The most insightful article I’ve read on ‘The Palin Situation’ (however not the most funny!)

Ok, check this out – he is a Conservative – BUT Obama Fanatics don’t freak out!

I think he has some good insights.

Let us all be truly open minded shall we?

And look at his style . . . he knows what’s up!

Why Experience Matters

By David Brooks

New York Times – September 16, 2008

Philosophical debates arise at the oddest times, and in the heat of this election season, one is now rising in Republican ranks. The narrow question is this: Is Sarah Palin qualified to be vice president? Most conservatives say yes, on the grounds that something that feels so good could not possibly be wrong. But a few commentators, like George Will, Charles Krauthammer, David Frum and Ross Douthat demur, suggesting in different ways that she is unready.

The issue starts with an evaluation of Palin, but does not end there. This argument also is over what qualities the country needs in a leader and what are the ultimate sources of wisdom.

There was a time when conservatives did not argue about this. Conservatism was once a frankly elitist movement. Conservatives stood against radical egalitarianism and the destruction of rigorous standards. They stood up for classical education, hard-earned knowledge, experience and prudence. Wisdom was acquired through immersion in the best that has been thought and said.

But, especially in America, there has always been a separate, populist, strain. For those in this school, book knowledge is suspect but practical knowledge is respected. The city is corrupting and the universities are kindergartens for overeducated fools.

The elitists favor sophistication, but the common-sense folk favor simplicity. The elitists favor deliberation, but the populists favor instinct.

This populist tendency produced the term-limits movement based on the belief that time in government destroys character but contact with grass-roots America gives one grounding in real life. And now it has produced Sarah Palin.

Palin is the ultimate small-town renegade rising from the frontier to do battle with the corrupt establishment. Her followers take pride in the way she has aroused fear, hatred and panic in the minds of the liberal elite. The feminists declare that she’s not a real woman because she doesn’t hew to their rigid categories. People who’ve never been in a Wal-Mart think she is parochial because she has never summered in Tuscany.

Look at the condescension and snobbery oozing from elite quarters, her backers say. Look at the endless string of vicious, one-sided attacks in the news media. This is what elites produce. This is why regular people need to take control.

And there’s a serious argument here. In the current Weekly Standard, Steven Hayward argues that the nation’s founders wanted uncertified citizens to hold the highest offices in the land. They did not believe in a separate class of professional executives. They wanted rough and rooted people like Palin.

I would have more sympathy for this view if I hadn’t just lived through the last eight years. For if the Bush administration was anything, it was the anti-establishment attitude put into executive practice.

And the problem with this attitude is that, especially in his first term, it made Bush inept at governance. It turns out that governance, the creation and execution of policy, is hard. It requires acquired skills. Most of all, it requires prudence.

What is prudence? It is the ability to grasp the unique pattern of a specific situation. It is the ability to absorb the vast flow of information and still discern the essential current of events — the things that go together and the things that will never go together. It is the ability to engage in complex deliberations and feel which arguments have the most weight.

How is prudence acquired? Through experience. The prudent leader possesses a repertoire of events, through personal involvement or the study of history, and can apply those models to current circumstances to judge what is important and what is not, who can be persuaded and who can’t, what has worked and what hasn’t.

Experienced leaders can certainly blunder if their minds have rigidified (see: Rumsfeld, Donald), but the records of leaders without long experience and prudence is not good. As George Will pointed out, the founders used the word “experience” 91 times in the Federalist Papers. Democracy is not average people selecting average leaders. It is average people with the wisdom to select the best prepared.

Sarah Palin has many virtues. If you wanted someone to destroy a corrupt establishment, she’d be your woman. But the constructive act of governance is another matter. She has not been engaged in national issues, does not have a repertoire of historic patterns and, like President Bush, she seems to compensate for her lack of experience with brashness and excessive decisiveness.

The idea that “the people” will take on and destroy “the establishment” is a utopian fantasy that corrupted the left before it corrupted the right. Surely the response to the current crisis of authority is not to throw away standards of experience and prudence, but to select leaders who have those qualities but not the smug condescension that has so marked the reaction to the Palin nomination in the first place.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/opinion/16brooks.html

Happy Ramadan!

