from the horizon

Sunset in Aceh

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The strangest thing I could find in the fish market.

On a rare occasion I was let out of the office to visit a construction site near Lhokseumawe in Aceh, where they were building the pre-fabricated houses which had been shipped from Canada. It was satisfying seeing the houses built, and the community already living in some of them, rather than just as a part on the ledger in the warehouse.

Arriving back to oppression in Indonesia…

Airport Restrictions in Indonesia:
Animals, Guns and Cooking – Understandable
Cooking – Inconvenient
Wheels on Heel – IS NOTHING SACRED!!!

My work also took me to Simuelue, another remote island off the coast of Sumatra which was effected by the Tsunami, although mostly only structure damage. According to local folklore, a large tsunami occurred in 1907, and killed a large number of people who rushed to the beaches to collect the fish left by the receding sea. This time, they knew to head for the hills.

While I was there there were a number of significant tremors.

When my parents came to visit me in Indonesia, I took them to Bukit Lawang, a former Orangutan Rehabilitation Center, bordering on a National Park. They got slightly closer to nature than they expected…

Disclaimer: Contact with Orangutans is strongly discouraged, as it can lead to infection by human diseases. However, as you can see in the video, Jackie, the orangutan, came straight out of the jungle and attached herself to my mother. Some history may put this into context: Jackie had previous had a baby, who died, due to eating plastic rubbish which had been left in the jungle, and since then has been approaching people who entered the park; My mother is a psychotherapist. After the incident Jackie followed us to the river at the edge of the park – her feeling of loss and need for connection was very apparent.

My work took me to the island of Nias, off the coast of Sumatra. This is one of the more remote and poorer parts of Indonesia, and close to the epicenter of the earthquake which caused the tsunami. I fortunately also got a chance to travel round the island.

Stone jumping was a traditional method of of training warriors for battle, which has become a modern method of extracting money from tourists (about $10 for a jump).

I was impressed by the town square, as it provided a large public space for the community. The historical reason for this space isn’t so pleasant – it was used to gather the troops before battle. I wonder How many public spaces around the worrld eixst because of such militaristic orgins?

Of all the things which I did in Banda Aceh, none of them gave me as much satisfaction as the regular Yoga and Dal nights I organized. Every Tuesday night I had a reason to leave the office on time, race home, cook a pot full of dal (with some assistance this later expanded to include chapatti, raita, chai and occasionally gulab jamun ). Once the food was ready, I would lead a yoga class for anyone who wanted to come. There was normally a class of about 6-12 people and it once got up to 17, with people overflowing into the kitchen. Although I’m not a qualified yoga teacher, I’ve been doing it for about 7 years, and people seemed happy. After the class we would hang out and eat dal together. (which is perhaps the reason some people came!)

Regardless of whatever frustrations I was having at work, things not going according to plan, or generally feeling like I wasn’t making a difference, I knew that on Tuesday night I would be able to teach yoga to a group a people and feed them some good food – and I knew that, in my own small way, I was contributing . It was my small effort of community building in Banda Aceh.

NOTE: Interestingly, since I have left, a Fatwa has been issued against Yoga by the influential Islamic Indonesian Ulemas Council (not an official government body, but influential). Although yoga for exercise is OK, once you include a bit of chanting and meditation it becomes positively un-Islamic. Alas – it looks like I got out in time.

However as far as I know, dal is still halah, and some recipes can be found here.

So the recipe goes something like this:

• 1 Tuna (gutted, skinned, de-boned , sliced and diced)
• 2 Spring Onions sliced
• 1 Avocado diced
• A couple of sheets of Dried Seaweed
• 1 T Wasabi
• A couple of T Sesame Oil
• A couple of T Soy Sauce (pref Kikkoman!)
• A couple of T Mirin
• A couple of T Lime Juice
• A couple of T Caviar

1. Combine the wasabi, ginger and liquids
2. Mix all the ingredients
3. Deep fry a number of wonton wrappers (press down with a spatula to keep them flat)
4. Grease the inside of a large shot glass (or similar)  with sesame oil
5. Fill the glass with the tuna tartare then serve onto the wonton wrapper and garnish with spring onion

Good luck!

Freddies Resort (officially named Santai Simur Tiga) on Sabang, the ultimate weekend get-away spot from Banda Aceh and venue of a number of Yoga Retreats which I organized.