My diary - January 28-30, 1973

Mrs. Rothschuh surveys the A.N.S. High School after the earthquake of 1972

January 28, 1973 Sun.

Dear Smiley:

I got up at 11:30. Wow! Last day to sleep in. Mr. & Mrs. Grafft came over. School start at 8:00 & till 1:00. Washed my hair & Mom rolled it. I finished “Anne of Avonlea” & am starting “Nurse Audrey’s Mission.” We had C & B rations for lunch. Very filling & quite good, it what combat people eat. Well I guess I'll hit the sack. Wish me luck at school.

BYE!!

Note: It was so wonderful to see Mrs. Grafft, alive and kicking. She had gone and stayed with her daughter in California.

Reading was always comforting to me and a way to escape from reality, as we didn’t know what to expect at school and which of our friends would still be there.

I remember the C rations were the main course, and the B rations might be canned pears.

It was a novelty for us. Dad must have gotten them while helping with evacuations. I don't remember how we opened them.

C & B army rations

January 29, 1973 Mon.

Dear Smiley: 

Well I’ll come right out & say it: I HATE school. I have no friends except for Simone (which I’m glad to have at least her). Lydia said that Chiu & Miao were dead so felt awful & like crying in school. Lucky, Carrie Gutierres came up & told me last period & told me they were fine & in New Orleans. School is all messed up. Mrs. Tablada & Mr. Tom share a room & so do all the other teachers that teach the same subject. School was in one word awful. Good thing that happened Pat’s dad came over & gave Mom Pat’s address in Costa Rica. I went to Simone’s house. P.E. was awful awful! Gymnastics

BYE!!!

Note: Returning to school was difficult. I was grateful to be able to return, but it wasn’t the same place we left before the earthquake. The multilevel high school building was in shambles, collapsing and unsafe. We had to share the elementary building and also have classes in army tents and under trees. At first we tried going to school in the mornings, but eventually the elementary school went to school in the mornings, and we attended in the afternoons. 

I hated gymnastics.

January 30, 1973 Tues.

Dear Smiley:

School was abit better. Well guess what good old Nancy did. She took all my books out of my locker & put hers in. I marched up to her & told her I was there 1st & took all her books out!!! I stacked them in 1 tall stack on top of lockers. She had to jump to get them down. Soon as I put them there I walked away. She got the message. Good thing that happened today. I got a nap in. We had 2 strong earthquakes this morning. Scared the daylights out of me. Did homework. Mrs. Hoar came over.

BYE!!!

Note: I am not proud of my behavior. I am sure I could have handled it better, but I didn’t. Needless to say, she never messed with me again.

We kept having earthquakes, which were really scary.

Boy Scouts of America (BSA)

January 28, '73 Sun. (David’s Diary)

Dear Snoopy, I got up at 11:30 or 11:00 today.  I skipped B.F. For lunch I had sea rations. Beef steak, fruit cocktails and a BSA unit. I then rode bikes a bit with Tavi (Gustavo). We went all around. Benji came back. We played baseball. I played lousy today.  I found out that girl’s name was Martha Vicente or something like that.  For dinner we ate RIcatoni.  Dr. Bisbee is alive. Woopedopeedo -shit. Well school  is at 8:00 now. I think Susie and I are in the same math class. 

Note: I remember eating sea rations as we were still dealing with food issues after the earthquake. Apparently, I was not a fan of Dr. Bisbee but certainly didn’t wish him harm. I’m sure Susie was thrilled to have me in her math class, my favorite subject!

Dr. Bisbee's Class in an army tent

January 29 Mon. (David’s Diary)

Now I have something to talk about Snoopy. School started today. I was lousy. Everybody has grown except for me. No friends hardly. Well Mrs. Bfrown is married. Now known as Mrs. Gonzales. Rumors say that Dr. Bisbee is married also. Walter White’s ….died and so did Ricky Johnson’s little sister. 

Note: It was sobering coming back to school and finding out about lives lost due to the earthquake. Much of my entries on this page are illegible due to water damage but apparently there was some issue with my locker and some reference to Cheek (Leesa).

January 30 Tues. (David’s Diary)

Snoopy, School is lousier than ever. I have a lock so big everyone thinks I’m nuts. Got up at 6:30. There was a pretty hard earthquake this morning. I have.a feeling we will have another. I feel out of place in school. No real friends. I can’t remember my homework. You know, math is getting hard, so is science. Spanish report is due in four weeks.  I have to …on greeks  for Mr. Hooker….Ughhs typing  is … A dumb bug… Good Night! —Blahh

Note: It looks like the locker issue led me to having an oversized lock. But the real issues seem to be school assignments piling up and missing friends. Also, there was the stress associated with fearing another earthquake. 

Mr. Hooker was one of my favorite teachers. Really made you think.