A Simeulue story.

This place where I am right now is really a totally forgotten little backwater, very poor and where nobody ever really visited before except a few hard core surfers (and musicians- read on), with bugger all in the way of infrastructure and services, but incredibly, stunningly beautiful forests and coastline, with great surf. I am doing my fairly standard work here, and you know sometimes I get bored of my job. Other times, like today, I have just a tiny little glimpse of beauty and wonder in my day which reminds me of just how fantastic it is. The day started with all the frustration that my adventures often entail- using the awful shared bathroom at the hostel, having to get fully dressed head to toe just to leave the room to use the loo as I dash through the room full of smoking laughing Indonesian men, waiting over an hour to get a car to take us to where we need to go despite having a fleet of 17 cars (combination of lack of fuel on the island and just plain old ineffectiveness), taking half an hour to get a few kilometers down the road because of the road conditions etc etc. But then we go to our venue and things started to pick up. The venue is a big timber house built right on a divinely beautiful bay (an area which was protected from the tsunami) by about the only expat on the island prior to the tsunami. He built and runs the house as a surf lodge, but really only a few hard core types who really wanna go out of the way come here as most go to nearby Nias which is the real surfing mecca. Some of those who have visited though include Jack Johnson and Ben Harper, both of whom are rumoured to be popping by sometime soon (I wouldn’t mind catching up with Ben over a G&T on the deck...). Anyway, we ran our workshop which went off without major dramas. I was facilitating, so I always love the end of the day, another workshop over and done with! It had rained all day but by about 5pm it cleared and the sky was blue again, just in time for that soft afternoon light, perfect for a little swim in the bay. So off we went down to the bay and swam out and floated in the most perfect glassy water with small little swells to float over while looking back at the beautiful lush green tropical surrounds. And that was that precious moment when I remember how great my job is. Not many people can finish a good days work and then float away in one of the most beautiful and remotest parts of the world.

I should finish the story there, but I’ll add a little post script for your amusement (having a self deprecating sense of humour as I do). When we got back from swimming I had to shower and change as I’d been swimming in my clothes (must swim fully clothed here). I did look better than my Indonesian colleague though who swam in clothes, swimming cap and life jacket- I told he she looked like an orange shelled turtle paddling around! Anyway, I changed rooms today and was relishing in finally achieving my goal of getting the room with the private bathroom and was having my bath (bathrooms here consist of squat toilet and tradition Indonesian mande which is big trough of cold water and a plastic scoop), by torchlight because the power was off as it regularly is, when suddenly I started slipping down the floor. I thought gee this floor is slippery and tried to stop but just kept slipping for a bit, but then finally got myself firmly standing again. Once fully clothed I went outside and my colleague says “where were you! You are meant to run outside when there is an earthquake like everyone else did!”. (which I have failed to do in the three earthquakes so far this week- takes me a while to wake up!) Ah ha! So that explained my slippery floor- it was not so much slippery as shaky, just in the wet and slippery dark I didn’t register. All I could say to my colleague was count yourself lucky I didn’t run outside! I would have been starkers in Simeulue!

Simeulue, Aceh, Indonesia

Back in Simeulue for a couple of weeks. This is the island i came to straight after the tsunami so it is interesting to be back here again. My mate Danny is here and some other people i know through work so its quite nice, and the island itself is incredibly beautiful, though it has been raining a lot since i got here. I'll be here until just before christmas.

Weemalah Cottage, Sydney

Spent the first weekend in December catching up with the Sydney gang at a little cottage in the royal national park.

20 odd hours in Atlanta, Georgia

I've just arrived in Atlanta, Georgia where I have about 20 hours for work meetings before flying onwards home. In catching the lift up to my room just now i shared the small space with some fairly well tanked yanks with classic southern accents (which i guess actually disqualifies them as yanks?). I kept quiet and didn't disclose my own accent but was enjoying listening to theirs when one of them says (about the bottlo they'd just come from) "how can they sell wine and not have Jacob's Creek!!". Good to see aussie standards setting the tone even in the deep south!

