Bangin' in Banda Aceh
Trip Start
Mar 07, 2008
1
8
19
Trip End
Mar 07, 2009
Banda Aceh,
Sumatra,
Indonesia
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
The week involved early morning snorkelling with turtles, volcanic expeditions, motorbike rides of death, lots of Bob Marley and LOTS of tummy-aching laughter and silly behaviour in general. We visited Pulau Weh for the long weekend (where much of the above occurred), which is a beautiful island about an hour off the coast. Some of Jess' friends from Banda came along aswell as some other AYADs visiting from Bandung and Jakarta, so there was a sizable group of us to laze about together.
So...just imagine a postcard picture of paradise, with turquoise water and palms, and then slot me into the picture lying on that white sand with a VERY sun-burnt bum (us aussies never learn do we?!)
On a more sombre note, the week also involved many local stories and insights about the tsunami and the impact that it had on the community of Banda Aceh. We were taken to see a massive ship wreck that now sits in the middle of suburbia 4kms inland. Some of the guides on the boat were in their houses close by when the waves hit. One guy managed to survive by jumping onto the roof of his house and then clinging to a nearby tree.
We also went to a school one morning that Jess sometimes visits and teaches at. It was completely destroyed by the tsunami and many of the students and teachers are now orphans or lost everyone in their family. One of the women that works with Jess' organisation and also teaches at the school showed us photos of her 15 yr old and 9 yr old daughters who were killed by the tsunami. They were altogether at home when the waves hit and she was the only one who survived. She started crying as she was showing us the images...
This experience showed me just how red raw the tsunami is for the people here, and was a stark reminder that even though the world moves it's focus on to other tragedies and other news stories, these people will be struggling to survive this tragedy for the rest of their lives. The whole thing was just incomprehensible and I was completely blown away by the enormity of it all. It's difficult to capture here in words...
Before i scoot, i just have to divert completely to a humorous topic - "Special" Coke. Having accommodated a trillion aid workers and organisations after the tsunami, Aceh is in many ways a place of huge contrast. I'll leave the details to your imagination and personal discussions in the future- but to get to the crux of things- I was told that in Aceh, beer is sold in disguise (i.e. dressed up as cans of coke!!)
Hope you're all well in your parts of the world!
xxx
