Christchurch Quake February 2011 - Week 4

Week 4

It is nearly a month since the earthquake. Each week brings new experiences.

Something in the water

This morning as I turned on the shower I smelled chlorine. The unthinkable has happened and Christchurch water has been treated. I guess chlorine is preferable to live bacteria from the broken sewerage system. The authorities assure us that they will stop treating as soon as possible, and we may be able to stop boiling our drinking water soon. Happily there has not been an outbreak of gastro-enteritis. We filled up our 20 litre water containers in Rangiora last Sunday so we use that for drinking. I think we will continue to do that as it is more pleasant to drink.

Airport
We went to the airport yesterday to see William off to the US to meet his future in-laws. He had tried to get presents, but all the souvenir stores are in the Red Zone in the centre of town, so he had to try at the airport. The atmosphere at the airport was nearer to normal, with people smiling, and a happy bustle. It made me more aware of the marked contrast with the 23rd February when I met Rosemary. It may be a reflection of my own sleep deprivation at the time, and feeling shocked and rather disconnected, but I remember it all seemed very sombre and subdued.

Central City
On Friday was a public holiday and a memorial service in Hagley Park. I needed a day off, so we watched it on television. There was a video shown at the start of some of the damage in the Red Zone, which was rather eerie and sad. Today Mark and I went for a drive and walk around the edge of the cordon. We saw a wrecking ball being dropped on St Elmo’s court, and quite a few police and army types. There was a lot of damage, and I’m sure there was more damage that wasn’t apparent. However, the bones of the city are still good. The river and bridges and trees and flora are as beautiful as ever. There are many ugly buildings that will come down, as well as nice ones. I feel much better for having seen in. Before there was an emptiness in how I pictured it all, and now I can picture it better. It will be a LONG time before the centre city approaches normal, but it will be beautiful again. There is certainly a will.

Tennis
Later on Friday Mark and I had a game of tennis at Rugby St court. It was wonderful. I had felt all mushy in my head beforehand, but much better after. I even got the score to 2-2, which has never happened before. It was a sunny day, and a lovely setting.

University
We had a week at Uni, with just the first years there. Only it didn’t seem as if many were there really. There are marquees set up in the carparks to use as lecture theatres. Fortunately there are some operational computer labs, which we have been using. The big lecture theatres are having their heavy ceiling panels replaced with light ceiling panels, and then the classes will be allowed back in.

I had to teach a graduate class that had been relocated out to Lincoln on Wednesday afternoon, and on Wednesday morning I still had not come to grips with what I was going to do with the course. I have never felt so lost in all my teaching career. I sat and stared at the computer screen with my mind a blank. It felt as if I had enough emotional and intellectual resources to cope with one course, but not a second. However I had some vague idea of what to do and got Mark to drive me to Lincoln so that I wouldn’t have the added stress of working out how to get there. (Sounds pathetic I know, but earthquakes do funny things to people.) It also meant I had company. When I got there, the class was fine, and once I warmed up it all went okay. I’d rather not go through that again though.

Stag night
A step back to normal life was our outing to Chats Bar for the Tuesday quiz night with Nick. Everything was a little gritty, with the silt that had been blowing around the area. But the bar had power, water and sewerage so it went ahead. There was no “post mix” due to the drinking water problems so the barmaid had to go next door to the dairy to buy soda water for our cranberry and soda. It was the closest thing William will have to a stag night, (with his mother there?!)  and we had a good time. We drank two jugs of cranberry and soda! We came third equal and lost on the tie-breaker.

Slow
Things are still slow. My brain is still slow, and I am able to get less than half a day’s work done in a day. The traffic is slow, due to the poor roads, and you need to allow at least twice the normal time to get anywhere. Not only is my brain slow, it is more forgetful. I left my iPhone in the computer lab, which to me is akin to leaving a baby on a bus! Fortunately a nice student handed it over to a lecturer when it rang.

Church community
We had church today for the first time since the earthquake. Various groups of women had met up in the interim and we had been keeping track of each other. It was interesting though that there were three units meeting together today, and half an hour after the meeting ended there were only people from our unit (Ward) still standing around and talking. We feel very close to each other, having been the worst hit in the city. A speaker who had come from Hamilton commented that he felt honoured to be addressing people for whom thousands of people had been praying. It was a lovely thought. He emphasised God’s love for us, and that having afflictions does not mean that we are not favoured of God. (1Nephi1:1).

And now...
One more week to get all my University teaching sorted out, and then we fly out to Utah for Willam’s wedding. Jonathan is pretty excited and it will be nice to get away, but I think my thoughts will still be with our wounded city.

Christchurch Quake February 2011 - Week 3

Two weeks on. The novelty is wearing off and reality bites.
It’s difficult to think what even happened since last Sunday. As I mentioned before, everything seems to happen in slow motion, and a whole day can go by with nothing much accomplished.
A Day Off
On Tuesday we took the day off from regular life and went to Hanmer Springs for the day. We went for a walk in the beautiful Woodland Walk, ate out at a cafe and went to the fantastic hot pools. It was probably our last outing as a family of four, maybe forever, as William is leaving for the US next Saturday, and when he comes back he will bring his new wife, Jessica, to join our family. It was a calm day, with lots of fun. It was great to have William again to take Jonathan on the hydroslides, though Mark and I did go on as well, particularly the new ride. As we drove back into Christchurch, I did feel some sadness descend. Mainly sadness for the city as a whole and the daunting task of rebuilding. Back home I couldn’t face reality and decided to spend the evening outside it. I watched television and didn’t answer the phone or do the dishes. They were in the real world and I wasn’t. I didn’t much like the real world and decided I didn’t need to be in it just then.

