Informal letter
Paradise turned into hell. Hi mom and dad. I know that you guys are worried but I’m fine, and I know that you want me to tell you what happened on my vacation so here goes.
The morning of December 17 I was eating breakfast on an outdoor patio at the hotel, enjoying the view and the food obviously. I was watching a few children playing on the beach when I saw the wave coming. I didn’t react as fast as I should because like everyone else I was just watching it as if it was something nice coming at me. Ironically though it wasn’t as nice as I thought. I started running when it was a little too late and I think the people at the hotel thought the same. Everybody was running away from the wave but no one knew were to run or how to save themselves. I was running hysterically but there was no way I could outrun the wave, that’s when I saw a man waving at me from the top of a huge building, so I darted in there. I climbed up to the roof and sat there to let the catastrophe do what it’s good at. While I was sitting there I saw the most horrific things happen in front of me, people fighting the water and screaming for help, children crying, houses exploding from the water and trees just falling down. The resort that was once so beautiful was nothing like itself. Buildings that were once homes and hotels were now wreckage.
Finally when the water withdrew we climbed down and began making our way through the water and mud to higher ground and safety. We walked for a while and camped out in the middle of nowhere. In the morning helicopters were there to help the survivors, there were also busses that drove people to Manila were you could get a new passport, clothes and so on.
The sight though. God it was so terrible, dead bodies in bags and the smell of dead was so in your face.
I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible so a few days later I bought a ticket home and so here I am. Healthy, happy, and so very thankful to be a survivor. Love.
The morning of December 17 I was eating breakfast on an outdoor patio at the hotel, enjoying the view and the food obviously. I was watching a few children playing on the beach when I saw the wave coming. I didn’t react as fast as I should because like everyone else I was just watching it as if it was something nice coming at me. Ironically though it wasn’t as nice as I thought. I started running when it was a little too late and I think the people at the hotel thought the same. Everybody was running away from the wave but no one knew were to run or how to save themselves. I was running hysterically but there was no way I could outrun the wave, that’s when I saw a man waving at me from the top of a huge building, so I darted in there. I climbed up to the roof and sat there to let the catastrophe do what it’s good at. While I was sitting there I saw the most horrific things happen in front of me, people fighting the water and screaming for help, children crying, houses exploding from the water and trees just falling down. The resort that was once so beautiful was nothing like itself. Buildings that were once homes and hotels were now wreckage.
Finally when the water withdrew we climbed down and began making our way through the water and mud to higher ground and safety. We walked for a while and camped out in the middle of nowhere. In the morning helicopters were there to help the survivors, there were also busses that drove people to Manila were you could get a new passport, clothes and so on.
The sight though. God it was so terrible, dead bodies in bags and the smell of dead was so in your face.
I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible so a few days later I bought a ticket home and so here I am. Healthy, happy, and so very thankful to be a survivor. Love.