Chile Forum

klrbilly, get a grip on your contributions or moderating down your posts is going to start and look like an attractive option.

Regarding comparisons to Hurricaine Katrina:
The USA is a nation of states, very decentralized when it comes to first and second response to emergencies or disasters. The federal government exists mostly to guarantee lost cost rebuilding loans and to provide what the states cannot after the states do their thing. Even the soldiers which are deployed are under the control of the states, not the military.
Chile is a centralized, top down government hunkered down in Santiago. There is little that can be done locally, even the basics, such as legalization of documents and seeking redress in the courts. There are no state militias (National Guard) or local disaster coordinators (except for Charles).
A direct comparison is not practical.
The big debate here in the USA is whether the federal government has too much power and should more power be given to the fed to run the banks, auto industry, health care, etc.

After reading through the original post again and looking at the timeing of the post i am not swaying from my previous posts..
And Dangy..... I might be wrong but you sound to me like a teenager that still is living the life backed up by Daddy...Feel free to reply... I look forward....

Read the post topic slowly...
The poster stated.......not sure what this quake means for my next adventure...
The way i read this is that the next adventure is more important to the poster than a Country that is hurting so bad

klrbilly wrote:After reading through the original post again and looking at the timeing of the post i am not swaying from my previous posts..
And Dangy..... I might be wrong but you sound to me like a teenager that still is living the life backed up by Daddy...Feel free to reply... I look forward....

Wow klrbilly, you are 100% on target (have you been peeping over the walls of my daddy's gated compound? ) You're right; I'm just a 15 year old brat living a life of leisure on daddy's dime and have nothing better to do with my time than read posts about Chile. Now that you've so publicly exposed me, why don't you direct your super sleuthing powers at the other bums on this forum. I'm sure your witty edification will be much appreciated.

Thanks for being so honest...I admire you for telling the truth........

Hey, everyone settle down.

Everyone needs to put this disaster in to perspective. Ignore the idiots in the international press, they were the last people on the ground. Most are just regurgitating feeds from lazy reporters in Santiago drinking their espresso at their desk in Las Condes.

We have seen it first hand. I have seen it first hand (much of it). For example, we got grounded in Las Angeles in the 8th region by bad weather overnight doing the aid flights last week with a military curfew, 10-20% of the city a no go zone because of collapsed buildings, and it was still more pleasant a stay with internet, good cheap hotel, breakfast, friendly people, than about 90% of Latin America on a good day. That is based on years of travel in Latin America including living in Guatemala and Mexico for several years.

We operate in the remote parts of the Patagonia all the time, and almost everything even in the most hardest hit zones is functioning at much higher level than the deep Patagonia does on a daily basis. Most of what you are seeing media bs.

Yes, it is bad, but not that bad. This is not Haiti or Thailand in any way shape or form. Anything Temuco south is absolutely normal, with perhaps the exception of gas deliveries (even that is improving). The 7th-8th regions are the hardest hit, but not a lot of foreigners spend time there anyway. My guess is only about 5% of all foreigners in Chile ever even venture in to those parts of the country, when everything is normal.

The people that got hardest hit by this quake unfortunately in Chile, were the people that had the least/most to loose. That is a social-political problem, that for the most part most foreigners will have to be here years to understand.

So, what does it mean for your next adventure?

Nothing.

I take that back.

What does it mean for your next adventure?

It means you get to see Chile at its best.

To put it into more perspective, I doubt Seattle, Portland, LA or SF OR the Pac NW or California in general would have gotten away with such a low death toll for an 8.8. If New Madrid ever goes again, THAT would probably be similar to a Haiti.

If you minus the death toll from the tsunami Llolleo down south, the death toll is amazingly small.

8.8 dudes, think about it.

Another thought,

1960 the south had a 9.5
2010 the central south had a 8.8
1985 the central had a 7.8
and the Coquimbo area had one in the 6+ area a couple of years ago.

Barring a 2012 scenario, the only real threat of a biggie for Chile in the next 10 years is in the FAR FAR NORTH.

The 1985 quake and today''s Chile is important to revisit. I'm in the San Antonio area (8.3 felt recently followed by a near 6.9 felt aftershock), the epicenter of the last central quake. Compare the death tolls MINUS the 5-7 persons who died in the tsunami which may have been due to the incompetence of the Chile official tsunami warning system.

This forum has helped me and apparently many others. There is a lot of great advice and great spirit here which was demonstrated after the earthquake very well. I hate to see anybody's comments received so poorly as was somethingnew's. Her heart is in the right place. Although I've only been here a few months, somethingnew, my experience is that you can find work here but first you've gotta get here and then look. A little luck helps, too. But there's no substitute for being here. It all takes time, but it can work out. To all those who are kind and helpful on this forum, thank you. Many of us newbies appreciate that.

First;
Sorry Charles, I shouldn't have replied to the taunting.

Second;

Stoph is right; first time posters should be given informed responses (uncolored by negative perceptions of their intentions). I remember getting a few responses to my original posts that left me feeling very unsettled. It seemed to me, a complete newbie at the time, that seasoned posters were making personal judgements on my questions and responding with condescending "advice" that did little to inform anyone.
I'm so thankful for what this forum provides, and for the people who make it possible. For anyone considering a move to Chile, there really is no better resource. I don't like to see first time posters being chased off by worthless comments.

You never know who is on the other end of a question and what that person may eventually contribute to this country we all love.

I'll yield the soapbox now.

somethingnew - it sounds like you have had some amazing experiences and I hope that if you end up in Chile you'll let us all know how things turn our for you here.