A former exchange student in Bloomington grapples with the aftermath of the Turkey earthquake

Ottoman, Turkey

It was exactly 4:17 in the morning and 19-year-old Ezgi Kubra was asleep in her room. Urgent voices woke her from the living room. When I got up, I noticed the ground shaking beneath me. She said she was somewhat used to earthquakes. Ezgi knows that they are not uncommon in Turkey.

A former exchange student at Bloomington High School North, Ezgi has returned home for nearly 10 months after a year away from her family. The relief I felt was interrupted by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake that night in Osmaniye.

“I felt the blow,” Ezgi said. “It was terrible.”

That early morning, she ran into the living room to reach her family, even though she was in danger of being hit by falling objects.

Ezgi and her 15-year-old sister were in the arms of their father and her 7-year-old sister with her mother. She said she could sense her mother’s fear – though she tried her best to hide it for the sake of her children. All five of them hid behind their sofas, their hands covering their heads. And wait 65 seconds for the shaking to stop.

“I thought we were going to die,” Ezgi said. “It’s been too long. We’re going to die. We’re going to die.”

They said they heard walls cracking all around them. The TV fell, crashing to the floor. The dishes on the shelf broke into a million pieces.

After the shaking stopped, the family and their neighbors went to the garden outside their home to assess the damage. It was dark, and it was pouring rain. Ezgi remembers that her 7-year-old sister couldn’t stop shaking. The 15-year-old wanted to call her grandparents to see if they were okay, but Ezgi was too afraid to make the call herself.

[Related: Members of Bloomington Turkish community impacted by recent earthquake]

The Ezgi sisters later learned that their grandparents had survived the earthquake just fine.

Later, the family worried about their neighbors who had not fled their homes. They made their way to the doorstep of an elderly couple. Wait 10 seconds after knocking on the door.

They slept through it all.

Ezgi’s garage was cracked and chipped away, leaving the car useless. Instead, one of her neighbors offered to take them wherever they were needed. They first stopped at their grandparents’ house to pick them up, and then they all went to their aunt’s house, where they all currently live.

One apartment houses her uncles, aunts, grandparents, sisters and parents. Her uncle sleeps in his car with one of his friends. Everyone sleeps in the main room where the heating is. Her grandfather only sleeps in the bedroom without heating.

“He doesn’t care about the cold,” Ezgi said. “He just sleeps there.”

As a high school physics teacher, her mother was left to do her work from home with the school buildings closed. Since exams are not canceled in Turkey, Ezgi and her younger sister have a room where they will continue their studies. They will continue to live in this temporary apartment until it is safe to return home. Twice, she said, her family was able to return to their apartment to collect essentials such as clothes, books, and food.

She said her father wanted to wait for a professional to come check their house because he didn’t trust the government officials who came originally. She said her father did not think the government was taking the situation seriously. It will probably take four or five months to fix their apartment.

“I’m very upset about it – they couldn’t manage all the things that happened,” Ezgi said. It wasn’t enough. Nothing was enough. It was too bad. ”

A few days later, the military came and started searching the ruins for survivors. There was also international aid from the United Nations, which has appealed for $1 billion to help Turkey. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies sent out two emergency appeals, dispatched health teams and started collecting donations to help Turkey and Syria.

Ezgi said she has struggled with her mental health since the earthquake. A schoolmate of hers was murdered and an acquaintance she had from her father deals with the murder of their entire family. She limits the time she watches the news to combat her negative thoughts.

Ezgi said, “I don’t know what to think because I haven’t had the time to manage my emotions. I’m not sorry about my physical health or my home because it’s salvageable… There are still people out there and when I think about them, I think ‘how can I drink this water if I don’t Did they have water?”

She said some of her international friends she made last year when she was an exchange student at Bloomington High School North had not reached out to see how she was.

“If they knew and didn’t text me… it just breaks my heart,” Ezgi said.

[Related: IU organizations host educational forum, fundraiser for earthquake victims]

St. Augustine, Florida

Ezzy sent a text at 1 a.m. to her former co-host sister, Ava Mantha, explaining what had happened. Mantha’s family hosted Ezgi during his exchange year in Bloomington. During this time, they build a strong friendship and connection with each other.

“There was a terrible earthquake. Our house is breaking down. We have to go. We have to leave. I’m in the car right now.”

However, Mantha didn’t see the letter until 3pm the next day because she was busy with classes at a small college in Florida. She also received messages from other people asking about Ezgi’s condition.

The more news and posts you see on social media, the more you start to panic. She did not receive any further word from Izji until two days later, saying that she was at her aunt’s house.

“I started freaking out right away. I haven’t had any messages since it was one in the morning,” Mantha said. “One of the most stressful things is the role social media has played.”

She said she saw Ezgi’s friends spread the word that many were dead or in hospital. It felt strange experiencing the aftershock of an earthquake from the outside, not knowing what was really going on. Mantha also knew how much emotional damage such an experience could cause, and wished she was there to comfort Ezgi.

“It could put your life on hold…you never know when things will go back to normal,” said Mantha. “Suspension of life at such a formative time is an aspect that must be taken into account.”

Mantha said she has continued to stay in touch with Ezgi as she continues to deal with the situation. While it may be difficult for her to visit the United States due to visa complications, Mantha hopes to visit her in Turkey in the following years.

“Knowing someone and not knowing if they are okay and not knowing how their life will turn out after these events definitely changes the way you might see the people around you,” Mantha said. “Everyone is in a certain bubble, but you are connected in more ways than you realize.”

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