Why rent your cruddy studio for $1500 when you can rent a mansion for $2500?

...in Aceh!

After the tsunami, as the NGOs were moving in, the rich Acehnese were moving out. Luckily, majority of the upper-crust neighborhoods in Banda Aceh were not destroyed by the tsunami or greatly affected by the ensuing flooding. So, it was perfect timing for these well-to-do families - the quality of life in Aceh went down the tube, and all these eager NGOs were willing to pay super premium prices to rent and renovate these large houses.

To give you an idea...think of a large 3000 sq meter house - similar to the million-plus colonials next to my parents house in McLean, or houses in El Macero in Davis, or...just think big. Before the tsunami, they were probably going for about $8,000 per year, now it's $30,000++ per year. On top of the rent, NGOs and donors are renovating the houses, bringing them up to "western standards" including installing flusing toilets, retiling the floor, putting in entire new electric and lighting systems...on and on. It's a good thing that the international community is employing workers to remodel and injecting cash into the economy by paying high rent (hoping it'll trickle down from the landlord to the needy) but at the same time, the presence of the donors have contibuted to high inflation in Banda Aceh (some 35% over the course of the past year). It's great for those people who have the skills the NGOs and donors are looking for - they're making 5-10 times more than they did before the tsunami, but for those who do not speak English or have not had much schooling - life has gotten much tougher.