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.