi Padre!"

And then it stopped.

We all let out a sigh of relief. We came back in the apartment and half of the furniture had fallen on the floor; plants, books, bottles, ect. His TV was face-down on his bed; it had fallen off the shelf. I went out to the balcony and the city the dark and dusty. Ambulance, cop, and fire sirens filled the air.

Mark and I walked back to our apartment since none of the taxis were picking up anybody. Through our walk, we encountered debris that had fallen off buildings.

We came back to our dark apartment and saw Melissa come out from her room. We all hugged each other. We shared our stories and experiences and went to bed shortly thereafter. I woke up in the middle of night and felt a swaying movement. I looked at the closet ahead of me and saw it moving.

I tried to wake Mark up, "Babe, do you feel that?"

He let out a, "Huh?" but went back to sleep. I figured it was just a minor aftershock and went back to sleep. The next morning, Melissa told me that there was another earthquake in the morning that measured 6.9.

Since then, life hasn't been still. Today, almost two weeks after the big earthquake, three strong aftershocks hit Santiago- the first 6.9, second 6.7, and the last 6.0. This time, I was at work in Maipú without my friends and loved ones. Some students were upset and others exhilarated. I saw that one of the teachers started crying while others tried to comfort her.

I just recently started to feel calm and safe again and after today, I feel more shaken up than ever because I've realized it's not over. Hell, the epicenter has only moved closer to Santiago. I don't know what to do. Just be prepared I guess.