Reason #87401 Why Volcanoes are Annoying

I'm sure that you have heard about the volcano that erupted in April causing countless travelers to be stranded all over the world and in general causing mass chaos and confusion. Over the past few weeks, Europe has been sorting itself out. All of those who had been stranded have made it to their desire locations; the mail that had been backed up is again flowing in a normal pattern. The airlines have re-designed routes to avoid the small amounts of ash that are still being put into the air. Basically, we have coped. However, the volcano is not done with us yet. It has more tricks up its sleeve.

I have learned that as volcanic ash travels in the air across the continent of Europe it causes a lot of rain to fall. A lot of rain. Flood inducing rains.

It has been raining here in Cieszyn for well over a week now, and it shows absolutely NO signs of stopping. Last week the rain was just annoying. It was on and off, and was in general depressing. However, the rain has taken on a new identity since Saturday evening. It has not stopped raining for more than a few minutes and everything is officially flooding. The river has come up onto the pavement, and other smaller creeks and streams have flooded as well. More and more roads are being closed off every day. Increasingly more students are staying home either because of the roads being closed or because they need to help their parents help with their flooded homes. The flooding has claimed six lives so far in Poland. The weather forecast shows no break in the rain until Monday. . .and I'm not sure I can even believe that.

I was inspired by this weather to talk about natural disasters with my 2nd graders. They are a fun group, and I really enjoyed how they responded so creatively to some of my questions. Here are some funny quotes from them:

-"What is a mudslide? Like a mud avalanche?"

-"Floods destroy you."

-Two students were fighting about whether floods or droughts were worse, and it came down to where the person was: Africa or Poland. In response to this one student said:
"But she doesn't say its in Africa."

-Miss Colleen: "How can we help people survive a flood?"
Student: "You need heat absorption skills."

-Miss Colleen: "What is something that you could invent to stop a volcano from erupting?"
Student: "A cork. Made of cement. Or give the volcano tablets for a runny nose."
(Apparently a Polish comic book hero theorizes that volcanoes are just the effect of the earth's runny nose.)

-Miss Colleen: "And what about mudslides? What can we do to stop mudslides?"
Student: "We can build an anti-mudslider."
Miss Colleen: "What does an anti-mudslider look like?"
Student: "Like a normal anit-mudslider."
(The student then goes to the board to draw a picture of the anti-mudslider.)
Student: "And it has a pipe to take the mud away to a spa. And there are ogórki there too. Cucumbers. Cucumbers at the spa."

-In response to a question about whether the students would like to chase tornadoes for a living: "It's dangerous, but they are nice."

-After students have debated for several moments about how to make volcanoes safe, one exasperated girl says:
"But it's stupid to live by a volcano!"

And this is by far the winner of all the quotes:
-Miss Colleen: "Would you rather be in a flood or a drought?"
Student: A flood because we can stay home from school."
(I WISH!!!)

But do not worry, so far I am safe and dry. My flat is on top of a hill and is on the second story of my building. Hopefully the rain will stop sooner rather than later!

Peace,
Colleen