Visit to Lamno

After a late night/early morning talking to my family on my birthday, I got up for a 2 1/2 hour trip to Lamno in Aceh Jaya. (South of Banda Aceh.) Lamno is the area where I will be implementing the project for which I was hired. So, this was my first recognisance trip down to the south. Wow, it was an amazing trip. Firstly, the roads are dismal. Apparently, they have been working on the road for awhile, but there are entire stretches that they have been working on for months/years and still are not complete. We sometimes forget the luxury of cement, but the gravel roads along the road make me appreciate paved roads, even if they aren't in the best shape. Secondly, the views and scenery are just incredible. As there were others in the car, I did not make them stop for pictures. But, I figure I will be travelling this road quite a bit in the upcoming months, so I have a few more chances to share them with you. The road weaves along the beach and up into the coastal hills/cliffs. The water is an amazing, the colors incredible and the the scenery spectacular. Really, I need to get some pictures for you.

We went to the offices (picture) down there and even checked out the guest house. I will likely be spending a good chunk of my time over the next few months down there, so this is important stuff. Generally quite nice, but not the fanciest accommodations. From what I understand there is no electricity during the days and right now the water is a lovely mud-colored brown. But I believe that we will be addressing that issue by getting water delivered to a tank rather than just using the well water. And while the guest house has a fancy western toilet, the office does not - so I will be need to improve my squatting skills. I know, very exciting stuff.

We then went on a quick visit to four of the seven villages in the area where CHF has built houses. This trip was just to see what the villages are like, we did not even get out of the car and had no meetings set up. But I just wanted to see what the areas looked like and what types of economic activities were occurring. Mostly is was nothing. On our way into one of the villages we saw these jumping monkeys. From what I am told, these are not so typical. So it was essentially a welcome just for me.

Birthday in Banda Aceh

Well, today is/was my birthday. (It is eleven hours earlier here, so my birthday is officially over.) And while I have been out here less than a week I still managed to have a little fun. Today was a full day at work. Not only am I trying to get my new project up and running, but I have been providing some thoughts on a new proposal that we are developing to conduct some more economic development work here in the region.

The day started out normal, although I did beat my alarm clock up. Then my housemates all started wishing me a happy birthday. Then off to the office for a busy morning of developing the workplan for my project. One of my colleagues invited me over for lunch which was quite nice. People here leave the office at lunch, which is refreshing. Even if it is just to go down the street or back to the house, there seems to be consistency in getting out of the office. So after a short ride on the back of a motorbike, we had a lovely relaxed lunch. Then a full afternoon of work and meetings.

People from work organized a dinner for me at the fancy Italian restaurant in town and it turned into a fairly nice sized gathering. It was actually very nice and this is "the" good restaurant in Banda Aceh. There are other restaurants, but this is the one for special occasions. That being said, this is already my second time there so I have to start being careful not to overdo it or I will get tired of the place very quickly. But it is a place where we can get "illegal" alcohol, as all alcohol is officially illegal in Aceh.

After dinner the waiters came around singing and banging on water cooler bottles and pots and pans, along with a Chocolate Oreo mousse, which was quite yummy. Although I could only eat a few bites. The rest was generously consumed by my fellow guests. Now I am back home again and need to get some sleep before my big day tomorrow.

In addition to being another year (day) older, I will be going on my first trip outside of Banda Aceh and into the field. I will be heading down to Lamno, where my project will be based, to go on a little information collection, or rather "what is it really like here?" mission. It is just a one day trip, but i will likely be spending good chunks of time in Lamno in the coming months.

Tsunami Tour

Sunday = day off. Yeah! Oh today was wonderfully relaxing. After a crazy week of travel and diving right into work, I had my first day off. It started of unexciting with laundry and a movie, but this afternoon I went on the “Tsunami Tour”.

The Tsunami Tour entails three main stops:

1. The barge in the middle of the road. Yes, this is a barge that made its way well inland and landed in the middle of this neighborhood. The first picture is the view as you drive from the main road. The second is the back of the barge from the street and the last one is the view from the second deck of the barge – you can see how close the barge is to the houses. As you can imagine, several houses were crushed by the barge. From what I understand, there is really no way to move the barge, so they have just rerouted the road around it.

2. The boat on the house. Again, another boat made it well inland to land on these houses. Amazingly, the house is intact, mostly.

3. The water tower in the middle of town on its side. This site is a construction zone, from what I hear, they expect to have this cleaned up within a few weeks.



I also took this picture as the sun was setting of people fishing on the banks of an estuary.