Central America

Well I’ve been a very slack blogger this trip. Let’s see if I can give a quick summary. I’m back in Guatemala again now, due to return to El Salvador on Monday. At this stage I hope to be home on the morning of Saturday 12th November. Key points on Central America:

* The landscape is absolutely beautiful here. It’s lush and green with incredible mountains, forests and chains of beautiful perfect volcanoes. There are bright flowers everywhere. It’s just divine.
* The people are incredibly affectionate and lovely. Everyone from the little grandmother in the village to cute young boys come and give you kisses and hugs all the time.
* One thing I like in particular is that the women here are all sorts of funny, short, round shapes- it makes me feel at home!
* The colours are great. Finally some people who have the same taste in paint colours as me! All the houses are painted bright blues and purples and greens.
* The worst thing is the food. Tragically, most of the every day meals I can’t stand. Breakfast of frijoles (beans) and eggs every morning, the frijoles I can’t deal with much, tortillas (the real thing) have an incredibly strong flavour which doesn’t sit well with me, and I was invited to this very special family feast where they ate this traditional meal called fiambre and it was so awful! Beyond that, everyone eats McDonalds and Pizza Hut all the time… El Salvador is the saving grace because they have great seafood including a thing called cerviche (of prawns).
* The other bad thing is of course the reason I am here- the disasters… there was a Hurricane which caused hundreds of landslides all over the country, which killed nearly 2000 people (half are confirmed dead, the other half “missing” buried under the mud. In one mountainous area we went to there were so many landslides the people say it looks like a giant lion came and scratched its claws down the sides of the mountains. Then there is the volcanic eruption and tremors which kept me shaking in my bed the night before I left El Salvador last.

Pics from Guatemala

Here are some pics from Guatemala. One is where their used to stand a house... but which has been washed away by the flood. I also owe a special mention to Colleen who has got her mates together and raised money for lots of goats, chickens, wells, seed kits and other goodies!

Friday night in El Salvador

8pm on a Friday night. In Aus it will be Saturday morning and you will all be waking up with a hangover. I am in a car on the way from the airport to the hotel in El Salvador. I’ve just returned from Guatemala. I’m working for both country offices so sort of hopping between the two, which I must say is hard work, trying to be in two places at once. I have been up working at 5am every day this week, and not sleeping til 12 or 1 am. A little sleep deprived but it’s the only way to get everything done. El Salvador is a little less mad than Guatemala so I’m taking the opportunity of my return here to not work for one night before I get back in to El Salvador work tomorrow, though don’t know how long I will last tonight before sleeping. Have been traveling and working since 5am this morning.

Anyway, what to tell you? Got here on the 8th which makes it 13 days ago. Feels like 13 weeks. 4 days after got to El Salvador where I was supposed to work for 2 weeks, had to got to Guatemala, as the situation there turned very very bad. Hurricane Stan had a worse impact in Guatemala than the famous Hurricane Mitch many years ago, but I think it just hasn’t made the press or got the worlds attention because of having the misfortune of coinciding with the far greater tragedy in Pakistan. Arriving hotel will write more later.

El Salvador 5am

Have been in El Salvador since Saturday. too busy to write. am off to Guatemala this morning. will write more later.

LAX

Ok, even i admit my life is kinda surreal sometimes. One minute I am hanging out at home in the suburbs of belco quietly planning a weekend of brunches and catchups with friends in Canberra, and next thing i know I find myself sitting in the house of a dear old friend I haven't seen for nearly 8 years, in central Los Angeles. and what's more bizarre is that there is a Mr Whippy van outside playing the soundtrack.... I'm on route to El Salvador where they are having some small problems with a volcano exploding and flooding and landslides etc etc. I expect I'll be there for a few weeks. On the way i have a 12 hour stopover in LA, so its a good chance to catch up with James, who was a buddy back when i lived in Spain. He has a cute little house which he bought not so long ago and is well. He reminded me of course that back when we lived in Spain, we girls treated him as the 'wise old Tio Jaime' because he was so much older than us, but in fact he was the very age that I am now. I think he's implying I'm getting old!

Home with the fellas

Am now officially home, at least for the next few weeks. Rocky was so glad to have me home he jumped right in one my "shopping" luggage bag and said don't leave again without me! Carlos doesn't care so much....

