On my own, at last

The tsunami researchers I was traveling with have dispersed in all directions and I'm on my own now. As frenzied and nerdy as that bunch was, I'll miss them. It's odd to look around and see mostly military personnel and relief workers (usually in matching outfits advertising their groups) milling around the hotel lobby. It's 10 in the morning. What are they still doing here? Maybe it's a sign that the operation is working and there are fewer people in need of their services. In the meantime, I've recruited a Sri Lankan geologist, Starin Fernando, to head out of Colombo today for a town on the coast called Pottuvil. It was relatively hard hit and wasn't getting aid for a while, I'm told. Fernando wants to take some sediment samples and perhaps get more tsunami run-up measurements. Pottuvil sits in a gap between the study arcs completed by the two American tsunami survey teams so what Starin finds can add to the data. Also, Portland-based Mercy Corps is working there on the relief effort. I hope to be able to check in with them.

Along the course of the trip, I had a six-degrees-of-separation moment. I learned while here in Sri Lanka that the tsunami scientist from the University of Washington, Bretwood "Hig" Higman, is married to the sister of one of my son's friends. We roomed together often (having a similarly relaxed approach to personal hygiene and room organization) so I was pleasantly surprised of our connection. Also, since Hig's wife is a contemporary of my son, it made me realize how old I'm getting.

I'm only now feeling somewhat rested. I don't remember ever being so tired for so long on assignment. I've traveled in Africa, India and Asia –- often under difficult circumstances in remote areas –- but I'd have to say nothing was quite as exhausting as covering this story. The scientists were determined to study as many sites as possible within the week, before the data disappeared and while eyewitness memories were fresh. Every day was a new region, with a 12-hour sprint from site to site, followed by a search for a place to stay the night. I usually wasn't able to start writing until about 8 p.m. and then had to search (frequently unsuccessfully) for a functioning telephone line or, better yet, the rare Internet café in some inland location the next morning. Very frustrating. I'm glad that's over.