Simuelue 2

Indonesia

Medan

The flight to Medan went well (of course in this plane no movie or computer games, it was only one hour flight). The arrival at the airport was a pit different than what we have in Amsterdam (schiphol), there was chaos yeah but just a small hall were your bags are coming in and were people are hurrying to carry your baggage. It was a complete different world there. There were men in uniform standing there and looking angry, waiting there in case something goes wrong or when they have to check some luggage.
A driver from my father’s work came to pick us up, I was glad that we were finally in the car where it was quite and cold, and hopefully we had all the luggage insight, because we had a lot, and by that I mean A LOT!
So of we were to my father’s office, we met some colleges and could go on internet for awhile. It was nice to see were my father had worked all the time he was in Medan and now I also knew why he wanted to work there, because people here worship you as if you are a god (maybe because my father is also the big boss around here).

Medan is a really big city with a lot of inhabitants. Driving in this city is also like crazy, I know I couldn’t drive there, you can’t even cross the street easily!!! Everywhere there are cars, bejaks (bicycles or motor bicycles with a car next to it where you can sit in), bicycles, bemo’s (taxi busses, stuffed with people insight) and motorcycles blowing the claxon and trying to pass each other. The bemo’s go a sight when someone wants to get on the bus, so sometimes the just stop at ones in front of your car. Also here there are traffic jams all the time if you want to go into the city.

In Medan we could stay in Ron’s (a college of my father) house; he lives just out of the city in a golf compound; so when you drive in there you first have to pass a gate and a guard, than there is this big road and big trees strait trough the golf area. So there we were at Ron’s house; and what a house it was…..it was huge/ enormous!!!!
They had a dog (yeah lucky me huh?!) and a made, a driver, a big TV, a balcony, airco, a garden, a bath, big bedrooms etc. So enough to do and relax in this place.
On Tuesday my parents had to go to Bandeh Aceh (the capital of Aceh; a province of Sumatra) for official registration. There were some demonstrations to celebrate the one year contract of peace between the terrorist and Muslims, so they were afraid that they couldn’t go, but it all went okay (yeah they had to stay in the air for an hour because someone important came). Of course there was a lot of damage from the tsunami.

Dewi, the housekeeper, toke me to go to get some limes for my throat that day.
I wasn’t feeling very well that day and my throat was hurting, so my mother told her to get me some limes. But than when I woke up she just started to talk and talk (in Indonesian), I couldn’t understand a think she was saying, because she couldn’t talk any English and I don’t speak any Indonesian (yet), so she really overwhelmed me.
I thought how nice to have a day by myself and just relax, have some rest and enjoy my stay in this big house, but I was wrong….
In this kind of countries the culture is of course really different and they have other norms and values. For them we are really rich and the white people have big houses and a lot of money, they really look up to you (as if you’re really special and higher up than them). So they want to treat you right and take care of you.
So also Dewi wanted to make sure I was alright and take care of me, I didn’t want that, but I couldn’t make that clear to her. When I wanted to get something out of the kitchen she was there a head of me, making it for me and where I would go she would go to. So she said some things to me and I thought I understood, but suddenly she was closing all the windows and I had to come with her, where we would go, I had no idée…….
So there we went of, we walked and walked, I didn’t brought anything because I didn’t know were we where heading to. Than we got to the little shops and bought some lime and aqua for me. It was nice to go with her because she knew the prices and knew the people. So on the way back she also talked to some old ladies and to a friend, who toke us back on his motorcycle, yeah all three of us on a motorcycle, for them that’s really normal (for us not so)
She talked the whole day and it was good for me to learn some Indonesian, it’s really the best method to learn a languages. But afterward I was really tired and got some rest. Later I found out they had a lot of DVD’s (incredible how much they had, but who wouldn’t they are really cheap here), so I was enjoying myself with watching a lot of movies.

