Aceh Is Still Wonderful!

Assalamu’alaikum dear Readers and fellow bloggers,

This time I will invite you to start our adventure to Aceh. Do you still remember about 10 years -Tsunami Aceh? Aceh was the closest point of land to the epicenter of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, which devastated much of the western coast of the province. Approximately 170,000 Indonesians were killed or went missing in the disaster. It was a terrible disaster. Today, Aceh is building its region, rebuild from the destructions.

This province is located at the northern end of Sumatera. Its capital is Banda Aceh. It is close to the Andaman and Nicobar Island of India and separated from them by the Andaman Sea. 

Aceh was a key part of the spread of Islam in Southeast Asia. Islam has arrived to Aceh (Kingdoms of Fansur and Lamuri) around 650 AD, and gradually accepted by people in this region. In the early seventeenth century the  Sultanate of Aceh was the most wealthy, powerful and cultivated state in the Malacca Straits region. Aceh has a history of political independence and resistance to control by outsiders, including the former Dutch colonist and the Indonesian government.

Aceh has substantial natural resources, including oil  and natural gas—some estimates put Aceh gas reserves as being the largest in the world. Relative to most of Indonesia, it is a religiously conservative area. It has the highest proportion of Muslims in Indonesia, who mostly live according to Sharia customs and laws. According to 2010 census of the Central Statistics Agency, Muslims dominate Aceh province with more than 98% or 4,413,200 followers and only 50,300 Protestants and 3,310 Catholics.

Now, let us know about its language, people activities, tourism and special food.

I inform you my dear friends, Indonesia has many tribal languages, approximately 700 languages living.  I, myself do not understand all, :D.  Very…very difficult.  I know some, besides my tribal language (Basa Sunda), a little of Basa  Jawa, Madura (very little), because I have many friends that come from all over Indonesia. We use Bahasa Indonesia as our national language. Back to Aceh, the people use Acehnese as their language. (I admit I cannot speak Acehnese).

I have some friends here, one of them is sister AH, she is my close friend. We have ever studied at Islamic Boarding School in Madura East Java, (she told me, not to write her real name). I have interviewed about her daily life as a wife, a Mom and a woman worker. Actually, she is from Palembang, but she works in Aceh. She works as a Judge of district court (Mahkamah Syari’ah) . She told me;

“Sis, please do not write my real name, OK! I’m shy. Well, It’s my activity as a woman worker.  I usually go to my job at 07:50 am. Luckily, my office is so near from my house, so I can walk to office. I leave my son with my husband, Alhamdulillah he works at home, he run a private enterprise. My hubby accompanies his son to PAUD (playing group). We divide our jobs. I back to home at 05:00 pm.

I am   grateful to my hubby and all my families for their supports.  My hubby has forbidden me to cook. He does not want me do many jobs. He is an understanding person. He cooks for us, and I help to prepare my son for going to his school. Here, morning is so short, the fajr time is 06:00 am, so I wake up at 06:00 am. If I see around at that time, it is still dark, such as night, lol.

Oh yes, Sis please pray for me, I will move in to another place again. My job is like this. I work here, then move to another city, move again.. and move. Lol. I hope I can work at my city Palembang, so near to my family.”

Okay dear, I’ll pray for you, insha’Allah. Thank you for your time and good luck!

The story above is an example about the activity of a woman worker in Aceh. The people of Aceh generally work as entrepreneur, a textile tradesman, working in transportation sector, as government workers and so on.

A few  tourism in Aceh:

• Baiturrahman Grand Mosque (Masjid)

Baiturrahman Grand Mosque is a Masjid located in the center of Banda Aceh city, Aceh Province, Indonesia. The Baiturrahman Grand Mosque is a symbol of religion, culture, spirit, strength, struggle and nationalism of Acehnese people. The mosque is a landmark of Banda Aceh and has survived the  Boxing Day Tsunami.

Baiturrahman Grand Masjid, Aceh.

•  Danau Laut Tawar

Lake Laut Tawar . It is located at 4°36′43″N 96°55′25″E.

Lake Laut Tawar

•  Lhok Nga Beach

Lhoknga beach

• Aceh Tsunami Museum

The Aceh Tsunami Museum, located in Banda Aceh. Indonesia, is a museum designed as a symbolic reminder of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami disaster, as well as an educational center and an emergency disaster shelter in case the area is ever hit by a tsunami again.

Aceh Tsunami Museum

These places are beautiful. I am so happy but a bit tired after walking so far. It made me  hungry, what do you think if we find the traditional food here?  Let’s go! 🙂

Alhamdulillah I find many traditional foods. Please enjoy it!

Photo credit:http://fokusaceh.blogspot.jp/2012/09/masakan-khas-daerah-aceh.html

While you enjoying your breaking, allow me to play this video. A video about traditional dance that is so famous in Indonesia and outside. Have you seen Tarian Saman (Saman Dance)? Wow, very beautiful dance!  I cannot dance like that, but my younger sister could dance Saman. She said to me, when she tried this dance with her friends, it was difficult, I couldn’t sit with that position for long time by doing many performs and singing together. Oh masha’Allah, very tired, but Aceh people can dance it!

Saman is a dance of togetherness and mutual cooperation, pictured in its cohesive yet dynamic choreography, all while chanting Islamic spirited advices.

I hope you are enjoying this adventure today!  Welcome to Indonesia anytime!

Insha’Allah next Sunday I will share another stories. A story about an Indonesian who has multi talents. He is an Ustadz/ teacher, entrepreneur, writer, novel writer, a poet, a film director, an actor, and etc. We will know him, his awards and his activities. I also will insert social culture from his province. Insha’Allah!

 

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aceh

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