Hammer on My Left Waist

I see my self this time. I'm a geological engineering student and I got to deal with the hardness of field work, though honestly I feel I'm not really own a high sensitivity on anything related to the field. So how could I survive on this kind of work? Let's see how time would help me, as I see it needs a long experiences and filedtrips on many more geologically challenging places. Anywhere in Indonesia seems like incredible places to learn geology . Thankfully we have a complete packet already containing vulcanoes, mountainering , valleys, streams & rivers, cliffs, lake, beach with dunes or coral, caves and outcrops, that available and waiting unpatiently to be observed.

This mind bother me after I undergo Kuliah Lapangan Program which include 12 days KL Bayat, 3 days regional geology excursion on at least passing accros two basin (Yogyakarta Basin and East Java Basin), and the last was Individual Geological Mapping located in 65 different kavlings for each student. My kavling was at Padas Subdistrict, Ngawi, East Java. In this program we taught how to work as a real geologist, and definitelly it much harder than theories we used to learn at class. Some lessons I captured were that geology's an expensive work so that we must have a strong dicipline and hard work, no beefing, not afraid of hot or rainy weather or even extreme field, and pay attention on field data accuracy. How important the data is like keep the data as keep our soul! Hah..

Many lecturers involved in this program, they taught us how to use compass for measuring the strike and dip of rock bedding also for determining our exact location by shooting two possitions of points in front of us that recognizable on topographic map; then how to use hammer for rock sampling; noting and plotting datas we got from the field including morphology, petrology and structural geology datas; next was doing measured stratigraphic for detail analysis and interpretation of depositional environment, the age of rock and also integrated historical geologi.

Geo Hammer: One Weapon for Geologist

In Bayat we once again introduced about "tired" as one of geologist bestfriend. We walked all day long on our mapping area with the widht of 2 x 2 km from 7 am until 5 pm for about 10 days. My legs was felt like going to broken. My back was never as painful as it was. Yeah, mostly Bayat felt like a hell for me, especially the earlier days. As usual, I didn't feel comfort with such a thing, that's why I always got to bed earlier compared to other girls. But, a lot of memories I can remember from that 12 days.

The following program was regional geologic excursion . We had trips around Yogyakarta, Wonosari, Kendeng Zone, Rembang Zone and the surrounding. It was quite relaxing, not as heavy as in Bayat. We just came into one stop site, doing a little observation and then hearing explanations from lecturer, and moved to another stop sites. I prefer to record the explanation than to made notes, as I mentioned before that I was very easy to get tired or get sleepy when the day hot, and then my concentration and focus were gone, my mind think slower and bla bla, especially when I worked in group, things are different when I worked individualy that I could only depend on my self, it push me to stay awake and focus.... huft, yeah I don't know that Geology could be this difficult. Anyhow, I'm really proud to bring hammer on left waist, and say, I'm a field worker!.... :D

And finally we had arrived to the most important part, that is individual geologic mapping. I'm so lucky to had my own porter to help me doing my mapping. He gots everything easier, starting from driving me during the proccess, help me memorize the strange little paths wandering the forest, until sampling many rocks to be observed more precissely on campus laboratories (Optical Geology & Paleontology Labs). My group comprise of five people. We're living for about 12 days in a comfortable basecamp in Bringin Subsdistrict. I love to be together with them, basically we're all some sort of lazy people (but we all had high intention to be smarter J) that lined up in one appropriate group. I really feel comfort with that fact, because I hate to be pressed, I want to get free and relax in a while too. But it's still long long way to go until this mapping fully done. Data processing is my next challenge to comprehends all that I got from the field. The presentation will be held at Desember or January next year if I'm not mistaken. Hopefully everything will going right for me.

Here in this mapping , I'm helped and guided by one of my lecturer that I think He's awesome and great regarding his fantastic life experience. I always love hearing stories like that. It felt like fairytales to me, but could give me inspiration and more power to confidently moving foward better reaching what I deserve to. Questions often bugging my head, something like," will I be like him", or, "look at your self now, what's on earth to make you feel like you are going to enter one of that Big Fishes? Or even the small one!!". To be honnest I feel like having nothing to be sell to them. Yes I have, I meant, I now how my self is, but it's hard to show my energy up. Reading in many geologist blogs, it seems that entering geology is very promissing decision, but for me it also frightening and fearing. Or probably I just hate the demand. Anyway, life's full of demand, isn't it? Eventhough underpressure life is something that definitely being a burden to my shoulder, but sometimes I have an excited time enjoying adrenaline rush living under that burden. I'll going crazy if I think negatively all the time, right? Push and push positive mind to stay survive.. :)