The house was not really nearby the city nor nearby my father’s office, so if we wanted to go somewhere we had to take a taxicab.
The other day’s we spend some time in the Malls, looking for stuff for our new house and buying some blouses (because of the Muslim aria where you have to wear something over your shoulders).
When we told people we were going to live in Simuelue they thought we were crazy, because of the Sharia rules there; they said that it would be really strict and that we had to wear something over our heads, thinks like that, Help, would it really be like that and would we really go to live in a place like that????
My father’s driver started laughing when we said we would go to Simuelue; he said: “They’ve got those beautiful beaches there, but than the people go swimming with there clothes on!!!! Whahaha”
A man in Malaysia said that it was very dangerous to go to Indonesia because of the earthquakes, tsunami and the volcano. So I didn’t know if I really wanted to go to this dangerous place, I will see how it is…
The way back home we toke a betjak; that’s a motorcycle with a car next to it where we sat in, it was shaking and I was so scared that I would fall out of it or that we would be hit by a car or so, it was a long drive, but it went well (I staid insight of it, didn’t get hurt or whatever) so at the end I found it really cool and an other great experience.
On Thursday it was a free day and there were some demonstrations and speeches in town. We went into town, but for the whole week I wasn’t feeling so well, so I also had some rest at Ron’s house.

Simeulue

Friday we toke of to Simuelue. We had our private airplane, it was great! A really small plane and I was basically sitting on the pilots’ lab, so I could see everything very well and clear. We flu over the sea, the mountains and the jungle, because it wasn’t flying so high you could see everything very well. I thought a little plane would shake more but that was alright and it was an other cool experience.
When we arrived in Simuelue there was only one place to land and the airport was only wooden huts were we got some tea and coffee (nothing we are use to). Two cars came to pick us up, because of the amount of baggage we toke with us (not me, my parents ). The road was really bad and when they showed us the town, there are only a few streets with some shops (but even more than I expected though!). We went to my father’s office and met is colleges and after we went to the HOUSE.

Lugu House
A beautiful wooden house made from bamboo leafs and wood, it’s standing on steals and it’s designed from the old houses in Aceh. There are two rooms, one for my parents and one for me (how fairly divided, lucky me) The house has two levels; the balcony and the bedrooms are on the same level and than there is a lower part when you enter the house (you first come up with wooden stairs). Before the people had a little hall in between the rooms where they cooked, but because that’s really dangerous they made a lower level behind where which they made a wall in between where they cook. The man/visitors and woman live in different rooms and are separated (because of there religion; the Islam).
The balcony we have is just hugs and really nice. Wait till you see the view……..!!!!!!
It is beautiful!!! I don’t know what else to say, it’s just amazing! We look over the sea and have a jungle next to our house, there is nothing in front of our house so we have an open view.
They have built some houses op the hill next to us and down the hill they have there Mandi (bathing) place. So in the beginning they all started up and looked what we were doing there. We could look strait down and see how they are taking a shower or how they wash there clothes or how they go to the toilet. Not the shower, washing machine nor the toilet we are use to, no they wash themselves by throwing (dirty) water over their heads and in the same water they take their bath they wash their cloths. And the toilet well that’s just the nature; put your pants down and just sit down and do whatever you have to… (luckily it doesn’t smell here). But you can imagine how poor they are here (you feel really lucky for everything you have).
Our bathroom and kitchen are in different buildings outside, so if you have to go to the toilet you have to go outside first. Both really big, but not so practical decorated.
So we had to find some stuff to buy to decorate the house and reorganized everything. Because it’s an island you can’t buy everything, if you want to buy something special (or things they can’t make/have here) you have to get it or let it come over from Medan.
A lot of things were already broken or damaged, although the house is not even a year old! (those people here don’t seem to know how to take care of or use there stuff) So we had to repair and buy some new things.


