Bye Bye Banda

By this time tomorrow, I will be in Kuala Lumpur waiting with Jesse and Sarah for a flight to Surabaya. For the next 10 days we will be vacationing (for me a vacation vacation) in Eastern Java and possibly attending the biggest Oberlin reunion in Indonesia ever. Purportedly, this reunion will include: Moi, Jesse, Sarah, Maya Walton, Nancy Dye, Guy Brown, Ben from Ben and Jerry's, Adrian Fenty, Jake Brody, Ben Wolak, Emily Clark and Ellis Ballard.

As to Banda Aceh, I've had a wonderful time here, even if it severely wasn't what I expected. I saw myself becoming an experienced maritime carpenter while I was here, and that definitely didn't happen. The closest I came was mending the beam of my bed that Sarah and I cracked and drinking supersweet tea with some sailors down by t'river.

I beat myself up because I never satisfied any of my save-the-world urge here, but I did chill a good deal with many Acehnese and thats invaluable. How many of you have heard of Aceh before? Well there are 400,000 people here who will never leave my completely leave my thoughts.

I also learned how to play basketball here; another invaluable skill. When I played basketball in Germany 5 years ago, my friends looked terrified--the tragedy of my skillz was no laughing matter. Don't get me wrong, I'm still pretty bad, but two days ago I sunk 4 or 5 layups and a few pull-up jumpers. I doubt that this sport will ever supersede endurance sports (I was best at running back to defend the basket), but it will be that much more exciting to watch March Madness.

Then there are Sarah and Jesse. How nice is it to see old friends again? All the way nice. This time will be written into the diaries and stories that I hope will continue for the rest of our lives. I can't wait to move into Kendal with them. Well I can wait, but it will be nice.

To Banda Aceh! I drink a Passion fruit in your honor.