The month of September is Ramadan – the holy month when Muslims fast from sun up to sun down and refrain from anything that may distract them from God. Fasting includes no drinking (even water) and no smoking. This time is spent with the family, breaking fast (buka puasa) at around 6:45pm with special foods and cakes that are only made during Ramadan. The streets are filled with food vendors proposing many deep fried items and super sweet drinks and goodies to buka puasa. What a monumental decision. Its kind of like asking “If you could eat one food for the rest of your life . . . ?” The siren goes off at 5:30ish in the morning (I’m not sure when it is exactly because I am always rather groggy and cranky at that point) telling you to eat now before the sun rises, and again when the fast for the day is over. In fact, I am sitting at a restaurant now with a plate of garlic broccoli and seafood sitting in front of me, waiting for buka puasa – you can imagine, it is quite unacceptable to eat or drink in front of others (everyone) fasting. A friend got reprimanded just the other day because he forgot and walked out into the street guzzling a bottle of water. Oops!

Myself and fellow interns, Azeemah and Petra, with Ramadan goodies for buka puasa last week.

On another note, at work I have recently jumped onto the team for a new initiative by the UNORC called Solutions Exchange Aceh and Nias (SEAN). It is a knowledge managment project aimed to connect development pratitioners across Aceh and eventually all of Indonesia. We create online forums for Communities of Practice (COPs) and get people to sign up and share their information about best practices, lessons learned, research or advice. The idea is to getting people of all different levels and backgrounds thinking together on an issue for efficient problem-solving and well-rounded solutions. We want to get government working with activitists and small NGO workers communicating with private sector entrepeneurs. SEAN is based on the belief that all knowledge is equally valuable from academic research and lofty policy goals to first-hand, practical experiences; combine them and you’ve got stronger “solutions”, a larger pool of them available fast, and saving time because no one is “reinventing the wheel”. Its exciting work and I have a lot of responsibility so its really great. However, this also means more stress but I think this is cool down once I feel secure in my position on the project team.

Also, as interns we contribute articles to the ARN, or the Ache Recovery Newsletter. I really enjoy this as I love to write (secretly always wanting to be a writer/photographer for National Geo – but really, who doesn’t want that job!?) and its a great way to get out into the field and do some exploring. The newest newsletter just came out and one of my articles, Aceh Green Goes Blue, about the maritime sector getting involved in Aceh’s environmental policy, is on the front page (too bad we don’t assign our names to the articles!). Check out the newsletter (lower right side) and my articles at:  http://unorc.or.id/

I’ve written about two organizations that have really impressed and inspired me – Taloe and Gemma Nine. Taloe does psychosocial trauma recovery from the tsunami and, perhaps more importantly, the conflict through promotion of traditional Acehnese dance and music. They do after school programs and are trying to get the arts into the school curriculum. They are a very dedicated bunch of young arts who also support the art community in Banda Aceh.      Very cool.

Taloe: Girls practicing dance and the boys playing traditional flute and drums.

At Gemma Nine, the focus on empowerment of youth and the vulnerable. This means mostly livelihood programs (programs to assist people in making a living) and they just produced a color magazine with pictures and simple instructions on agriculture, animal husbantry and fisheries. Its a useful tool for their participants, especially designed for those you can’t read, and they can keep it long after the organization leaves as well as share it with friends and family. I interview Sisca, a really on-point woman working in the Gemma Nine Village Learning Center, seen here feeding quails on their teaching farm and she introduced me to a family of Tempe producers who participated in their program who now make a killing (they sell out of the tempe they produce everyday by noon!).

BANDA ACEH!

Finally!

Hi Everyone! Sorry I have been out of touch but for some reason the wordpress site is blocked at the UN compound so I have not been able to update this page. Anyway, here I am and with 20 days packed full of experiences and exciting things to tell you!

So let us start at the beginning . . . .