Latif
We have our own guard here, Latif, a nice guy, but what I said before; different norms and values here. He just comes here and sits down, as if he owns the place, and it’s hard to tell him that it’s our house and that we would like to have some privacy sometimes. One evening we came home and the light on the balcony was on and we heard loud music, guess what?! Latif was just sitting on our balcony with our stereo installation listening to our music. And even when we came home he didn’t move and just sat there! Unbelievable.
I think he also just uses our kitchen and bathroom. Ones he left the gas on, which is really dangerous because of explosion danger (and fires when there is an earthquake) , because he wanted to lighten his cigarette (they don’t really know much about safety here, or better said they don’t know much here).
He wants to learn English so every time he comes over he asks how you call things, so now we started to write it down for him and he has to learn a few day’s everyday (yes, we are strict teachers)

Our own animals
We also have some animals here, like karbouws in our garden, haha, that are big cows, they look a bit like buffalo’s (so you feel really as if you are in a national park somewhere in Africa). I am glad they are not dangerous or wild; they say you can even ride on them (so maybe I can give that a try one day )
There are many animals here like chickens, dogs, cats, goose, birds, tjictjac, lizards, a lot of flies (bleh), all different birds and we even got monkeys (sometimes they come on our balcony they say, we saw a large group of monkey’s running down the beach; because of the building here they don’t come so close anymore, they moved into the forest).
The animals don’t look as nice as in Malaysia and most of them are also wild (but that’s understandable if you see how the conditions are here). We have a cat coming when we eat and just sits and miauws all the time, he must be really hungry, so he gets our leftovers. But although the cats and dogs are really afraid of people the chicken and goose just come in your house (so sometimes we have to chase them out of our sleeping room).


Adjusting to the island
In the beginning I really had to get use to the climate here, everything just gets sticky and smelled bad. So we first had to clean everything and hang it outside. Also your skin and hair changes and gets really sticky and greasy. In the big city’s there are lots of pollution and humanity so that’s also not so good for your skin.
I also really had to get use to the people, how they all stare at you and want to talk to you. All the people say or yell: “ Hallo mister!” when you pass them (they haven’t learned that your not a mister but a miss, but well we’ll just have to take it). In the beginning also people just come to your place because they want to see you and talk to you (but I think we made them clear now that we don’t want them to just come up and stay at our house). They love to come and sit with you and have a talk and they all want to practice their English.


Not feeling so well

The first week in Medan and Simuelue I was ill, and especially with this hot weather it’s not so nice to feel sick. It started with a bit of a flew and my throat was sore, than at night suddenly I felt really sick; I couldn’t walk nor move otherwise I had to throw up. I felt really weak and had high fever. Than in Simuelue I saw that my tonsils were full of white spots, later also my teeth got infected and there were also white spots on it.
My back was hurting and sore, it felt red and bleu. Later also my toe started to hurt and my joints felt painful. The blue spots I had two years before (when I had that erythema nodosum) started to appear again.
I had to go to the hospital, but it was a free long weekend and there were no doctors on the island. Luckily my father’s college was a nurse and she gave me antibiotics. So for ten day’s I had to go on antibiotics, after a few day’s I got a bit better; the white spots disappeared and all those other infections also went away, but still I felt a bit weak and tired.



Damages from earthquake and tsunami;

You can still see the damages from the tsunami and the earthquake; a lot of houses broke down. There are still white tents standing here, now they look a bit dusty and old, just like on television (that’s weird to see it in reality). My mother said that in Bandeh Atjeh the boot was still in the house, just like on the news back than.
Although there are a lot of new houses and schools build, in some tents they still teach. It’s hard to believe that they actually lived in those tents and slept on the floor all together,(but than they also live in huts now where they also all sleep on the floor, it’s funny because they live so primitive here and than most do have got a television).
I already saw a lot of schools my father has build and they look really nice; the people here also find them really nice, so now they don’t want other schools anymore (good for my father, but not for the other organizations/companies here)


So here I am sitting at my father’s office, thinking about everything I am seeing here.

Living on Simeulue

It's just so unbelievable how those people live here, I told you before how they take a shower in the same water they wash there clothes in and how they just go to the toilet in nature. Well yesterday we drove past a house and a girl was sitting in front of the house on the entrance bridge, when I had a closer and better look I saw that she was piing or shitting in between the tins. I was stunned! Just there in front on the house, almost on the street she puts her pants down and just sat and did whatever she needed to do.

