Relaxing island life....or not

Just a quick note to say...we're OK. The Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta today (Jakarta's maybe 40 miles from us, we go there almost every weekend) left us, not to mention our wonderful Aussie friends, a little shaken. But we're OK. More importantly, we're safe. Maybe, as a former journalist of sorts, I shouldn't say this, but...despite what CNN and BBC and all those stations have to say, the city of Jakarta isn't under seige and Indonesia isn't a political hellhole where they routinely sacrifice westerners to pagan gods. Yes, the situation at the embassy is not good, and it does mean that we westerners over here have to be careful. Very careful and very vigilant. But it does not mean we risk death by leaving our homes. I'm not making light of the situation, I'm honestly not. It's just that, if you look on CNN.com and news sites like that, they've also pulled up every article ever written about bad things that have happened in Indonesia and linked them to the news about the embassy bombing today, and that's a little unfair to the millions of peaceful Indonesians who are being made to look like savages. It's also unfair to our friends and family back home, who then only get to hear the bad news about this place.

OK, sorry...Anyway, we're a little shaken up, like I said. However, the US Embassy, as well as the Australian Embassy (which is still absolutely fully functioning) and other western embassies are watching over us and we will be alerted should our immediate safety be threatened. We are safe, but please keep us in your prayers. Even more importantly-keep the people who have lost loved ones or whose loved ones are laying injured in a hospital because of this. From all the reports so far, everyone killed or injured was, in fact, Indonesian. SCTV, sort of ABC or CBS for Indonesia, had a news report today where this awful cameraperson and reporter just followed this lady around, and she'd just found out her husband was dead. It was horrible, the poor woman. Sad stuff. Anyhow, I just wanted to let everyone who was wondering about us know that we're safe and sound-just a teensy bit rattled. Looks like we'll be hanging around Sentul this weekend, just to be extra-cautious.