Christmas Weekend

Here's what I did for Christmas:

December 22, Thursday
I decided to take a break from real work and cook dinner for 15 people. Christen had arrived, Lauren our microcredit person from Washington was still in town, and a bunch of staff from Jakarta were also around, The menu was Texan chili, fried chicken tenders, and a tomato avocado salad (all eaten). Dessert was chocolate fondue. I had to make the fondue because I told a journalist I was going to do it and he ended up quoting me in his article.

December 24, Saturday
The day started at 7am. I was coordinating the awards ceremony for the Art for Recovery project. It was a logistical nightmare. I had to get 4 VIPs, 10 press members, 12 kids, 24 family members, and 15 dancers to the village all before 10am. I had to mobilize 9 different cars and luckily everyone made it to the village on time! The ceremony feature the kids, traditional women dancers, and men playing traditional drums.

Christen and I had some down time in the afternoon and then went to USAID for a Christmas dinner with some of the other USAID contractors that were still in town. Had a very nice roasted turkey for dinner.

December 25, Sunday
Folks from ConocoPhillips were in town to check out the 5 villages they're supporting. I accompanied them to Lhoong (about 2 hours south of here) and spent Christmas at the 2 villages. The villages - Saney and Utamong were devestaed by the tsunami, and most of the residents are still living in the barracks about 10 minutes away from the location where the village is currently being rebuilt. We held a community meeting to discuss what are some of the things they would like to do with a small revolving fund we'll be setting up. Before the tsunami, Saney was a very rich village because it had a very vibrant fishing industry. Sometimes a boat would bring in over $500 worth of fish with a single catch.