October 2008-October 2009 Edition. I can feel the countdown.
First time to:
Gut a fish
Be a maid of honor
Wear contacts
Get the flu
Grill a grasshopper
Breakdance in public
Have my hair professionally done
Break up in another language
Have my bed made up every day
Get stitches
Read Filipino and Indonesian authors
Subscribe to a podcast
Mountain bike
Like durian
Crave coffee
Use statistical analysis software
Receive mail from Japan
What are your "first time to.."s in the past year?
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Goats are the best, I'm too cheesy for words
All of the animals in my neighborhood are considerate. The goats, the water buffaloes, the ducks, the chickens. I love watching the mud-slicked water buffaloes amble along, the young ones awkwardly jumping ahead and then stopping abruptly. Even the babies move out of my way. The papas, with their long curved horns, command my respect and I always suck in my breath when we face each other in the road. Still, I can pass.
****
I’m fixing the data on a desktop while my laptop shows a YouTube home video of a popular Indonesian song. It just shows black lyrics on a red heart, white background. Once in awhile I sing out loud… “If you love her… be honest with me… if you love her I’ll try to understand…” Printouts of 1s and 2s and 99s are scattered all over my desk. Some are tea-logged, others have hastily written Acehnese expressions or lyrics that I’d brought to my co-worker for translation. “It means you’re jealous but can’t do anything about it.. you can’t even say anything, do anything.” His arms are across his chest, “Like you’re locked up.” Later he motions for me to come back to his desk. Pointing at the computer, “Look… in fetters, I was right! It’s like being locked up!” Laughter comes from all corners of this big room that used to be full of partitions. We’re the survivors, hanging on until the end of the month.
****
I’m fixing the data on a desktop while my laptop shows a YouTube home video of a popular Indonesian song. It just shows black lyrics on a red heart, white background. Once in awhile I sing out loud… “If you love her… be honest with me… if you love her I’ll try to understand…” Printouts of 1s and 2s and 99s are scattered all over my desk. Some are tea-logged, others have hastily written Acehnese expressions or lyrics that I’d brought to my co-worker for translation. “It means you’re jealous but can’t do anything about it.. you can’t even say anything, do anything.” His arms are across his chest, “Like you’re locked up.” Later he motions for me to come back to his desk. Pointing at the computer, “Look… in fetters, I was right! It’s like being locked up!” Laughter comes from all corners of this big room that used to be full of partitions. We’re the survivors, hanging on until the end of the month.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Early dawning
Ok. My city is awesome.
Check it.
Last night the b-boys put down some wood and vinyl in a parking lot on the corner of Simpang Lima, a big intersection in town and started dancing and rapping. My lovely younger-than-my-youngest-brother biking friends showed up, families with kids in tow stopped their motorbikes and my gang of girls all crowded in to watch these talented guys preform. I was trying so hard not to bust out and dance- it drives me crazy how controlled everyone is (outside the dancers), but I have to do my best to be too, while still moving a little bit and hoping I'm not being judged too severely.
The energy and excitement of these guys, ranging from 12-24, is so infectious and if they are the future of Aceh then I'm excited.
Fast forward to this morning.
I crawl out of bed at 6:40am and by 7:10 I'm jogging, weaving through friends and families walking around Blang Padang, a big military park across from the tsunami museum. On Sunday mornings hundreds show up to exercise, either walking or running along the perimeter or participating in the mass aerobics session in the middle. I also spotted groups jumping rope, biking, doing push-ups, chasing a soccer ball. For all the harassment I can get here, it felt pretty spectacular to be able to run wearing a t-shirt and get passed by other women (though mostly men run)and feel both fully part of it and in my own world, letting Curtis Mayfield and other jams keep me moving.
I've come here other Sunday mornings for bubur ayam,the delicious porridge with chicken and parsley, nuts and soy sauce and other yummy toppings. This was the first time I fully participated, though, and I'm eager to return on other Sundays. My breakdance teacher is the one who got me out here- I suppose I have to do more training if I'll ever progress beyond the first move.
I'm spending another weekend at work, but somehow it's ok if I get to fill my mornings and evenings being inspired by my city.
Check it.
