Mount Kelud Eruption and Mother Nature

So here I am, in south central Java, nose and mouth covered by a makeshift mask I made from a damp, black cardigan. The bottom of my feet are dusty and gray from collecting volcanic ash around the house. No matter how many times we sweep, the ash keeps stacking up.

They call it hujan abu, or "ash rain". At moments you can feel the air around you get a little thicker, your mouth a little dryer, and when you reach for your phone that's been sitting on the table for the past fifteen minutes, your fingers slide over a fine layer of dust that has accumulated on the screen.

We're patiently waiting for Mother Nature to remember that it is, in fact, still rainy season. And we desperately need some rain. With dry ash floating around the city, and without a proper dust mask, I haven't been too eager go outside. Luckily, electricity and Internet haven't been affected too much (though I can't say the same about water supply), and I've been able to keep in touch with everyone.

Here's a good report of the current situation (my friend Ardi is featured!), and doing an image search of "yogyakarta ash kelud" (link for the lazy) will give you a good idea of what it looks like in the city. Here's a picture I took of the path outside my house, which you can compare to one taken about a week ago.

Path outside of my house before (left) and after (right) the Mount Kelud eruption.

Mount Kelud's eruption yesterday took place three weeks after another natural phenomenon shook Java: an earthquake.

I was laying in bed at the time, reading Divergent, when my bed started to shake. I glanced up and saw a motorbike pass by the living room window. Strange, I thought. That motorbike has a really strong engine. But of course, the motorbike passed a good distance, and my bed continued shaking. That's when I realized what was happening, and the horrible feeling sunk to the pit of my stomach.

I quickly rummaged around my room for clothes to cover myself up, and then I ran to the front door -- paused -- ran back to my room, and grabbed my phone before going outside. I stood on my patio for a while talking with neighbors. That's when I learned the word gempa (earthquake) for the first time.

It's funny, digital media and what it does to me. Although I clearly felt my bed shake, and my neighbors agreed that it was an earthquake, I still felt the need to have my experience validated by others online. Part of me was in denial.

I went to Facebook first for information, and within ten minutes, I was already tracking down reports about the earthquake's strength and scope since everybody was writing about it. People who were less enthused made eye-rolling comments, suggesting it was silly how everyone was posting about the same thing, at the same time.

But how can you not?! It was an earthquake! I teetered between feeling horrified and feeling that it was a "neat" experience. Of course the latter is silly and selfish, especially since people are still traumatized over the earthquakes of 2006. I'm just glad there were no casualties this time.

...Anyway. Not to make anyone worry. I really am doing fine. Just hoping for rain.