What is so normal and usual for us, for them it seems so hard to believe. Even the easiest things they don’t know, like not to have a fire next to your wooden hut because it might perhaps be dangerous or not to drink the same water you do wash your clothes in.


Fun-day
On Saturday there was a fun-day here at a Coirdad (my father’s work) school mend to teach the kids how to live healthy and keep things clean, like the school toilets. I went over to give a hand, and I helped the kids making hats and color, cut things etc, just do creative things with them. It was nice to see them having such a good time, singing, playing, even the washing there hands and cleaning they loved and they all wanted to do it in front of there class. I filmed and made some nice pictures, of course they al wanted to go on it. Later also some older girls came and they wanted to go on the picture with me, so they all toke out there mobiles and started to make pictures, crazy! Also in my father’s office some local colleges wanted to go on the picture with me, haha, so maybe I will be a superstar here and my pictures will hang all around in a few years, haha

That they really made me realize how much we know compare to them, even on the primary school we already know more. It made me think what I could do for them or how I can help. You really have to start with the basic stuff and even than I wonder if it will stick. They are so use to living there life how they are use to and they think they are living healthy and well (there grandparents did it like this so why shouldn’t they?).
Maybe with a fun day they remember to wash there hands after they went to the toilet (because they don’t have toilet paper here and they eat with there hands), but afterwards at home they will forget it.
They don’t know how to take care of there stuff, so you can teach them that, or what kind of food is healthy and which are not (they have lots of candy’s and sweet stuff over here), or how to keep themselves healthy and clean, what to do with an earthquake and tsunami etc etc. So many just little things you can teach them but it looks like it will take a very long time before they know it and till things will change. I think education is a big step forward, but even the teachers here don’t know so much, so also that is difficult (we should teach the teachers, hihi)

Survival packet
In this area there are a lot of earthquakes and also tsunami dangers so we had to read about what to do when it happens and we even got a survival packet, so that’s a bit weird to me and to think of that it could just happen here. It’s good to know by forehand that it can happen and what you should do, I wonder if the local people also know this stuff

Our own Karbouw
A few days ago I saw that there was a karbouw (a big cow) in our garden, my mother tried to chase him out of it, but later we found out that our guard had bought one. I found it really sad because later on he was on a rob and couldn’t move. I asked him what he was going to do with him and he answered that he was going to sell him so that they could eat the meat. WHAT!!!! NOOOOO!!!!! I asked him if I could buy the Karbouw from him but he just laughed (I wasn’t joking). So I said that I would go and free him in the middle of the night and the Karbouw would be free again, yeah!

The famous sport on Simeulue
In this country the play a lot of badminton and as you know I love sports I went out and played some badminton and table tennis with some local people; it was fun! They are really good though.

Hello Mister!
My mother has a motorcycle here so now we can just take the motorcycle and go into the town. The people stare at us and they all still yell; “Hello mister!” I think it is also unusual to see to woman and especially white woman on a motorcycle. The road is really hard to ride on because of all the wholes in it (because of the trucks), they don’t have such a good roads over here. When it rains here it’s not just a normal rain we are use to, no in a few seconds you are just soaked wet and the roads are started to look like rivers. (so better not go on the motorcycle than).
When you want to go somewhere you just have to wait till it’s over or go trough it (than you will almost drown but well…), some huts are next to the road and you’ll need a boat to go out of your house, so that’s a bit hard.

After a few day’s on the island
The people are more use to us now but some still really stare at you or want to touch you. It’s a Moslem country so most woman wear long sleeves and a cover over there heads, so for them we are pretty naked.
We go to the market a lot here and buy stuff so we can cook for ourselves and try out the food they have here (of course nothing like we are use to), but mostly it’s even cheaper to go out for dinner or take a bonkost (they rape the food the have for dinner in coconut leafs)
You have to be careful what you eat though, sometimes it's really hot or really old (it has been lying there for a few day's than, also on the market there are flies and cats everywhere (so not really hygienic)

I am still not quite use to climate here, it’s also not a really healthy climate, because of the humid and it’s so hot sometimes. My hair got a lot ticker here and my skin also chanced.