Journal Entry Nine in Peru - 27/02/10

Highlight of the day: Having my first Peruvian chocolate eclair. It's filled with a custard-like substance, but sweeter. Not too bad, but not quite the same addictive of the original P&S ones.
Discovery of the day: Reporting news accurately without sensationalising is no longer a given.
Over-riding emotion: A wee bit fed-up with this build-up to the tsunami in Hawaii.
Nooooo.... : The dog stole my handkerchief and swallowed it whole! I'm afraid he's going to die of indigestion.




I am watching the Cee-eN-eN coverage of the earthquake in Chile and the expected tsunami. It's been on for about 15 hours now and the last 5 hours have been centred around the expected arrival of the tsunami in Hawaii. At first, they showed the evacuation process and built up to disastrous consequences quite effectively, I thought. For the last hour and a half though, they have been running with the scrolling headline that the "first wave will hit any moment now". And now, with it beginning to appear that it's going to be a very mild tsunami, the reporters are almost trying to incite panic. They just spoke to a tourist who had been evacuated to higher ground and when it became obvious that he was very relaxed and not in the least scared for his life, the reporter did all but shout, "Panic, damn you!" at him. The anchor barely managed to prevent himself from swearing at some guy who was casually, albeit recklessly, walking on the deserted beach. Apparently, some surfer dudes are actually waiting to catch the wave. Yes crazy, but the way they built up the tsunami, they probably figured they'd rather die trying to catch the ultimate wave rather than clinging on to a coconut tree.

Anyway, now they've realised that the tsunami has limited itself to raising the water level by a few metres and they aren't going to get any drama, so they've returned to the actual tragedy which is the earthquake in Chile. Here in Peru, they are treating it as a way of life. Apparently, the earthquake in Peru approximately 2 years ago resulted in more than a thousand deaths, so to them, it's sad, but could've been worse. A Chilean diplomat just said they've got it under control and don't need any outside help at the moment, as they have stringent building laws etc.

Stepped out for a minute and they have returned to Hawaii. The reporter just went through events on the North American coast; water level rises and some damage - buoys were damaged! You'd think they would be celebrating the fact that they have such a good warning system and evacuation methods in place, rather than looking for damage and disaster. It's almost like they are trying to 'compete' with the Asian tsunami... I feel like they are going to be so pissed if Japan gets a 'proper' tsunami. I don't think that less should be made of the possibility of a repeat of the Asian tsunami, but I feelthey should have dialled down the drama when they realised that all the places that were supposed to be hit by the tsunami before Hawaii, barely felt it.

I apologise for the rant. All this scare-mongering is making me want to stop following news. First swine flu, now this... All I have to say is, do your research before you panic. Panicking never helps anyway.

If you would like to brighten your day, after this depressing post, check out the trousers the Norweigian men's curling team is wearing. I have no idea why they are showing curling in Peru. I wonder if they even take part in the Winter Olympics...