My first moment in Banda Aceh: getting picked up at the airport and being lead, and then let inside of, and then driven in a UN CAR. I couldn’t stop giggling! Oh my god, a I’m in one of those UN cars! Ha! The man driving me, Komo, did not understand what was going on.

But I have adapted quickly . . . .

But really, I am quite happy. I love Banda Aceh and I love the work I am doing.

Aceh has been through some 30 years of conflict between GAM (Free Aceh Movement) and the Indonesian central government. The disaster hit on December 26, 2004 and the area was devastated, as you all know. A peace agreement was designed, the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding – Peace Accord), and was signed in Helsinki on August 15th the following year. This opened the door to recovery for Aceh and international organizations and money rushed in by the billions. But the road to recovery is multi-faceted, mainly because it suffers from post conflict and post tsunami plights. Thus, the development work that is being done here is quite complex and having to please many factors: the GOI (Government of Indonesia), the ex-combatants, 25 districts all with different needs, but generally impoverished, the numerous donors and international organizations and of course Islam. The MoU gave Aceh a special autonomy status that basically allows it to govern itself as a province and include Islam and Sharia in its governance (Indonesia, though predominately Muslim, is a secular state. Anyone ever been to Bali? – Hindu).

There is a lot more on the history and whats going on but I will get to it in the future. Also, I’ll get to all the thrilling intricacies of living in such a different culture from my own. For now, the most challanging part is having to cover up in this heat! I’ve surrendered to be disgustingly sweaty most of the time – as I think most bule (foreigners) have. You should be covered to your elbows and your ankles, or lower calf, as well as most of your chest/neckline. You don’t have to be so chaste, I have worn a skirt that goes just below my knees, but you get so much attention as it is being a foreigner, you don’t want to attract anymore or have it be sexually charged.

The house I am living in is possibly the most quirky luxurious thing I have ever seen, and its amazing! I’m paying very low rent in comparison to the US and the house is huge with air conditioning, toilets that flush and one hot shower! We actually have friends, well one friend, Miss Sarah, who comes over to partake of the wonder of hot water. We have a garden with a mango tree and a starfruit tree and a huge prickly fruit tree in the front that we have yet been able to identify (looks like durian, but doesn’t smell like it!). There are four kittens that scamper about the yard but are terrified of us. All cats here have stumpy tails that so far no one knows the reason for and there are barely any dogs because the Acehnese believe them to be bad luck. So stumpy-tailed cats it is.

Scrap book of my first 21 days in Aceh:

The adjusting to the heat and mosquitos! (Can you see all those bits!??) Two friends have already gotten Dengue! The Bone Braking Disease! The Blood Fever! Everything begins to ache and your blood thins so much it comes out of your pores! AH! The horror! My natural, organic days are over – if anyone has some extra 90% DEET around, send it on!

Dan and I at the warung (roadside restaurant) we’re we eat spicy veggies, and spicy fish and spicy everything almost everyday! With fresh juice of course – mango or lemon or terong belanda (some kind of eggplant but its pink and tastes like berries!)

Heading to the beach in a bacak (bay-chak). I’m looking into renting one of these as transport because they seem a little more stable than a motorbike, and of course, way cuter.

Lampu’uk Beach, 25 minutes from where I live! Sigh . . . . .

However, my friend Azeemah, in the suggested swimming attire.

I think this makes so much hygienic sense! One thing that does not need to be socialized into the community as part of public health strategy.

Neighbors down the street. They are not covered because they are either on familial territory on their front stoop or they may not be Muslim (the region next to Aceh is fully Christian).

Miss Sarah and I at the Rafly concert this past weekend. Rafly is a famous singer from Aceh and has given a free concert for the past three years to celebrate the Peace in Aceh on the anniversary. So much fun! BUT, we were not allowed to stand up (dancing is too provocative and the crowds might get too wild) and there were dividers in the field for men and women. The later were not respected and everyone sat together but when some hooligans in the front row jumped up and started dancing to the music of their favorite singer (who sings about Islam and Allah most of the time), they were made to sit down for the concert to continue!

HAPPY INDONESIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY!

