Day 9

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Day 9 Nov. 7 - Flight to Semarang –( Pronounced Samara with emphasizes on the second syllable.) We were met by our Semarang home stay hosts and stayed at Hotel Gumaya. The Hotel Gumaya is a 5 star hotel but we did not come to Indonesia to stay at a 5 star hotel, we can do that at home. The Semarang Friendship Force group wanted us to stay in Semarang. Meanwhile the FF Club of Yogyakarta had made arrangements to have a bus pick us up in the morning. There was no way I was going to get between our friends in Yogya and our friends in Semarang, so I made it very clear that they had to settle it even as Mt. Merapi was blowing its top. I was pretty sure that Dr. Adam, President of the FF Club of Yogya, was not going to let Mt. Merapi’s explosion interfere with his plans. Sure enough, we boarded the bus at 9 AM for the 70 mile trip through the ash to Yogya. We traveled within 5 km of the evacuation zone and saw roofs, trees, and everything else covered with thick dust and trees broken right off. The destruction was pretty bad, but the army and everybody else was clearing the road. How often do you get to see something like the biggest volcano eruption in 100 years on a Friendship Force Exchange? Enjoy Paul’s pictures and contribute to the Mt. Merapi victims. The FF Club Yogya is coordinating some fundraising efforts.

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Photos

Presenting the Present
Framed invitation to Obama swearing in

Yogya Party
Don & Gail Gillies, Beverly Sealy and Victor Iseli

Comments

[Willis]

Whet I type below, it doesn't show!
SAs i tyore this, I don't see anything.