I was woken up this morning by the following events in succession, starting at 2am:

Rain
I’m not talking about a gentle shower, I’m talking torrential downpour with thunder and lighting. As many people know, I am afraid of thunderstorms, mostly because I hate being startled unexpectedly, least of all in the middle of the night. This storm was so loud I half expected the raindrops to break through this thatch roof and pour directly on me.

Rumble
Less than an hour after the rain eased up, I felt subtle movements in my bed. Subtle, but definitely present. The movements got much stronger in amplitude over a few seconds, and I realized this was actually an earthquake. Normally I don’t mind earthquakes, being from California and all, however, here on this tiny island, I was concerned the quake would bring my bungalow crashing down. Also who knows, maybe this richter 3.0 earthquake (or whatever it was), was actually a 9.0 out in the middle of the Pacific, and a tsunami was on its way soon to drown Bali. I identified where I kept my diving mask and snorkel (just in case), and tried to get back to sleep.

Rumble again
The time has come. Shortly after the quake I thought I felt the start of an aftershock, but I was feeling movements only … down there. I tried to walk it off, but things only got more painful and crampy and violent, and I realized I was bathroom-bound very soon. These things felt like contractions, people. I have been slacking on my Pepto Bismol regimen since I arrived, so maybe I should starting being more compliant.

Rooster
This thing needs to die. Enough said.

Anyway, later in the day I was at a bar with a TV showing this:

Looks like I was right … unfortunately. And pretty spot-on with my predictions too. Those live shots of the massive destruction occuring in Japan are actually very frightening, and I hope the waves don’t make it anywhere near my little island chain. So as of now now, the list of things that are threatening me in Indonesia are as follows:

1. Active volcanos
2. Rabies
3. Vocal roosters

I guess I should add “tsunami” now.