Russia: Volcanic Eruption Provokes Cooperation and Jokes · Global Voices
Alexey Sidorenko

Two days passed since Mother Nature showed its power to mankind letting the Icelandic volcano with unpronounceable name “Eyjafjallajökull” fill the European aerospace with ashes. As the ash cloud went east, more and more airports were closing, which led to European-wide transport collapse. Russian bloggers – also affected by the natural disaster – reacted differently: made jokes, shared information, expresses annoyance, and offered to help each other.
The most active discussion took place in the Livejournal community ru_travel (about 30,000 readers). Moderators had to make a special tag “volcano” [RUS] to facilitate mass of eruption-connected postings. Bloggers were helping each other by giving consultations on passenger rights, airline practices, hotel deals and land transportation routes.
Individual bloggers offered help beyond just sharing information. Lacrizza offered [RUS] to take some people from the Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow and provide them with temporary accommodation. Nata_vasilisa proposed the same in Krakow, Poland [RUS]:
Если у вас кто-то застрял в Кракове в связи с вулканом, и негде переждать облако – я могу приютить.
Bets were also a part of the discussion. LJ user asy suggested [RUS] to make bets on the date of the ending of the European flight ban. Below are the most original ones:
так как наш рейс на завтра с вероятностью 99,999% отменят, то сделаю ставку, что именно полное снятие ограничений будет в районе 3-4 мая. Правда к тому времени большинство а/к обанкротятся в виду возвратов денег за полеты :)
elena_w1:
У меня билеты в Париж на 9 мая. шансы к тому времени 50/50. но я вообще думаю что конец света наступает- так что….думаю что больше ничего летать не будет
Allevtinka sarcastically replied to it:
вот кстати да! прошлый раз этот вулкан пыхал 2 года подряд. (200 лет назад). Если к 2010+2=2012 :) как всё просто, однако!
ingushetiya_ru cited Qur'an referring to the Apocalypse:
Then watch for the Day when the sky will bring a visible smoke.
Yuri-yum suggested [RUS] that the eruption was rather a “Sodom” case rather then the Judgment Day. He was referring to the personality of  Icelandic prime-minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, world's first gay leader [ENG].
The Apocalyptic topic was quite popular among bloggers. Some shared pictures of Vladimir Manyukhin [RUS] depicting Moscow after “nuclear winter:”
Apocalyptic Red Square, photo by Vladimir Manyukhin
dmitrivrubel wrote [RUS]:
Летайте самолётами компании “Эйяфьятлайокудль”! Почему до сих пор не придумали шлягера, мультика, нет ни одного сувенира? Ведь какой замечательный персонаж – м-р Эйяфьятлайокудль. И его супруга Мирдальсйёкюдль, которая ещё не проснулась.