Hello All!
So already keeping this blog updated has been a task. I hope to update it every 2-4 weeks ...I promise.
As of tonight I have been in Banda Aceh 3 weeks. It seems like so much longer with the changes I have experienced and started to adjust to! But, I'm slowly getting into the swing of things here. I have had to find my own way at work which is both a little scary and liberating at the same time. I am responsible for the planning and architecture in a dozen communities in and around Banda Aceh. Yeah, that sounds like quite the task I know, however there was not much planned to begin with and the approach is being taken that any planning will be of some use is of some use. I am still identifying government agencies and discovering regulations that would relate to the work. Fortunately, half our staff consists of nationals which should be a big help with being familiar with the way things are done here.
I have been endeavourering to learn the language of Bahasa Indonesian. I've been told it is a fairly easy language to learn compared to most. However, it is still quite difficult for this single tounged guy. But it was a goal of mine to learn a new language before the clock strikes 30 so here goes. I was quite pleased with myself tonight and the conversations I had in one of the typical local eating places. I was able to have some broken dialogues with some of the staff and patrons (with the help of a 15 year old girl whose English was quite good I might add).
Ah yes, the pictures! I have added some pictures to this entry.
Picture One - The construction crew I have been assisting on Saturdays. Here we are having lunch and learning new languages. These guys are great, I got dropped off at this construction site outside of town and asked (in Indonesian) if I could help. They were amused at first but soon said yes. So after only a couple of minutes of wondering what to do - and opting not to jump on the scaffolding a slapping down bricks - I found my place in passing bricks to the masons and filling buckets of concrete which they are using for mortar. These guys work hard and the tools are all quite primitive...But they are very good at what they do. I was able to find out a lot about how things are put together by working a couple days with these guys.
This crew is up in Aceh province from Medan which is about 400km away. They stay here for 30 days which is the time it takes them to build 3 houses. They stay in a building that was battered by the Tsunami and has only a one true functioning room. Regardless, they took pride into the work and didn't complain about the conditions. I was glad to be able to lend them my cell phone to call home....I'm not sure if they would have been able otherwise as they didn't own phones themselves or know how to work a cell phone.
The Second Picture is with the crew - l to r Wagiman, Wartol, myself, Geris, Samjo (the boss) and Bobi
The Third and Fourth Pictures - are of one an urban site in Banda Aceh where a ship was washed up on shore and laid to rest quite perfectly atop of a ruined house. It was quite incredible to see this and to imagine what kind of wave and force of water it would have taken to place this here. Due to the hassle in taking the vessel down there has been talk about making this site into a memorial for the Tsunami. There were many lives lost in this area and it would be good to have a reminder such as this. Not only to remember the family the community that were lost but for the citizens to have a collective memory to escape and run to the hills next time the sea rolls our signaling another Tsunami.
The Last picture is of me in my first visit to the beach on Saturday. There were also a few massive vessels that had been washed up on shore. This particular boat had a few logs jammed beside it's hull and a bulldozer working double time around it. By these means it seemed like a vain pursuit....It was as if someone had told the guy working that he could have the ship if he could get it to the water. Poor guys.

Okay, I 'm just about all typed out. So thanks for all tuning in and feel free to ask any questions. I will try and respond.

Well, I booked my vacation for May this year which I am very much looking forward too. I'll be meeting up with my girlfriend Heidi in Oman (where her father lives) and then on to her field study in Sri Lanka which is one almost directly on the way to Indonesia (as the crow flies). So if anyone out there happens to be in those areas just let me know.

Go Canada Go! Turin 2006!