And what a way to celebrate! They grease a palm pole and hang TVs and appliances at the top. In order to win the prizes all you have to do is climb up the pole!!! Really exciting and fun day!

He doesn’t look like he’s having fun . . .

But its worth it for a salad spinner! Don’t give up yet! The other team did it!

They’ve been training for a long time though!

Success! Pose for the bule!

There is so much more but I will write again soon to tell you about the work I am doing and some of the organizations that I have been getting to know . . . and admire.

JAKARTA

So I have finally made it to Indonesia.

Jakarta is huge and hot and crowded. It is my first visit to Asia, to Indonesia and to Jakarta. It is overwhelming and I would never be able to navigate it without my friend Rizki here. With us in his car, the air conditioning blasting and the radio jabbering, he zips in and out between buses and scooters. Western caution would be a liability here, you have to drive with intution here to avoid accidents and of those there are very few! The streets are covered in vehicles and people and shops and rickshaws and all sorts of other carts and creatures trying to get by. The humid heat is oppressive and the mosquitos are enjoying my western’s blood. The flythrough the air, adapted to the smog that blocks out any blue sky. People and dogs and cats without tails are perched on every corner looking for an opportunity.

The food is tasty and aromatic, but I am going slow as to not loose my stomach before I even get to Aceh, the region with the spiciest food so I hear. Acehnese also traditionally use ganja in their cooking so that should be interesting.  I am excited to get to Aceh and start working and get set up. As some of you may know, I am not great at transitions even though I have put myself through so many extreme ones. I am thankful to have Rizki and his family here to support me through my first days. I spent some time with them in Spain, as the family was in Madrid as part of the diplomatic corp for Indonesia.

My mind is spinning with ideas as I process Jakarta and the disparity between rich and poor and past and future. How do we develop into a healthy society? What can prepare the world to grow into a conscious citizens? Education? Economic empowerment? Religion? Huge malls dapple the city, inside sparkling with cooling calm, while outside people are stacked on top of each other, dirty and frantic. The process of economic growth is much harder to watch than to read about.

Besok Jakarta

I leave for Jakarta tomorrow, July 26th! Julia will drive me to Heathrow and send me off! I will get an update online as soon as I can once I arrive and settle a bit! Excitement!!

MARMINIAC, FRANCE

Tommy and I took a little trip right before I left as a nice way to spend our last week together. Some friends from Edinburgh, Helja and Dave, invited us to stay with them on a farmhouse in southwest France near a town called Marminiac, region of Le Lot (south east of Bordeaux). Helja studies veterinary medicine and has taken care of the horses and other animals at Ledrier, the farm, for 5 summers now when the owner visits family in Finland (Helja is originally from Finland too). What a stroke of luck! The area is very secluded and peaceful and home to Fois Gras and Confit – basically everything canard, or duck. Le Ledrier is a beautiful spread of an old stone farmhouse, a few barns and a tobacco shed, most all dedicated to the 12 horses. They use soft horsemanship versus more traditional formal horsemanship which can be rather aggressive. The horses are kept in herds like in the wild and there is a strict manner in which to interact with the animals. It respects the intelligence and nature of the horses and it was very interesting to learn about while on the farm.

We enjoyed our time there SO MUCH and I want to thank Helja and her sister Kotre and Dave for their hospitality! It was a great way to relax between working in Edinburgh and getting prepared for Indonesia. It was also a healthy place for Tommy and I to prepare for our separation.

Last Few weeks in Edinburgh

The count down has officially begun to my departure for Indonesia. My flight leaves London on July 26th. I will stay in Jakarta (the capital) for 3 days with my friend Rizki and then fly on to Banda Aceh from there.

Here’s a picture book of the last few weeks in Edinburgh.

Tommy and I go to Edinburgh Zoo!

And look! I found something with my name on it in the zoo gift shop! I have been waiting for this moment since I was a little girl!

Our adopted daughter, Kucing, aka Alice, aka La Gata, looking very strange!

Hiking on Cramond Island, north Edinburgh.

Tommy gets a black eye while tossing the “pigskin”in the park with his friends. Good thing he was wearing sunglasses that protected his eye!

