Love & Liberty

After my last post about love for food, I am sure you are now wondering about the real thing; Love and Romance.. Let me give you a little taste of what it's like here, followed by a story of liberty, because that is definitively something to be loved!

As you might have noticed on some of my blog pictures, Banda Aceh is a very strict Islam city where prayer times are followed - you are loudly reminded of them throughout the day (and middle of the night!), food has to be halal and clothing restrictions for women are the norm. Girls start wearing jilbabs at a young age and have to make sure to cover their skin.

So you might ask yourself how, without the temptation of visible voluptuous curves or the alcohol which gives courage and makes everyone else more attractive, the different sexes approach each other. The answer has two wheels and a motor. That's right, we call it 'Honda-love'! The term traffic light relationship has gotten a whole new meaning for me here in Indonesia. Teenagers are known to drive around town on their bike and do some serious checking-each-other-out while they wait for the red light. And if they are very bold, girls will hop off their friend's bike to hop on the back of a boy's bike..very daring!! On saturday night, the real tough kids gather to motor race down a long road just outside of town. Some of the girls are even known to have removed their Jilbabs and let their hair blow in the wind! But you always have to keep an eye out for the Shariah police..

If you play your cards right, during your teens and after that, you are likely to end up getting married and hosting an enormous crowd of people at your wedding reception where you have to uncomfortably stand and smile for the entire day while you wear so many stiff and scratchy clothes that you are left sticky and sore and are more likely to collapse in the marital bed (which is viewed with oohs and aaahs by the wedding guests) than do anything else..
From marriage to liberty (contradicting concepts? -just kidding). Sunday, August 17th was the official celebration of Indonesia's independence from the mean and oppressive Dutch.. (ask my brothers, I'm sure they'll confirm I fit the category!) All cities and villages are decorated with flags and there is much food to be eaten and many games to be played. One of them is the very traditional climb-an-extremely-slippery-palm-tree-to-get-the-presents-at-the-top. This is done by both women and men, but the men make it look like a very macho event; there is a lot of grunting, yelling and patting each other on the back. The tree is tall, very tall and not only is it full of oil and vaseline, the participants get extremely slippery making it even harder to climb on top of each other. After 2 hours of continuous climbing, and many sore shoulders, wripped jeans and t-shirts later, the guys finally had to give up (and lose their chance to win 3 million Rp -about 300 USD!!). Some say they were too weak, some say the tree was too tall and others claim there was too much grease. But they did manage to gather the whole neighbourhood as spectators - including some little girls who preferred to watch from inside the building (loving their liberty!).

For myself the weekend was great and filled with joy and liberty. Not only did we get an extra day off and witness all the festivities, but since I was on an island off the coast where Islam rules are not so strict, I was also allowed to shed my layers and even wear a bikini! What freedom..

Food & drink

Food, glorious food! How could I have deprived you of 'the food issue' for such a long time? Shame on me.. But here it is, finally, in all its colours, shapes and sizes. Take your tastebuds for a ride!

Although large parts of Asia are experiencing a serious food crisis, Banda Aceh does not seem to be much affected by this phenomenom. In fact, Indonesia is doing quite well on the rice, coffee bean and cocao production front. And isn't that is all we need; sushi (no problems with fish either), coffee and chocolate?
Actually, as many Dutch can confirm, the main national dishes are Nasi Goreng (fried rice), noodles and anything else 'goreng' - fried. The more fat, the better and please pass the sambal -chili sauce- for that extra local touch. If that isn't enough, wait until they start adding the garlic! I have personally seen our cook cutting up a bucket full of garlic to prepare for the day - maybe that's why my fresh fruit for breakfast always has a suspicious taste to it...

To compensate for all the fat and sugar -'without sugar please' means nothing here- there is an abundance of fruit and vegetables. Especially fruit seems to be popular among the Acehnese, there are fruit stalls can be found all over town, often side by side, displaying the most fantastic rows and pyramids of colourful fruit. This suits me perfectly and I am already a respected, well, at least loyal customer at the stall by our house. I let my friends Boy and Azihr 'Hello Lau!' rip me off every other day - with a smile! The vegetables are surprisingly familiar, with broccoli and cauliflower among the favourites. I had not expected this, but it seems that they are easy and fast to grow, with a small chance of ruining the crop. After the tsunami, many farmers who lost their land and had to start afresh were taught to grow these vegetables as part of their economic development programs. When it comes to meat, the clear winner is ayam, chicken. Be sure you get a Kota -city- chicken and not the Gampong -village- alternative, also known as 'meatless chicken'. If you want to be sure you can get the freshest bird there is, go to the 'headless chicken bridge'. The pictures say it all (note the live chickens in the background, awaiting their fate). Although not used for sushi, there is a lot of seafood to be found. Another one of my favourites! At Simang Mesra -the romantic intersection- (the curve in the road is so sharp, that you end up sitting very snug to that cute passenger next to you when taking the local bus), you can pick a fish, weigh it, bargain for price and watch it being tossed on the bbq. Smells and tastes fantastic!

Well, all this writing about food has made me rather hungry. Good thing I had the local noodle-guy make me a take away (They have developed this to perfection, an art; even coffee is sold in a neat little plastic bag). Banana leaves make for the ultimate waterproof packaging material!