Still fine

November 6, 2010

I know that you're probably checking this after the latest terrible news today, two more villages incinerated in clouds of searing ash and lava - 750 degree celsius, reported today - and at least 122 dead now from the two weeks of eruptions. The one yesterday was the largest in over a century. These two villages were 14.2 kilometers from the crater, inside the evacuation area, but apparently many thought it would be safe to stay. I promise you that if a man in a uniform comes to our house and tells us we have to leave, we will leave, but that won't happen. We're close, but not at risk. But you have my word, of course.
     Before I read the news about this latest eruption, this morning Graham and I rode up Mount Merbabu and then climbed Mount Telemoyo on the motorcycle.I'd been planning a full day of exploration around the area, but not a good day for a motorcycle ride, and no view from the top of Telemoyo, blanketed as it was by an ash-coated cloud. It started raining a little on the way home, and by the time we returned we were covered in a layer of ash on our rain gear.  Ash is falling lightly here, like the slightest of snow storms, little flakes accumulating in a small dusting everywhere. We were wearing masks, so we didn't inhale anything, but it was sort of unpleasant anyway - ash kept creeping under my helmet and into my eyes, and I had to stop once to clean off the visor of my helmet. We were stopped on the road by a school group collecting money for the refugees, and of course we donated.  One of my students will be missing a couple of weeks because he is on the assessment team for the Indonesian Red Cross. He'll pass my class regardless of how much of the upcoming work he gets done, frankly, simply for possessing the knowledge and courage I referred to in my previous post.
   I'm getting a little bored with writing about the volcano, but of course it's the most pressing news here. Laura and Seamus return from their trip this afternoon, but rerouted because of the eruption - no telling how long and slow their trip will be. We were invited to a party tonight across the street, which we will go to, and then dinner at our friends' house (a British ex-pat and his Indonesian wife who have become our best friends here, and who are two of the most generous and welcoming people we've met period), so it will be a busy day. But we're stuck inside, it looks like, for the duration of this episode, and there is no telling what the duration will be. The evacuation zone is 20 kilometers today, which is getting very close to the city of Yogyakarta with over half a million people, an amazing place (we spent a night there recently, on our return from Bali), the cultural center of Java.  At this point, that has become the focal point of anxiety about any further eruptions. But please don't worry about us - we're just breathing a little ash and temporarily home-bound. How Indonesia will cope with an active volcano that has no signs of abating, of course, is anybody's guess. Send your positive mental energy, or your prayers, or whatever counts as psychic action in your worldview, to the homeless and the families of the dead, and to the people of Yogyakarta.