Incredibly interesting trip, but it also made me realize that I need to improve my Bahasa Indonesia – actually start to learn it. I went out with one of the drivers and while we were able to communicate a little (thanks to a borrowed phrasebook), it is apparent that I will need to start some studying.

Getting settled...

I am starting to realize that I am really going to be settled in one place for a good chunk of time. I am so used to packing up every few weeks to get on a plane to go someplace new, but not anymore. We shall see how anxious I get in a few weeks.

I've received a great welcome here. Everyone is so pleased to have me here - the response I continually get is - finally! I think they wanted me out here a good two months ago, so my arrival was well received. And I have been working hard to get up to speed as quickly as possible. The last two days have mostly been meeting with staff and getting acquainted with the program I will be directing over the next few months, as well as learning about the other activities in which they want me to get involved. And there are lots of them. Pretty much I have been told that while I was brought out here on this one project, they really see me as the "Livelihoods Manager" for the entire CHF Banda Aceh portfolio - wow! I am looking forward to this exciting new challenge.

OK, so enough about the work stuff. The people here have been wonderful and really welcoming. Upon my arrival in Banda Aceh I came right to the CHF guesthouse that I will be calling home for the next few months. I was met by our neighbor, who is also my supervisor. She took me on a lovely trip to the "expat" supermarket for a few goodies. And geez, while that should not be a difficult trip after all of my travels, I still was not sure where to start. Anyways, after a loaf of whole wheat bread, some butter, cheese and a yogurt - it was back home for a pizza ordered in and chatting with the new boss. I then moved on to unpacking my excess luggage - I still don't know what I brought that is so heavy. Maybe I went a bit overboard on the shoes, but I like the shoes, even if I don't wear all of them - yeah I know I am a weirdo. I still haven't finished unpacking. I think it scares me to see what I actually lugged around the world. Later, some of my housemates who had gone out came home and stopped in for a late evening chat. First day at the office went well, busy with lots of names that I am still struggling to remember. And while I was ready for bed at 7:00pm (OK, so maybe that is not so out of the ordinary), one of my colleagues invited us over for dinner. And that was yummy. Especially with a few nicely mixed gin and tonics. Oh, yes and I was worried that there would be a problem finding alcohol. I am happy to say that my worries were unfounded. Despite the Muslim (Shari'a) law the basics are fortunately available for us folk. Tonight was the real trip to the supermarket. Truly an exciting visit with purchases of olive oil and pasta, followed by a visit to the fruit and veggie market.

So, dinner tonight at home clarified that my best packing included the excellent knives and peeler courtesy of my darling sister Maliya. Thank you dear! (And the housemates thank you too.) Yes, with all of my travels, I have come to realize that a good knife and vegetable peeler are hard to come by. So, clearly a true necessity when packing up.

Oh and this was a great sign that I saw along the road when I arrived so I went back today and had my picture taken. Not only does it say Spies Hecker, if you look at the first bullet is says "Cat oven" - I didn't even notice that the first time I went by it. I guess the Heckers in Banda Aceh are all spies and ... are in charge of the "cat ovens." (I checked and I believe that it really means car painting.) Funny nonetheless.

OK, the jet lag is starting to catch up with me, I need some sleep.

Arrival in Banda Aceh

Hello to my dear friends and family,

I deceided to set up this blog where I can share my adventures from the other side of the world with you.

As many of you know, I recently left the comforts of Washington, DC to take a 3 to 5 month consulting assignment in Banda Aceh, Indonesia with CHF International.

I actually just arrived in Banda Aceh last night. Before I get into the details of what I will be doing here, let me start with the journey to get here...

Saturday - mid-day: leave Washington, DC
Sunday - afternoon: arrive Narita/Tokyo
Sunday/Monday - midnight: arrive Singapore
Monday - day: apply for Indonesian visa & a bit of computer equipment shopping
Monday - night: arrive Jakarta
Tuesday - morning: meeting with CHF country director/meet Jakarta staff
Tuesday - afternoon: depart Jakarta for Banda Aceh (via Medan)
Tuesday - evening: arrive CHF guest house in Banda Aceh
Tuesday - night: getting settled
Wednesday - 5am: awoken by morning call to prayer and a very noisy rooster

I have been hired as a livelihoods (basic economic development) consultant for a new project working in Lamno, about three hours south of Banda Aceh. I will be managing the project, so they have been waiting to get me out here to begin working. In such, I will need to get things moving ahead pretty quickly. Should be an exciting, challenging, and adventureous few months.

It is now about 7am and I should start getting ready for my first day of work. I will write more soon.