Last night the b-boys put down some wood and vinyl in a parking lot on the corner of Simpang Lima, a big intersection in town and started dancing and rapping. My lovely younger-than-my-youngest-brother biking friends showed up, families with kids in tow stopped their motorbikes and my gang of girls all crowded in to watch these talented guys preform. I was trying so hard not to bust out and dance- it drives me crazy how controlled everyone is (outside the dancers), but I have to do my best to be too, while still moving a little bit and hoping I'm not being judged too severely.
The energy and excitement of these guys, ranging from 12-24, is so infectious and if they are the future of Aceh then I'm excited.
Fast forward to this morning.
I crawl out of bed at 6:40am and by 7:10 I'm jogging, weaving through friends and families walking around Blang Padang, a big military park across from the tsunami museum. On Sunday mornings hundreds show up to exercise, either walking or running along the perimeter or participating in the mass aerobics session in the middle. I also spotted groups jumping rope, biking, doing push-ups, chasing a soccer ball. For all the harassment I can get here, it felt pretty spectacular to be able to run wearing a t-shirt and get passed by other women (though mostly men run)and feel both fully part of it and in my own world, letting Curtis Mayfield and other jams keep me moving.
I've come here other Sunday mornings for bubur ayam,the delicious porridge with chicken and parsley, nuts and soy sauce and other yummy toppings. This was the first time I fully participated, though, and I'm eager to return on other Sundays. My breakdance teacher is the one who got me out here- I suppose I have to do more training if I'll ever progress beyond the first move.
I'm spending another weekend at work, but somehow it's ok if I get to fill my mornings and evenings being inspired by my city.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Light's out, all's well
I’m mabuk kopi, mabuk sanger, which means it’s time to write. No angry diatribes about horny Acehnese teenagers this time. I’m a happy drunk, not an angry one. I spent the evening with my gang, my girls. I explained “trick or treat” and crossing fingers, did my Scarlett O’Hara accent and listened excitedly to plans to start a flower shop and a dried jackfruit chip company. We brainstormed names for Jihad’s new coffee shop near the university and thought of all the ways it would be inevitably shortened. He’s hooked on Kopi Kampus but can’t stand to think of it becoming kaka.
Like every conversation these days… “When does your contract end?” “Mau ke Padang?” Will we all meet again in Padang for the emergency response? My breakdance teacher, Nay, arrives. He’s 22, has a head full of curls and he texts me asking if I’ve got the soul for dance. Tonight he’s got an MC in tow from Lhokseumawe and tomorrow they will perform to raise money for earthquake survivors. My crew will be there.
Yasmeen and I swap Indonesian indie music and excitedly make plans to cook, film a video about our b-boys, go on more bike rides. You look segar, they say. Fresh, an adjective I still can’t get used to, or have gotten used to but can’t use.
I’ve got work tomorrow so aku duluan ya… I turn left at the police station into my neighborhood and it’s mati lampu. Pitch black and the clouds cover the stars. Good thing I have this place memorized, though I ride slowly, wary of the water on both sides. One lake reflects the moon’s light through the clouds. Beautiful. The trash and the sewage hide under the darkness, the surface is without ripples.
,
News tidbits, mid-October edition
I'm busy, busy, busy... fighting off a parasite(?), finishing up with data entry, analyzing malnutrition data and anticipating my third weekend in a row of work. Gotta make that dollar, knothead...
News roundup:
* Annie Lambla has finally launched a website to showcase her stunning photographs and her musings on life in Chicago
* There was a tsunami drill that I didn't notice
* Clerics in Aceh are up in arms that Miss Indonesia is Acehnese (well, her mother is). Just wait for the swimsuit contest at Miss Universe!
* My colleague wrote a few blog posts on Anderson Cooper's CNN page about the disaster response to the west Sumatra earthquake
* Peter Gelling analyzes the recently passed law allowing stoning in Aceh. It was a parting gift from local legislators about to be replaced by the Aceh Party. It's unlikely to be enforced (I still don't like it being on the books) and may even by rescinded by the Indonesian national government. We'll find out. Gelling writes:
There is a sense, in fact, among some Acehnese analysts, that the passing of the law was not meant to enforce Islamic morals at all, but instead was meant as a political move to destabilize the incoming parliament.
“There is a sense that the outgoing parliament deliberately left a 'time-bomb' for their successors,” Jones said. “The next parliament will be open to criticism either way, damned for being insufficiently supportive of Sharia if they try and roll it back, damned for intolerance and cowardliness if they let it go ahead, even in a modified form.”
