Aneya & Lauren: An Update.

Lauren: We thought it'd be a good idea to do a quick post on how we're holding up over here. First, a few things: We have regular gas, electricity, and running water. The elevators in our building are working, the door has been repaired and can lock with a deadbolt again. So much we're thankful for.

Aneya: Ya, we have a lot more basic necessities than most people right now. I'm especially thankful that our door was fixed, and the elevator is nice to have again too.

Lauren: So the past few days, Aneya and I have been feeling a lot of really strong emotions. We're so grateful for a lot of things, that we're safe, we have running water, that the earthquake happened when we had a familiarity with Santiago, not the day we arrived, we're not in the hostel we first arrived at with 20 strangers. I can't even name how many things we are thankful for.

Aneya: This whole ordeal has been really emotional for us. We don't really know how to feel. Of course we're grateful, firstly. We keep playing the "What if" game. "What if we were out a nightclub when it happened?" "What if we were in a bus?" "What if our building was old and rickety?" So many What If's have been going through our minds.

Lauren: We've also been a bit edgy. Sunday and Monday there were probably 20 aftershocks, which were really unnerving. My big fear was that some part of a building that was loose, would finally give way while we were walking down the street. It was terrifying to feel these constant small tremors, and each time be scared that something new would happen. We each had our own strange fears.

Aneya: Ya, the after shocks are not pleasant. Lauren was worried that things would fall on her from the buildings as we were walking, and I assured her they wouldn't (even thought I had no idea if they would) I, for some reason, kept feeling like maybe our building was just going to break in half, or collapse on us, even thought it's highly unlikely.

Lauren: Sunday afternoon, I started to get really really blue. Saturday everything that had happened didn't really hit me, and I was totally in survival mode. Get out of the apartment. Assess the damage. Get some quick provisions.

But Sunday evening, after a full day of being glued to the TV and being safe with provisions, all these images and stories we were hearing started to sink in, and I just became immobile. I couldn't do the dishes or sweep the debris off the floor. I was just paralyzed with sadness. I felt like I didn't deserve to be this sad. I hadn't lost anyone or anything. But seeing death tolls escalate, waking up to sirens each morning, the debris from our broken door and the debris that had floated into our window, it just all started to sink in. I was just really sad and scared.

Aneya: See, this is how we process grief differently. I was terribly sad that first night, on Saturday. I tried to sleep and instead starting crying, and I couldn't stop. I also felt like I didn't deserve to be so sad. No one in my family had died. All my friends were okay. And yet. To be a part of something like this, you can't help but feel like you're connected to these people. And seeing the images on TV, and reading about all the deaths, knowing it so close, and it happened to such good people just made my heart break. And I had to let it out.

And after I did, I felt much better. So I was really sad on Saturday, but these past few days I've been better. I've been in reporter mode now, taking pictures, writing iReports for CNN and blogs for the New York Times. Anything to get information out there.

Lauren: After a few emails to/from the states, a couple of virtual hugs, and a good rap session with Aneya and watching "Superbad" together I felt much better. Aneya lent me the perfect book to read, "The Pact," which has been helpful in getting my mind off everything. Being sad wasn't helpful to anyone, it didn't change the situation we were in, so Monday we set out to be as useful as possible and try to keep busy while still being cautious and safe.

Aneya: It's actually really hard to concentrate on anything superficial, we've both found. Lauren told me it took her an hour to read two pages of her book, and I've tried surfing the net for my usual celebrity gossip fix, but I can't. My mind just goes blank when I try and read that stuff. Watching a silly movie was good though.

Lauren: Honestly, although we have food we really need is alcohol. I'm normally a deep sleeper. Usually if I sit still long enough, I'll just pass out. I would have slept through the apocalypse or, I don't know, a 6.5 earthquake. But being so edgy and hearing certain trigger noises (a baby crying, glass shattering, metal hitting metal, sirens) will keep me up until 4 a.m. Each morning I wake up with a jolt around 8-9 a.m. from one of these noises or, like the past two mornings, an aftershock.

Last night I noticed it took me from 11:00 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. to read pages 140-141 of "The Pact," which is where alcohol comes in. I really miss sleeping and I think a glass of red wine could help with my insomnia in ways that chamomile really hasn't. Aneya suggested watching TV (not the local news), something light, but I don't know TV. I don't "have shows," so she's going to help me find one to watch before going to bed.

Aneya: Ya, some booze would be great right now. That would probably help with Lauren's insomnia. I'm trying to help her zone out a little bit. The past two nights I've been sleeping just fine, and usually I'll watch some TV online, to get my mind off things. Just staring at a computer screen late at night is exhausting. Although I can't do anything about the after shocks, those are definitely frightening, and they wake me up too.

Lauren: Aneya has been amazing with listening, giving good advice, sympathizing, letting me use her iPhone and Skype. I've been so fortunate having Aneya around and we really have so much to be grateful for.

Aneya: Lauren's been great too, she comforted me that first night, and told me we had a plan and we'd be okay. We're so lucky we have each other, I just don't know what'd do If I was on my own.

-- Aneya & Lauren