Indo, Day 12: Stuck

Today started like so many others on this trip: at the airport. This flight was later in the morning, so I at least got to sleep in a little. Even though this is a domestic flight, the airline operates out of the domestic terminal (the distinction isn’t as major as it sounds). And, once again, I thoroughly enjoyed the comical airport security routine. They’re more concerned with making sure you pay all the fees and taxes than you take anything dangerous on the plane. The metal detector beeped for every person walking through, but there was no one on the other side to do anything about it. And this is the international terminal!

For an exciting twist, my flight was delayed indefinitely. Another plane had mechanic problems on the runway (shocker) and is stuck, preventing any flights from landing or departing. Nothing like being trapped in a smoky airport at lunchtime with no food and no idea when you’ll leave. I can’t even understand the overhead announcements!

It ended up being just over six hours later that the runway was clear and my plane arrived. Theo came back to the airport and got me, so at least I didn’t have to wait it out there. I think the airline handled the situation about as well as they could. Right around the time we should have landed, they provided airline boxed meals to everyone. I don’t know if we would have gotten these in the plane or not, being as it’s only an hour-long flight, but the fact that they actually provided food for us was refreshing. You don’t hear about that sort of thing in the US!

The flight is to Banda Aceh (BA), a very significant city both in Indonesia and in Asia. To say it’s a Muslim city would be as redundant as saying Vatican City is Catholic. Locals proudly call it the “port to Mecca.” It’s where Islam first entered Asia. Sharia Law is in effect. This is the real thing. It is also significant because of the tsunami. BA was the closest city to the epicenter, and of all locations hit by the resulting tsunami, BA was the worst. Over 150,000 people died and parts of the city are still submerged. BA is still flooded with NGOs, however, and our project is (another) three hour drive out of the city to Pidie.

Consistent with every stop thus far, my arrival was marked by a blackout in the city. So I didn’t really see much of it on the way to the staff house. We’ll spend the night there, then drive to Sigli, where the project is, in the morning.

Thankfully the power came on after only two hours or so.