If the new parliament doesn’t rescind the law, however, Jakarta will. Andi Mallarangeng, an adviser to the president, said the central government would likely review the law’s legality. Such an action could have interesting repercussions for the country as a whole.
News roundup:
* Annie Lambla has finally launched a website to showcase her stunning photographs and her musings on life in Chicago
* There was a tsunami drill that I didn't notice
* Clerics in Aceh are up in arms that Miss Indonesia is Acehnese (well, her mother is). Just wait for the swimsuit contest at Miss Universe!
* My colleague wrote a few blog posts on Anderson Cooper's CNN page about the disaster response to the west Sumatra earthquake
* Peter Gelling analyzes the recently passed law allowing stoning in Aceh. It was a parting gift from local legislators about to be replaced by the Aceh Party. It's unlikely to be enforced (I still don't like it being on the books) and may even by rescinded by the Indonesian national government. We'll find out. Gelling writes:
There is a sense, in fact, among some Acehnese analysts, that the passing of the law was not meant to enforce Islamic morals at all, but instead was meant as a political move to destabilize the incoming parliament.
“There is a sense that the outgoing parliament deliberately left a 'time-bomb' for their successors,” Jones said. “The next parliament will be open to criticism either way, damned for being insufficiently supportive of Sharia if they try and roll it back, damned for intolerance and cowardliness if they let it go ahead, even in a modified form.”
If the new parliament doesn’t rescind the law, however, Jakarta will. Andi Mallarangeng, an adviser to the president, said the central government would likely review the law’s legality. Such an action could have interesting repercussions for the country as a whole.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
One year in Aceh, living out the dream
Today is my one year anniversary in Aceh and I'm doing exactly what I hoped I would be doing here. There's nothing I'd rather be doing to celebrate than feel like I'm swimming in surveys.We’re half way through the data collection and I’m anxious to start answering some of our questions- are any of the midwives we trained actually attending births? Are they using the proper forms and how well are they filling them out? Are mothers practicing exclusive breastfeeding? Are children getting any protein? Do mothers know when to take a child to a health provider? Are their kids being immunized? Is there any connection between them knowing about immunization and actually get their kids immunized?
The questionnaire we’re using is a fairly standard one in the field of public health and we’re stuck in some ways since we have to use the same one we used in the baseline two years ago, though we were able to make some modifications and it felt like I was constantly revising or reformatting it. With the results of this survey of 600+ mothers, volunteer community health workers and government health workers we’ll be looking at what changes there have been since we took the baseline in 2007. Will there be any? The maddening thing is that I want this data to be the start, not the end! I want to take this good data, use it to start asking another level of questions and design our program more strategically, to draw from what we’ve done in the past and improve it, to see what works and what doesn’t work. Unfortunately the office is in the process of shutting down and until there is more funding for health programs, we’re finished.
Even though I’ve now been working in public health for two years I still don’t consider myself a public health person. I do consider myself someone who is really concerned about whether or not programs work and I want to be a force for holding them to higher standards, for better program design, better monitoring and evaluation, better reporting and communications. I’m still in shock that I’m gradually building the skills to do this. I have a long way to go, but this is awesome! A year ago if I had told you I would be able to build a data entry database or manage the data entry process entirely in Indonesian and perform the statistical analysis…no way. I shouldn’t be jinxing myself since we’re in the thick of it. I just want to share a sneak peak into what’s been exciting me lately.
The disasters in the Philippines and Indonesia have reminded me again why what we do is so important. I have plenty to criticize about this field. I feel many personal and institutional shortcomings, I don’t know if what I do makes a difference. I do know, though, that I want to be on the side fighting to find a solution.
I came into this work nearly two years ago to figure out what this nebulous field of international development is all about. How does it work? How do you figure out what the need is and how to address it? How do you design a program? How do you know if it works? What does partnership mean? What does child-participation/community participation look like? Who are you talking about when you say ‘community leaders?’ How do you work with the government? What does coalition-building look like? What the heck is an ‘intervention’ or a ‘module’? Situational analysis say what? Is my degree of any value?
Of course two years in I’m only at the beginning of what could be a long journey, but I feel really happy with the extent to which I’m able to move on to new questions, or at least add new layers to those questions. It’s even better when I have tools and surveys to help me find some answers!