We went to Glasgow with a bunch of friends to see Radiohead . . . . in the rain, of course.

Visiting Julia and Many Photos of Snails and Sheep

A really great perk of being in the UK is that one of my oldest and dearest friends, Ms. Julia, Bischoff, is living here as well. We are on opposite sides of the country but we are in the same country! Julia and I met in high school when she came over as an exchange student from Germany. She has been like a sister ever since and I can’t describe out nice it is to simply pick of the tele and call her! We’ve visited twice so far – Tommy and I went down to Southampton for a few days and she came up to Edi for my 25th birthday!

In Southampton, I met her fiance, Miguel, a very charismatic Brasilian guy who has swept her off her feet. We also drove around the area and visited Stonehenge and saw a fresh crop circle just outside of Avebury. All very exciting!

For my birthday, Julia and I spent the day (it was sunny praise be!) out on the town and had a little lunch at a French bistro. That night, we went out for sushi with Julia, and Tommy, my roomates, Arianda and Joseph, and our friend Dave and then to a little Latin dance club we like called El Barrio. It was a great day all around!

I also want o put up some nature photos I’ve been taking. We go on a lot of hikes and nature expeditions and I have enjoyed using my macro “lense” to capture some wild beasts of the British wilderness!

The Hostel

I’ve become a master at the hostel, burning away the hours cleaning the bathrooms, booking for the busy festival month of August, and making beds in minutes flat. I am working five shifts a week and have taken on initiatives like updating the training manual and trying to figure a better system for recording which guests are in what beds. (It is quite a hassle deducting whose luggage is with which of the 10 beds in the room when you have 20 beds to make before 2pm). I can almost tell the difference between a flat double sheet and a flat single sheet just by the size of the folded fabric. I know which rooms correspond with which numbers and where all the outlets are on every floor of all three buildings. I have an intimate relationship with the hoover (vacuum) and the giant sad-looking coy fish in the lounge that I feed every morning shift. I rush into the kitchen in the morning to get the French press coffee maker before any of the guests get there hands on it and I feel guilty for how this may affect the guest experience, but its either that or I record bookings incorrectly as my mind needs the rich, creamy jumpstart.

I take my time hanging the laundry when the weather is nice enough to put the sheets out in the garden. It’s allows me time outside during my 6 hour shift and it’s a household practice I cherish as we so rarely do this anymore in the United States – well , not in the city at least. I loved doing it in Spain as well, where we would have lines and funny contraptions hanging between the buildings and the stakes where much higher if you dropped a piece of clothing. I have the chance to practice my Spanish when guests from Spain check in. I get giddy just hearing the accent and love to answer their questions in English after they have asked one another in Spanish. I actually enjoy doing that with all the guests – they generally have the same questions and if you can catch a key word or understand a bit of their French or Italian you can answer before they ask you. It’s a small bit of entertainment when they look at their friends wondering if you could possibly speak Polish.

I also get the guests who recognize me as the American. A couple of bloks from Alabama checked in the other day and scrutinized me for my story. What a great accent they have I thought! Because of my working status and a few sticky interactions with curious hostel stayers, I have decided on a story to avoid trouble. For the time being, I am from the UK but grew up in Chicago all my life. My Da’ is Scottish which is how I am able to work at the hostel. I don’t think anyone would care about my work status but, I don’t need to test that theory out. That’s the last thing I would want to do to get Renata and Ged in trouble, as now I fondly look on them as my clan here in Edinburgh. Renata and I have a grand time discussing the differences between cultures and where the line needs to be drawn between stereotyping and looking out for your interests because: kids are always messy and Irish never wash. Renata and Ged have dealt with hundreds of people every week from all over the world so they obviously see patterns. As Ged puts it “I don’t discriminate, I hate everyone equally” which is rather charming with a Scottish accent and a jokers smile that makes my American political correctness seems the silly suggestion.

Cheers for now!

Saya Berkata Bahasa Indonesia!!

Salam!

I have been up to few other things than working in the hostel in Edinburgh since May.