Piccies of Beirut

Piccies of Syria

Beirut's defence

OK, having dished Beirut a little in my last blog I better tell you quickly how it redeemed itself... I gave up on the search for an ideal waterfront experience and decided instead to head for the centre of town to see what it had to offer, and my what a surprise! It was like stepping out of the Middle East and straight into France. First, it was the cleanest city centre I have ever seen in my life anywhere in the world. Second, the streets were filled with fantastic restaurants, bars and outdoor cafes. In between the shops and restaurants were beautiful churches and mosques side by side. Most fascinating of all were the buildings. Here and there as you approach the city centre you see buildings riddled with the marks of bullets and shellings still remaining from the war, along side brand new glizty constructions, but when you get to the city centre it is all these fabulous restored buildings which are clean and perfect but old, french colonial era in style. In the end Beirut did live up to its reputation of being a very liveable city.

Home time!

Beirut did redeem itself! and I will tell you about it but now off to the airport to catch the plane home! Hooray! Flying Amman, Bangkok, Sydney, Canberra, arriving Canberra mid morning Friday.

The Bombs of Beirut

After Syria, I jumped back in the car and drove across the mountains and into Lebanon, down to Beirut. To be honest Beirut was more of a mixed experience. It started well and ended well, but there was a shaky bit in the middle where I wasn’t sure about Beirut! When I arrived in Beirut I was full of the recommendations that Beirut was the “French Riviera of the Middle east” etc etc, and a modern, funky city. So with this in mind, I headed out to enjoy the sea. I was in a hotel right near the corniche (the esplanade along the Mediterranean), so I headed off the find the beach at the end of it. Most of the waterfront is of course not beach but rocks and rock wall, but according to the map there are were a couple of long sandy beaches at the end of the 5km Beirut Marathon route along the corniche. I decided it would be a nice walk and I would be rewarded with a swim at the beach at the end of the 5km. It was a nice walk and once again I found myself reflecting back to our beloved Gong… the cars lined up along the waterfront with young Lebanese guys gave me new insight to south beach! Anyway, I finally reached the promised beach and by this time was well ready for a swim, but I guess I made some mistaken assumptions about how modern and progressive Beirut was. It indeed was a nice long sandy beach, but there was barely a woman on it and certainly not any swimming, bar two women in full hijab in the shallows with their kids. Needless to say I realized the thought of ducking in for a swim was clearly a bit silly, so I decided to go back to the hotel “beach club” (aka swimming pool near the water). I got a taxi back and got a crazy taxi driver who when we got near our hotel pointed out oops that there behind that yellow tape on the corner is the bomb site where the former prime minister was recently blown up. Always reassuring to be reminded you picked a holiday spot where there have been a few too many car bombs lately. About this stage he starts yelling “Beirut no good! Very dangerous! You finish your business and GO! You understand me!? Finish your business and go!!”. He then proceeded to rip me off so I suspect he was the main danger…Anyway, never one to be deterred by a crazy taxi driver, headed off the beachclub anyway. Of course, it turns out also to be right at the bombsite, cos when I ask directions, they say just go around the police tape and under the bombed bit… which I do. Then I get in and they do have a lovely pool just behind the bombed area which appears unaffected, so I go in, but they don’t let me in because I don’t have the right voucher. I ask if they can just phone back to the hotel to confirm I am staying there, to which they respond “sorry, there are no phones down here. All the phones were destroyed by the assassination car bomb…” At this point I decided maybe it was a bit much for an R&R swim, so I retreated to the indoor swimming pool at the hotel proper before being brave enough to venture out again. Out of time, more on Beirut’s redemption later….

Down the highway in a big yellow valiant…. To Damascus!!

Actually, I wasn’t in a big yellow valiant, but I was jealous of the people who were, and the cars weren’t exactly valiants but they looked like them! I drove to Damascus on Sunday from Amman- it is less than 3 hours from Amman. All the Damascus-Amman taxis are these hilarious yellow beasts of cars which looks like big old valiants or something like that (not being a car person can’t be more specific, but think, big, wide and yellow).The road from Amman to the border is essentially desert (as is most of Jordan) but once you hit Syria it seems to get more fertile and the road fills up of all these trucks laden with fantastic looking veges (we had to dodge a few apples and capsicums coming off the back). I spent two nights in Damascus, near the old city. I am pleased to say that Damascus completely lived up to expectations in terms of being a fascinating and what you imagine an old Arab city to be. I spent most of my time wandering through the old city and the souks, which I think you could just do endlessly and still find more fascinating and beautiful things. The nicest thing about Syria was how lovely and gentle the people where. In one walk of about 2 hours I counted about 10 people who I met and who did something nice for me, from the woman who helped me ask for apple juice in Arabic (tufah) and then walked me the few blocks to the place I wanted to go, and then turns out she spent 30 years living in Bankstown and then returned to her beloved Syria once her children were grown up), to the young artist who gave me directions, then showed me his little gallery and then directed me to a lovely hidden little café where I could find some nice lunch. With everyone I met there just seemed to be this unique gentleness.