The questionnaire we’re using is a fairly standard one in the field of public health and we’re stuck in some ways since we have to use the same one we used in the baseline two years ago, though we were able to make some modifications and it felt like I was constantly revising or reformatting it. With the results of this survey of 600+ mothers, volunteer community health workers and government health workers we’ll be looking at what changes there have been since we took the baseline in 2007. Will there be any? The maddening thing is that I want this data to be the start, not the end! I want to take this good data, use it to start asking another level of questions and design our program more strategically, to draw from what we’ve done in the past and improve it, to see what works and what doesn’t work. Unfortunately the office is in the process of shutting down and until there is more funding for health programs, we’re finished.
Even though I’ve now been working in public health for two years I still don’t consider myself a public health person. I do consider myself someone who is really concerned about whether or not programs work and I want to be a force for holding them to higher standards, for better program design, better monitoring and evaluation, better reporting and communications. I’m still in shock that I’m gradually building the skills to do this. I have a long way to go, but this is awesome! A year ago if I had told you I would be able to build a data entry database or manage the data entry process entirely in Indonesian and perform the statistical analysis…no way. I shouldn’t be jinxing myself since we’re in the thick of it. I just want to share a sneak peak into what’s been exciting me lately.
The disasters in the Philippines and Indonesia have reminded me again why what we do is so important. I have plenty to criticize about this field. I feel many personal and institutional shortcomings, I don’t know if what I do makes a difference. I do know, though, that I want to be on the side fighting to find a solution.
I came into this work nearly two years ago to figure out what this nebulous field of international development is all about. How does it work? How do you figure out what the need is and how to address it? How do you design a program? How do you know if it works? What does partnership mean? What does child-participation/community participation look like? Who are you talking about when you say ‘community leaders?’ How do you work with the government? What does coalition-building look like? What the heck is an ‘intervention’ or a ‘module’? Situational analysis say what? Is my degree of any value?
Of course two years in I’m only at the beginning of what could be a long journey, but I feel really happy with the extent to which I’m able to move on to new questions, or at least add new layers to those questions. It’s even better when I have tools and surveys to help me find some answers!
Monday, October 5, 2009
LUPUS knows Scandinavian Pop
Last night I was hanging out with the Lhokseumawe biker group LUPUS. A little bit awkward from an English-language perspective, but we're in Indonesia! They are fantastic. Unlike the Aceh bike group, which in the past few months seems to have completely gone their separate ways, this bunch is still cohesive and committed. I'm not down on my biking group- all organizations go through different stages, but I certainly prefer the excited, optimistic and planning kind. I've met them here twice before and it's nice to feel like I have friends even on work trips.
Last night we were talking a little bit about music, which can be a difficult conversation for me. I learn Indonesian pop music to work on my Indonesian and be culturally less of an outsider, but it's not really my type of music. Most of the bands that I love few have heard of, especially outside of the US, and I'm still grappling for that well-known band that is still a symbol of liking different music. Radiohead is a good one ("High and Dry" seems to be the song that everyone knows.) Last night I didn't have to spend long trying to come up with bands I liked. These guys were my people! Before I know it they are talking about Sigur Ros and Postal Service and some Scandinavian bands that came to play in Bandung- had I heard of Club 8 and Sondre Lerche? I have to admit I was a little floored. I'm in the middle of Aceh, not Jakarta or Bandung where the indie scene flourishes. They know my Scandinavian pop bands? The most promising part of the conversation was when I made them promise to make me a mix including the Indonesian indie bands they like- I still haven't been able to scratch the surface of Indonesian pop but perhaps, thanks to the awesome bikers in Lhokseumawe, I'll finally find me some good tunes.
I have my bike with me on this trip, though I'm nervous about the logistical troubles we could have moving it along with me throughout the survey. Last night I had it parked on the side of the hotel but I wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not since I don't have a lock. One of the guys dropping me off, a soldier in the Indonesian military, (never thought I would be friends with a soldier!) talked to one of the guys running the hotel. "You're keeping this bike safe for me, right?" The hotel is owned by military men and now that there was that personal commitment I was no longer worried. It was there this morning! Incidentally, he and another one of my friends had already figured out I was in town based on seeing my bike in front of the hotel. It's a small world and I shouldn't need any reminders that someone always knows where I am and what I'm doing here.
It sure would be nice to be playing on a rope swing in Sabang again. Work first, play later.
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