I have been working on my Bahasa Indonesia. I am doing my best to stay focused on it, although at this point my brain can’t comprehend why we need to remember this information. Why do I need to know how to say Anak laki laki di bawah sebuah meja (The boy is under the table)? I am learning the foods and how to say some other useful things. We are taking care of a cat named Alice, which has been renamed Kucing as I go around yelling the names of things in Indonesian. Pisang! Pisang Kuning! (Banana! Yellow Banana!) My favorite words so far are Susu – Milk, Kepiting – Crab, Duduk – Sit, Hijau – Green, and I’m rather fond of the word Sepupu for Cousin, which I think is a perfect new name for Alexis.

I have made some friends here in Edinburgh who are helping me with my pronunciation and familiarizing me with Indo culture. An amazing woman named Yufrita is actually from Banda Aceh and lived through the Tsunami with her two baby boys, a story she kindly shared with me. We talk about customs and food and clothing and her family, all of whom I must visit. I’ve already been sworn off to her sister who will pick me up in one of her many cars (beat up  old multiple cars?) that she likes to zip around Aceh in. I’ve also befriended a young Malay man who lives between Malaysia, Indonesia and Scotland. We are going to a Malay restaurant next week to get me used to the spicy food and to practice my Bahasa with the Malay owners. (Bahasa Indonesian is a Malay rooted language, it is a market language that is the base of many languages in the region. Acehnese is distinct, as are other dialects throughout Indonesia (300 indigenous languages) but many of them stem from the Malay root.)

Sampai Jumpa!

The Light of Edinburgh

After a few days of sun and warmth in the lovely city of Edinburgh, it’s back to grey skies and a chill in the air. I think the weather is part of what gives this city its mystical and eerie history. The city is said to be full of spooks and spirits that haunt the old ivy covered buildings and the moss-covered cemeteries scattered throughout the neighborhoods. The streets wind and climb over hills and ridges now covered with cobblestone but once were that brilliant emerald green famous of the British Isle. The castle sits atop one such high hill still enveloped by green perched in the center of the city. It’s used like the lake in Chicago to locate one’s self in the city. “Which way is the castle?” Could that ever stop being a novelty to an American? As we walk around the city, the fact-driven boys who are my company these days marvel that this all has been here for . . . . how ever many centuries. I’m more curious about the flimsy daisies that push up through the old stones despite the fact that there is barely any sun here! It stays “light” until 10p.m. but most days the sky seems to have florescent bulbs plugged in behind a layer of clouds. Blinding, sleepy, white sky!

I take note again of how intensely weather affects my mood. The grey skies and threatening rain clouds also mean I am stuck inside the damp flat for another day. I have plenty to occupy my time: teaching myself Indonesian from various sources, reading a very technical account of the history of Aceh, journaling, a few novels, yoga and drawing on some cardboard I salvaged from the recycling, but I am much more productive and happy when I am working on my projects in the park. Our flat is very close to a sprawling park called The Meadows. During the sunny days of last week, all the trees lining the paths burst out pink and white bundles of blossoms. A blanket and a bag of books and I am set for the afternoon.

I cross the park to go to and fro from work at the Argyle Backpacker’s Hostel. I’ve only started last week but it’s nice to have a bit of form to my week and of course a bit of cash coming in. The hostel is made up of two conjoined flat buildings own by a Scottish man I can barely understand named Ged. He swoops into the hostel a few times a day to cook majorly meaty meals for the staff and to quickly explain and show to you how to fix the printer, the motor bikes in the garden or the front door. He’s a self-reliant business man burbling over with tid bits of information. Renata is the manager of sorts at the hostel and seems more like the owner of the place than Ged. She takes all the stress of running the joint anyway. Although it took me a while to decipher her accent (Polish speaking British English and at a pace to keep up with the Scot), I enjoy my time with her learning how to book rooms and scrub toilets. By the time I walk home from work, crossing the park just after dark, bands of young people gather around radios and drums, twirling fire and drinking in celebration of the foggy spirits that claim Edinburgh’s past and present.