The Jabals of Amman

After Jerusalem, I have a week’s R&R, so I decided to spend two nights in Amman for old times sake. I’ve realized that something I love about Amman, and also to a large degree Jerusalem is the way they are built all over these hills (Jabals) so when you drive around at night, or sit in a bar or a restaurant or at someone’s house on the side of a hill you are surrounded by these lovely sparkles. It’s quite lovely. Anyway, in Amman I stayed at the Amra, where I have always stayed in Amman and enjoyed a bit of time round the swimming pool but was disappointed to hear that my favourite waiter and the shoe shine man with whom I used to have daily chats have both moved on since I was last here. Then I went out to dinner with Bec Reynolds, who some of my friends will remember which was lovely. She is living here for the time being. The next day I visited may favourite shops and spent the afternoon at the Hamam Al Pasha, which is one of the best things anywhere. After that it was a catch up with Alia, followed by beer with Harriet, the new head of office here. The next day was spent divided between the pool and the Syrian embassy for my visa, with a quick visit to the office. The old office (where I worked in 2003) is in the middle of receiving a fresh coat of paint in bright red and orange tones and looks fabulous, compared to the awful plain white it used to be. Then I got my visa and headed off to Syria….

Whirly Winds across the Jordan Valley

With the usual mad rush and hurried goodbyes I dashed out of Jerusalem on Friday and down across the Jordan Valley, past the Dead Sea and into Jordan. End of the line for me in Jerusalem. Its always a bit sad to leave especially when you like the people you work with, and I very much did in this case. As we drove across the Jordan Valley there were all these little dusty whirly winds swirling all over the valley. Somehow it seemed quite appropriate. To mark the occasion of my departure, after two months of relative calm in Gaza (remembering the reason I was there was in case it wasn’t calm), over 25 rockets and a couple of air strikes were launched the very day I left. I guess they just didn’t really want me to leave and this is their way of inviting me back again ;)

At home in Jerusalem

This weekend I have to limit my adventures. It’s my last weekend here so I have lots of work to do. I stayed in all day except when I walked down to the corner to buy some bread. A couple of hours later I was sitting at my desk when I heard a lot of noise. Some small explosions followed by some screams. Not too much, just a little. Anyway, so sure enough I look out the window down to the corner right where the bread man's cart is and there are a whole bunch of soldiers pulling people out of a car and seeming to be hitting something, though I didn’t have my glasses on so who knows what was really happening. There were more bangs, some bright flashes, screams, people running and a few shots, but all ‘low level’ nothing that sounded too bad. Eventually my friend rang me and filled me in on the story. Apparently the soldiers believed they identified a suspicious pack and they bought in the robot to blow it up. That must have been just past the corner as I didn't see the robot myself (though I confess I am kinda interested to see one...). Tonight I’m still at my desk working (ok so this is a little break) and instead there is great loud Arabic music playing from a wedding going on nearby and the loud bangs in the air are celebratory fireworks floating up to the full moon.

Fun and sun in Wollongong… oops, I mean Tel Aviv!

This weekend I went to Tel Aviv for the weekend. Can’t come all this way and not go to Tel Aviv. Yet again, it is radically different to Jerusalem even though it is only an hour away. My colleague described it to me as just a big beach town, and when I got there it very much reminded me of Wollongong only much bigger. Then I remembered that Jo, the ultimate Wollongong expert and one time Tel Aviv resident had also said it reminded her of the Gong. Anyway, I got myself a room on the beach (note the view from the room as per the photo!) and indulged in a little in secular sun loving and swimming, listened to the sounds of old Israelis named Shaul and Shlomo, ate fish at a Yemenite restaurant and visited the old Arab port city of Jaffa, where there are some of the very limited reminders of the Arab city and villages that were forced out of here when Israel moved in back in 1948.

a Tale of Two Cities

So far I have been living and working in East Jerusalem, which is the Palestinian side of Jerusalem. It feels like a typical Arabic city, very similar in fact at least physically/visually to Amman. On Sunday we went for a spot of shopping in West Jerusalem, which was my first time on ‘the other side’. In fact the other side was just a short walk from our house across a main road, but it was like arriving in another country. The difference between the East and the West was really just completely extraordinary. Suddenly I felt like I was in Europe in a developed and sophisticated city with little streets and allies full of funky shops and cafes, though of course there are armed guards outside to search your bag for bombs before you go in, young off duty soldiers wander round with their weapons in their shopping baskets, and the ultra orthodox Jews among the shoppers make you feel like you are in a different time altogether. Every weekend another little layer of this totally fascinating place is revealed… I think I finally might be understanding how so many of my friends are obsessed with it.

