How a Volcano in Iceland is impacting me

Dear friends,

I am sure that by now you have heard about the volcano erupting in Iceland. Growing up in New Hampshire I didn't think a volcano would ever have a direct effect on my life. Well this one does. The interesting thing is that I have not directly seen any ash or noticed a big dark cloud of ash moving over Italy...but it has managed to interrupt my plans and the plans of my friends and thousands of other people around the world.

The volcano's effects on me and the people around me.

1. My friend Emilie, who also goes to Keene State College, couldn't come visit me from Dublin, Ireland this past weekend.

2. Emilie's friend, Rheanna, who was planning on meeting her here in Florence was without communication and came to Florence expecting to see Emilie but saw me instead when I met her at the train station. I had never met her before so it was nice to make a new friend and show Rheanna around Florence. However, now Rheanna is trying to get back to Paris, where she is studying abroad for the semester and she isn't sure how she will be able to get back because her flight has been canceled.

3. My roommate, Katie, was planning on going to Dublin, Ireland with her friends this weekend and couldn't because of the ash cloud. I was glad to have more company this weekend with her around but I know she was a little disappointed that she couldn't go.

4. My mom was planning on coming to visit me here in Florence this week because it is April vacation for her and she doesn't work. This would have been her first trip to Europe in about 30 years. We were both really excited to see each other and now we have to wait 4 more weeks until I come home to see each other.

5. My housemate, Paige, one of the other girls living with the same host family, was planning on having her parents and her grandparents come visit her and now they cannot come because of the ash. They were all going to travel around Italy for 2 weeks...

6. Another one of my friends is waiting until the end of the week to find out if her parents will be able to come over and see her.

Who knew that a volcano would have such a direct effect on myself and the people around me. But it isn't just the people I know who are being affected, it is thousands of people who had their flights canceled and who are now stuck in some place that isn't exactly where they were intending to be. The reason that this cloud of volcanic ash is so disruptive is because the ash has tiny particles of glass that could get into the engines of the airplanes and clog them but also scratch the windshields of the airplanes so that nothing can be seen.

This cloud of ash is moving south from Iceland to all over the rest of Europe, right now from France to Sweden to Russia. It is like a veil slowly being pulled over all of Europe and it is now headed toward Italy. It wont harm me physically because this is a cloud that is high in the air, but it is disrupting more and more flights and travelers' plans. All airports in Germany, and many other countries, were closed because no flights could take off or land safely. The Airlines are losing an estimated 200 million dollars a day because of this ash cloud. WOW!

Is this volcano affecting you? It is interesting to think about things that are far away that you would never think about...but this volcano, which I didn't know existed before Friday April 16, has affected my life in many ways and I am sure it is affecting people the most who live near it in Iceland.