An Eventful Day

You may have noticed that yesterday I did not write anything on the blog.  I was preoccupied with other issues.  On Monday morning Alejandro took me to a nearby lab to take the COVID "quick test" that is required three days before my return flight home.  The result was negative.  However that same evening I developed a low grade fever and some other symptoms.  I didn't feel terrible, but I just did not feel right either.  I was very tired and lethargic.  In spite of the negative test, I thought sure that I had contracted COVID.  The quick test is not extremely accurate.  

Yesterday morning Alejandro took me to the lab again, and this time I had the 99% accurate PCR test.  I didn't think that there would be enough time before my departure to get the results, but they said in the lab that I would be notified via email by that evening.  Naturally, I spent the whole day fretting.  If I were positive I would have to delay my return to Ohio and quarantine myself here in Mexico.  My biggest worry was that I might have given the virus to Alejandro and his family.  I spent the whole day in a funk, frequently taking my temperature (the fever had almost gone away) and counting the hours until I would receive the results.

That afternoon we had another torrential rain.  The rainy season this summer has seen much more precipitation than usual, and in the last week we have had several very heavy downpours.  Driving in the city is difficult as many streets are flooded.  Some districts in the metropolitan area have seen heavy flooding.  The several hours of monsoon-like rain did not help my mood any.

Finally, shortly before 7:00 P.M. my results finally arrived.  I nervously opened the email.  The result of the test was... NEGATIVE!  What a sense of relief! 

By that time Alejandro's family was preparing the light evening supper.  I went to join them and give them the good news.  Then before we could eat, the earthquake siren went off.  We all went outside and stood on the street.  Fortunately, the heavy rain had stopped, but it was still sprinkling.  For at least a full minute we could feel a strong, wave-like motion in the ground beneath our feet. It was the strongest quake that I have experienced.  Little Ezra was in his mother's arms and crying.  The electricity went out, then came on for a moment, and then went out again.  Finally when it was over we went inside and ate our supper by the light of an emergency lamp.  The lights came on again shortly before we were ready to go to bed.

The quake was centered near Acapulco in the Mexican state of Guerrero and had a magnitude of 7.0.  There was no major damage reported here, although there was a fire in one of Mexico City's tallest skyscrapers.  We have been unable to ascertain if it was a result of the quake.  One fatality was reported in Guerrero.  In Acapulco there were aftershocks all through the night and continuing this morning.  We couldn't feel them here in Mexico City, but in Acapulco there were people who spent the night sleeping outside.

Here is a video that was sent to Alejandro.  You can get a sense of the fear that people feel when there is an earthquake here, and, given the tragic quakes that they have experienced, with good reason.

Tomorrow I return home to Ohio, so today will be a busy day packing my bags and getting ready.  I still have quite a few posts to write about my stay here, so come back for more on my month in Mexico City.