Membolos

Membolos-"truant, cut, to play hookey."  Ah yes, a new word for me...a good word...a useful word.  With all the news of the nearby Mt. Merapi erupting what is a guy to do?  Go to class, or, play hooky and go see the volcano that is only 15 miles from my house as the crow flies.  (It was my friends fault, he invited me)  So, my friend and I got on our trusty steeds, the Piglet in my case, and took the morning off to go see all the "action."  

For an article on the recent eruption, click here.  The above photo shows Mt. Merapi in the background.  We saw very little activity today, but my sunglasses and the front of the Piglet were covered in a thin coating of hujan abu or ash; literally translated as grey rain.  The trip was beautiful as we traveled through the Asian countryside full of small farms growing their livelihoods on the slopes of the fertile volcanoes.  We did finally stop in a town called Selo located on the slopes of Mt. Merapi to get a bite to eat and talk a bit with the locals.

In the photo above you can see the volcano in the background as well as my lunch hanging from the door post.  We ordered sate kambing, kind of like goat shish-kabobs.  Little did we know, as we ate lunch we were talking with several unique people around our small table.  Finally, after asking them some questions, we learned that they all work for several of the major newspapers and radio stations in the country.  They had come to Selo as well to see the "action" but since there wasn't much to see today why not interview the foreigners for a good story?  I'll try to keep an eye out to see if our comments get published.  That would be interesting.  Until then, I won't be membolos"ing" for a while.  I don't want to get in trouble!