Yes, I was sitting there at breakfast in the Early Bird cafe, a diner-like source of american breakfast cuisine and diner-like coffee. (Sometimes the coffee is better than other times, today it wasn't so good.)
Then things started shaking. It wasn't terrible--the central weather bureau says it was only a "3" around here. But when a quake lasts for a long time, we figure it must have been big somewhere. This one was a 6.4 somewhere south of us. I imagine we'll know tomorrow about any damage or deaths down south. In fact, tomorrow night we're expecting some coworkers from down in Pingtung to stay with us, so I'm sure we'll get the full scoop unless they can't even make it. Since then there are some 25 quakes listed on the Taiwan central weather bureau site of local magnitudes 3.4 to 5.7.
You know, our own problems often seem bigger than those farther away, and that's certainly true for us. For instance, the two funerals we attended this last weekend touched us deeply, though we know that there were a lot more people suffering in Chile and Haiti from the major earthquakes there. Grieving with the families and friends of our friends we cried our own tears. Then there was the friend we visited in the hospital with a brand new baby and a major neck surgery. (The whole family is back at home today.) That also touches us closer, even though we don't like to see the earth and everything on it shaking even a little.
Then there's our daughter Sarah's quest for a graduate school placement. She's finished her interviews and is waiting to see if she gets any more offers. She has a couple favorites she's hoping to hear from. We're certainly lifting up those possibilities to the father. She realizes it is grace that she has gotten this far.
But that got trumped in our immediate attention when we heard Joey had suffered a further injury skiing on his recovering achilles tendon repair. (Please direct all your inquiries about that combination of skiing and recovery directly to Joey, whose email I will conveniently NOT insert here.) Seriously Joey, we are all praying for your recovery and your continued growth in all things, one step at a time. Sometime during our night tonight Joey is hoping to see a doctor in Colorado for an evaluation of his injury. We should know more tomorrow and I will mention it on my facebook page.
Even closer to home and less serious, I've got a (flu?) plaguing me and Laura doesn't feel tiptop either. Hopefully, this will be the easiest of these concerns to put behind us although it certainly has a way of grabbing our immediate attention. From what I hear, we're not the first in Taiwan or the US to face this little challenge lately. (Tells you how much the earthquake bothers us when we mention flu virus in the same update, eh?!)
Also tomorrow and Saturday we'll have our annual meeting for TEAM Taiwan and that is something you could also keep in mind for us. As well we're only about 10 days away from our next Consultation on Counseling in the Chinese World. This one is in southern Taiwan, and we are hoping that we can have some significant conversations and times of learning and reflection as we gather from around the Chinese world.
If you thought of us when you heard about the quake, thanks, and please know, that while we're following the news of the quake and all the aftershocks, we're unshaken enough that we're still thinking about all these other things in our more immediate world.
With love from the far side, Steve and Laura
Da Yi Street, Lane 29, #18, 2F-1, Taichung 404, TAIWAN
011 886 4 2236-6145, wk 2236-1901, fx 2236-2109, cell 9 2894-0514
USA: 9685 Otero Ave, Colorado Springs, CO 80920, 719.528.1702, cell 719.355.4809
TEAM, PO Box 969, Wheaton, IL 60187, 800 343-3144
<www.team.org.tw/spinella>, <www.team.org.tw/ccg> <spinella@alumni.rice.edu> <lauraspinella@alumni.rice.edu>
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