Jericho and the Mount of Temptation

On Saturday I took a trip down to the famed city of Jericho, where the walls have well and truly fallen down. It is a small place with not much to do but spectacular scenery and a giant hotel casino sticking up out of the desert (which happens to have a nice swimming pool and hence Jericho is a popular weekend away from Jerusalem). The main attraction in Jericho is the Mount of Temptation. You can take a cable car up to see the view from the top and visit a little old monastery built into the side of the mountain- in the picture.

When I am coming home?

For those who are wondering, I will be back in Canberra on 30 Sep at about 11am. I will be making only a brief appearance in Canberra before heading off again for other parts on 11 October.

Party in Ramallah

In keeping with sharing my tour of the middle east with you, the latest stop was Ramallah. We had a bit of a work party there with staff coming from Jenin, Hebron, Gaza and Jerusalem to join up with the staff in Ramallah at a great outdoor restaurant on the side of a hill overlooking a valley. It was quite beautiful. To get there we drove past Yasser Arafat's compound and the place where he is buried. It was a lovely festive party with people singing and dancing, which was so nice. In most places I have been in the last few years here in this region the vibrant arabic culture has been weighed down with the heaviness of war and oppression. Last night's journey, despite the checkpoints along the way was finally happy and hopeful.

Saturday at the Western Wall

This weekend I stayed in Jerusalem and explored the old city a bit more. First I went down to the Western Wall (aka the wailing wall- as seen in the picture) and sat around and comtemplated it a bit- the women's prayer section is much smaller than the men's section but I sat there for a while and watched as people prayed to this treasured and holy stone wall of so many thousands of years, putting their written prayers on little bits of paper into the cracks of the wall. I was tempted to put in a prayer that they stop killing people in the name of it... but decided that might be a bit blasphemous. After that I meandered back through the Arab quarter. El Wad street was a lot quieter this time than last time I was there when I had accidently stumbled into an area where a rally of green flags was going on you could barely move. I had gotten out of there pretty quickly then, but this weekend it was nice and quiet and relaxed. I made my way up some streets (not really knowing where I was going) and suddenly among all the tourist shops was a group of Orthodox Jews praying. By the signs it appears this was the place where a young jewish student was killed last week. The end of this street brought me out at Jaffa Gate, and then I wandered back down through the very quiet streets of the Christian quarter until I came out again at the bustling, happy marketplace at Damascus Gate with loads of noise and colour and music. All in all a fascinating little journey for a Saturday afternoon walk.

Trip to Jenin

Went to Jenin yesterday to visit our office there. Didn't get a chance to take any photos except this one. The drive was very interesting. We went up through Israel and crossed into the West Bank at the very north. We drove along the "wall" which has been landscaped over on the Israeli side so it looks nice, but on the other side is just massive slabs of concrete. On the way back we drove down through the Jordan Valley. The way down is between beautiful dry folding hills, until you get into the valley with date palms, past Jericho and the dead sea, and then climb back up the hills to Jerusalem.

Weekend in Bethlehem

Hello, all is reasonably quiet here so I went to Bethlehem for the weekend, mostly for the swimming pool at the Intercontinental there.... but while in town I also popped down the church of the Nativity to touch the place where Jesus was born (as seen in the picture- marked by the star). Can now tick that off (having already ticked off the place where he died and walked the stations of the cross, now just have to go to the place he ascended to heaven, multiplied the loaves and fishes etc etc. Oh so much to do here in the Holy Land). Will be in Jerusalem for about another month, ciao for now, megs.

Megs in Jerusalem

Hi everyone,

Here I am in Jerusalem. The picture above shows the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock. I am here working until about late September. For the time being I will be based here rather than in Gaza as was originally planned.

It is very very hot, but other than that all is quiet!

bye for now,
Megs