Back to work
It was another interesting experience on Thursday as I went to University to get some of my belongings and teaching materials out of my office. Only those who are teaching next week had the opportunity to go in. There were about twelve of us in my lot, with a rescue team of six. We wore high-visibility jackets and hard-hats, and had strict instructions to stay where our minder knew where we were. My office was fine and looked barely messier than usual. I had an episode of earthquake brain and didn’t take my keys, so I couldn’t bring out my laptop. But I retrieved my handbag, and a friends, and the student records. After that we had a meeting with other staff in our College, (in a marquee) and it was very nice to see them all again for the first time since the event.
I have been working on my course to make it better suited to almost totally on-line learning. The students will get videos of the lectures from last year, and can come to “Help sessions” during the week in the one computer lab that is operative, it seems. The university is being transformed with marquees being erected in the carparks, in which lectures will be given. We do get a refund for our parking permits! Mark and I bought me a computer desk and chair (on my university purchasing card) that is now in my little room at home so that I can work properly, rather than balancing my laptop on my lap in front of the television! It helps.

Excitement then disappointment
We had a brief time of excitement, when notification came through that our Rogo Lite app was available on the app store. However, when I downloaded it I found it was in French as we had messed up putting in the language files. So we had to pull it off sale and resubmit, and are now waiting another week or so for it to be approved again! Rather frustrating, and quite possibly related to earthquake brain.

Haircuts
Jonathan and I had haircuts ready for our trip to the US and William’s wedding. I had finally found a hairdresser I liked, but unfortunately the salon was in the centre city and is now inaccessible at best, and probably about to be demolished. So we went to another salon, where Jane was borrowing some space, and they will be setting up again in Riccarton before too long, thanks to the insurance company.

The centre city
The whole centre city is rather an enigma. We only see photographs and hear descriptions of it, but no one can go in without security clearance. This is totally reasonable, and protects people and property, but it also lends an air of unreality. It is difficult to come to terms with the destruction, or even understand what destruction there has been without actually seeing it. All sorts of rumours abound as to how many buildings are or will be destroyed. And the estimated cost for rebuilding Christchurch seems to grow daily. The number is far too big to comprehend.

Progress
A big effort this week has been to get power back to most people. Everyone I know has now got electricity, though the south and east are asked to use as little as they can get away with as the network is so fragile. Sewerage will be a long time coming. Even after the September quake the amount of piping that would need replacing was several times what is normally done in a year. But now there are whole suburbs of people for whom a flush toilet is just a happy memory, or something they use when visiting friends. Thousands of chemical toilets are being delivered daily.

Aftershocks
The aftershocks continue, leaving us in a state of constant slight arousal, such that a truck driving past made me grab the bench the other day. They are physically and probably psychologically draining, without being actually frightening. We think nothing of a magnitude 4 earthquake, which would have been a momentous quake to us before September. Often a night’s sleep is disturbed by aftershocks, as they seem to come more in the night. Once woken it can be difficult to get back to sleep. Napping is common.
And now Japan has had a far worse quake, resulting in a Tsunami. Though theoretically I feel sorry for them, I have no real sympathy left. I am too busy with the pains of Christchurch.

Lists of those who have died
Each morning when I read in the paper the list of the dead the police have identified over the last 24 hours I am amazed and relieved that not one of the names so far has been familiar. Having lived nearly all my life in Christchurch I find that remarkable. But it isn’t over yet. There are still up to 100 names to release. I don’t like to read the list, but I know I must. It must have been rather like this during the wars, when the casualty lists were published. I was reluctant to ring up the optometrist, as one of their offices was in town, and I feared that one of them might have been injured or killed. But all was well. Another worry gone.

Shrunken clothes
One particular downside of earthquakes is that my clothes no longer fit me. I would like to think it is some strange physical phenomenon due to the fabric being shaken up and making all my clothes smaller. However I suspect it is more due to a lack of exercise routine, and an abundance of comfort eating. I don’t even want to buy any more clothes, it all seems rather meaningless. I wear trackshoes all the time, as the roads are so dusty and the footpaths are broken up.

Grief
This sounds rather dismal, and I guess it probably is. Winter will be on us soon, and life is going to be very hard for many people with dodgy houses and inadequate plumbing. Life at university is not like anything I could ever have imagined. Normal is far from normal for nearly everyone. We are all grieving. Some have people to grieve for, and some have lost homes, some have lost jobs and many have lost trust in solid ground. I have been truly blessed to lose nothing except my orderly life. But I grieve for that and for Christchurch.

Next
So what can I do? I will do my very best to help my students to have as successful and enjoyable time in my courses as they can. I will try to be kind to the people I meet, as we never know what pain they are carrying. I will try to be patient, even when I feel far from it. It’s all I can do. And hang in there until normal is more normal.