Transportation

They haven't quite come up with a time machine -which would have been very handy- but there are many ways to get around the city...

Another week has flown by (no pun intended) and still there are so many new things to see, do and taste each day. This time I'd like to introduce you to the organized chaos of Banda Aceh. There are about 200.000 people in this city and of course they all have to move around from A to Z and everywhere in between. As you can imagine, it is a true hussle and bussle with so many unofficial shops and no official closing times (they even sell fruit at 04 at night - the perfect time for a midnight fruitsalad!).

Even though the UN provides us with big, beautiful, blue and white UN vehicles, the true way to get around is on motorcycle, aka Honda (even though yours has a different brand). They resemble small scooters and carry an average of 2,5 people on them - I have seen families of 5 on a single Honda and have even spotted a mother breastfeeding her baby while balacing on the back of a bike!!

With so many motor bikes in town, petrol becomes more popular than pineapple juice, but where do you get it? With only one official petrol station in the entire city, people become creative and start their own. Every 50 meters or so, you'll see a family gathered around a collection of obscure looking jerrycans - this picture is probably the best visible 'petrolstation' I've seen!

If you do not have a bike (or you have rented yours to a foreign NGO intern - no comments necessary), then you always have the option to ride a becak: bike with sidecar. Be sure to wear your Muslim clothes so that you don't get harrassed or super dusty! If a becak is too expensive for you or if it rains, then you can choose the comfort of a labilabi. This is Bahasa (Indonesian) for 'turtle' - you can imagine why. They are generally ovens on wheels and the passengers always leave the back doors wide open for some natural air conditioning. As a last resort, one can always put on some comfy no/low heeled shoes and do some jalang (walking). Crazy as it may seem, this is probably the most dangerous choice of moving around town, there are pitfalls every other meter and you feel like you are the leading figure in a computergame, jumping over holes and dodging bikes..

I suppose if you are really not in the mood or position to move (this would not be my preferred town if I were an invalid), then you can always wait until the shops come to you. You name it and you can find it on wheels - including a donut shop!

Tsunami Damage

Where time seems to go I do not know, the pace is definitively not the same as it is at home! This time I'd like to give a short impression of some of the destruction the tsunami caused.

After a fantastic party on saturday night (socializing comes very easily here!), the girls and I decided to go on 'the tsunami tour'. This consisted of a UN driver taking us to see an enormous boat which was carried in land by the tsunami.
It is so big that it was too much work to remove it, so it now rests in the middle of a neighbourhood to remind people of the staggering force of this incredible wave. Climbing onto the boat, we could hardly make out a sliver of water in the distance, so it was not at all close to the shore. Around the boat the community has already started building houses, you can clearly see the difference between what's new and what isn't. This area was hit hard and it reminded me of pictures of warzones. You can clearly see the total destruction when you stand in the middle of ruins. In Aceh alone, almost 150.000 lost their lives and more than 200.000 were displaced. Today there are about 4 million people in Aceh. Almost everyone who is from here has amazing stories to tell. Some of the drivers have lost their entire family, one of them was in his car driving away from the tsunami when the water caught up with him and overturned his car. He managed to climb out of the window and got away. If you stop and think, absolutely everyone and everything was affected.
Yesterday afternoon the entire area of Aceh lost electricity. Some of the shops and NGO's have generators, but our house doesn't. We ended up with candles and in a very warm and dark house. It was very cosy but looking out of my bedroom window later that night, I could imagine how scary it would have been after the catastrophe hit.

At the same time, it is very impressive to see how everyone is dedicated to rebuilding and developing the city and districts. The locals are very welcoming to us foreigners and we were a big attraction to some little girls whom I took a picture of!

Well, it's off to home now. Tomorrow I am having dinner with a Dutch guy whom I met in the swimming pool where I swim in the mornings. Amazingly enough we were the only two people there, imagine the chances!

First Impression

Finally, after three hectic days full of new impressions, I have time for my blog!

After squeezing myself into a Ryanair equivalent Air Asia plane, I arrived in Banda Aceh's very humble airport. There must have been some VIP (not me!) on board as we were welcomed by a woman singing in a microphone and 8 girls with drums dancing and smiling and pretending not to melt in the bright sun and high humidity.

I was picked up by one of the UN drivers (we have quite a lot of them and they drive us around every time we want to go somewhere, including the supermarket!). After receiving a short briefing, I was shown to my office which I share with 2 of my 4 housemates, Susan (from the USA) and Snow (from Myanmar).
5 minutes later I was shown into a meetingroom where I had a chat with Marcus (the Swedish intern coordinator) and Jonathan (the Canadian Greek very funny 'boss'). Jonathan explained all about the ARF, a large document describing and categorizing all the different organisations in the area and their main objectives and activities.
You can read more about them on the website http://www.unorc.or.id/
Following the meeting we had the driver take us to the most fancy restaurant in town, where we had swordfish and gin & tonic on their rooftop terrace for the staggering price of 10 USD per person...
Finally I was dropped off at my new home where we all (including the other 2 interns Jimmy and Dan -also USA) enjoy the luxury of our own room with AC and even running water in the shower :-)
The following day I had my practicalities fixed and was already instructed to take minutes of a meeting about gender issues followed by attending a meeting about women participation in local governmental bodies so that I could write an article about it for the UNORC newsletter. I managed 2 hours of sitting cross legged on the floor next to the translater, impressive!
During the coming days we will agree on my future tasks, most likely women and children issues as well as writing articles (that means going 'out there' to attend meeting and interview NGO's and locals) for the newsletter. I am excited!
That's all for this time, after a 6 day work week, the girls and I will get a 2 hour massage tomorrow (for 8 USD) - I think we deserve it!

Kuala Lumpur

This little (actually, larger than my size 41 feet) rat must have been the brother of the very much alive rat that crawled its way up to my table at the chinese restaurant last night... Did I choose the wrong side of town to stay at?

Actually, apart from the rats, this is a very decent hotel with a VERY decent spa on the 1st floor. I had a little lady walk all over me and crack my back and neck and now I feel like I am walking on air! I wish I could take her home.. I suppose there was quite a bit to crack after I spent the day walking around town - very slowly, to spare my hips. It has been grey and rainy, but nevertheless a great day.

I wish I could have taken a look in the national mosque, but since I qualify as tourist, and a not very muslim one, I was not allowed in :-(

After picking up a leaflet of Qu'ran propaganda and the female role explained (did you know the US spends an annual 56 $ BILLION on porn?!), I did learn all about the Islam architecture around the globe at the Islamic arts museum.

That's all for today, tomorrow I continue on to Sumatra to find out what I will be up to for the next two months..

One last impression of KL: there is a wonderful mix of cultures here!

Welcome!

Hi and welcome to my blog!
(this makes me feel like a facebook crazy teenager..)

It's time to start my adventure in Indonesia!
Limited internet connection and mainly limited time - I am sure I will be busy doing lots of exciting things (Yes, BBQ on the beach counts as exciting!) have driven me to start this blog.
I will try to give you an impression of what it is like to live and work in this part of the world, after the tsunami washed this beautiful city away.

All comments are welcome!
:-)
Laurette