I'M HOMEEE!!!

Team Project Yes AR! landed at Singapore International Airport at 10.35pm local time on 28th Dec 2005.

It feels good to finally use flushing toilets, spray guns, water at a turn of a tap. To not find frogs n rats in d toilets. To not wonder if i'm washing myself w my own pee. To bathe without kain batik. To be able to bathe ALONE! To know dat wen i'm in d toilet showering, der is absolutely no possibility of ppl being able to c me fr outside. To not sleep in a mosquito coil fumigated room with 2 layers of mosquito repellent n still wake up w countless bites. To be able to watch tv, surf d net, read mails. Woohooo...

BUT, 2 weeks in Aceh, surrounded by great ppl, adorable children n neverending greenery, will do stuff to u dat will stick for a very long time. I'm currently experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

I'm missing : (in order of severity)

1. Reza
2. Reza
3. Reza
4. My SMP 3 class of 18 ppl
5. The children of Fajar Hidayah n their songs
6. The daily english lessons n art classes we conduct
7. The staff of FH (Pak "Cin", hehe...)
8. The daily dose of badak (banana fritters) with bumbu (soy sauce n nuts dip)
9. Team Project Yes AR!
10. REZA!

Ok now, Aceh was an eye-opener. First stop, Banda Aceh, Fajar Hidayah. We spent 8 days here. Great, pure kids, untainted by MTV, always singing aceh songs like 'Its I who build Nanggroe Aceh' n 'Bunga Jeumpa'. Dey r also very religious. The children were always eager to learn d english words/phrases n songs we taught dem. 14 yr olds excited over balloon animals, squeeze bag calligraphy n 'Little Indian/Acehnese' songs. Even d teachers were intent on doin d stuff d kids were doin. Plasticine sculptures, mini fish tanks. It was fun n fulfilling. Very tiring, but well-worth d energy. If S'pore students r more eager 4 d end of d lessons than d lesson itself, Aceh students r very difficult to peel away fr their activity/work. Its funny, we tell dem to stop but all work will only actually stop 30 mins later. Their enthusiasm is amazing!

Living Conditions r not great but dey manage. Everyone sleeps on matresses on d floor, even d teachers. Toilets r standard-kampung types but not enuf to accomodate d many ppl. Sometimes der's no water (these times r trying for us spore girls). Meals r very humble, rice w ONE dish, but d children hav snack times wen dey r given banana balls(sorta) or cake or jel-o. So i wouldnt say dat d kids r deprived, altho dey could do w more vege in their meals.

D teachers r so young, mostly bet 20 n 25 with very few exceptions of 29. N dey r lookin after these orphans full-time 24 hrs a day. Its a huge commitment. N dey r so patient w d kids. Their approach is always d gentle way, u can nvr hear dem shout at d children n dey r always smiling. Such admirable individuals. This trait can also b seen in d older kids. D way dey look aft d young ones r as patient.

D nature was astounding. Extensive paddy fields, rolls n rolls of endless mountains, clear skies, clouds so near, star-filled nights. Just magical.

We frequented outdoor eating places alot (like those of lau pa sat) n we noticed dat all d chairs r very low n it slants in such a way dat sitting upright is almost impossible. Its such a lazy, laid-back chair. N according to some locals, aceh is d only place wer these chairs r used extensively. Kewl!

Aceh food is pretty different, a lot of pigeons instead of chicken, a lot of unidentified meat-like-but-not-meat things, mostly d food is sweet, even their sambal. Mie kepiting is a favourite among us sporeans. Its noodles w gravy dat tastes like mee bandung n it comes w a whole crab w all d shells still intact. Messy affair. Their coffee n tea always hav too much condensed milk. But d breakfast menu is always great, sugar prata w d sugar semi-melted on d surface, sweet pulut(glutinous rice), fried stuffed tahu/tempe eaten w chilli padi. Enak!

We visited some of d badly affected tsunami areas n u can really c damage done. Altho, dey hav pretty much picked demselves up, d more rural areas n those directly facing d beach r still bare. We saw d extent of d erosion, n d barracks n d temporary residence made of tents. Pretty sad. We also visited a few of d mosques dat were hit but still very much standing n in use, despite some broken n bent pillars. We saw d sea generator(barge) dat ended up on land n a ship docked on d beach. Many areas still swampy n water-logged. Disheartening.

While we were at FH, we were visited by d west coast grc mp Mr S Iswaran n his entourage n Darul Arqam, CNA reporter n a photo-journalist fr Amsterdam.

D FH experience is unforgettable.

D 2nd location was at Sigli, Panti Raja. Panti = Perumahan Anak2 Yatim (Housing for Orphans). Living conditions here is worse. Altho we had more sleeping space, d toilet situation was bad. Here was wer d experience got properly tough. Water is salty n never clear, d bathin area is open concept n d WC uses well water. So imagine us urban kids havin to bathe w our kain batiks on n instead of using a spray gun in d WC, we hav to take water fr d well directly beside d bowl/hole itself. It gets me wondering if my waste goes directly back to d well. URGH! It was difficult, yes, but it was one hell of a good experience. Wouldnt trade it for anything.

Here we had less lessons n more construction. We painted d WC, cleaned their tiled common bathroom(which we dont use cos its super gross), n sanded n varnished d study structure which our project sponsored. D children here were shy-er n quiet-er but still as religious.

We were here for 4 days only, but managed to attend a small prayer session wer dey commemorated d tsunami on its anniversary.

D children at FH r fully tsunami victims whereas those at Panti Raja, some r orphans due to d GAM conflicts.

Ok i think dis entry is already too long. I would really like to return to aceh. InsyaAllah.