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..