selamat pagi means good morning

we've adopted a cat. he's a skinny little stray kitten that we've named vagoush (meaning good) because it's one of the few words that we now know. i'll post a picture of him along with pictures of other things soon, but my camera's memory card doesn't seem to be working right now.

we spend most of our time in one of two compounds. the compound where we work has air conditioning in spots and a covered patio behind the main offices where work can be done while enjoying the humidity. the other compound is a collection of offices on the grounds of a substantial urban estate. inside the main house is an empty ballroom with one wall inset. a fabricated stone structure, a few little bridges and some cheeky vegitation fill it out. when the house was occupied, the whole thing was an indoor fountain. when i first saw it, i just stared up in awe with drool forming around the corners of my mouth. there is also a bathroom that we have dubbed the saddam hussein bathroom for its marble floors, gold fixtures and for the massive jacuzzi smiling up at us whenever we happen inside in the late evening to relieve ourselves in between sips from a can of this or a bottle of that.

banda aceh is a phase 2 area. interns are only allowed into phase 1 or phase 2 areas, and so most of the rest of aceh is off limits for us until the phase is downgraded. still, drivers take us most everywhere. i'm finding this a bit irritating, though the drivers are all incredibly friendly and willing to talk. but i'm observing a distinct division between foreigners and acehnese where most aid workers from agencies seem to tote around in SUVs with massive rods attached for radio communication. It hasn't been long since aceh was phase 3 and there were checkpoints and various problems to navigate. about a year ago, there was an incident at the compound where we're staying. drawing from an anonymous text message, the police attempted to invade the compound when the gate was opened to allow a car to leave. the claim was made that "drug parties" were being held by residents, and the security guards stood arms akimbo to resist their entry. they eventually left - they aren't allowed to enter in the first place. now, the peace accord has been in place for over a year and seems to abate the tension. no one knows if it will hold when foreign aid workers leave.

still, the days feel long and lazy. we work for about ten hours monday through friday and for the afternoon on saturday. it feels amazing to be doing this, though i'm still not sure of what impact i'll get to have. we're working on a project now to develop a community planning mechanism that will begin its operation while the recovery phase is underway. it's fairly incredible - the other day i suggested that we take steps to define community in terms of both resource and social linkages, and i was actually listened to! horray!

alright. to the store we go.