So, while my friends and coworkers are out praying,

I figured I should post something. Maybe something cultural, or something relating to the cultural experience, etc. No idea. We'll see what happens.

So, it's Friday, around lunchtime. I am the only non-muslim here at basecamp (the colloquial name for our office; pretty much everyone uses it, including my boss in Jakarta. It was thought up by Dylan I. Yeah, last year my job was held by another Dylan. A much taller one. It's kind of funny being another Dylan in the same position, as our name is unusal, definitely one that most Indonesians have never encountered [it seems Bob Dylan was less popular here than in Brazil; there, people sometimes just called me Bob]. So, for the people who know both of us, I'm either Dylan Dua (2) or Dylan Baru ("New Dylan"). I prefer the latter, 'cause I'm not a continuation, I'm a different person. Ah! Pardon the tangent.). On Fridays, most muslims, even some of the more culturally-muslim muslims, will go to answer a couple of the calls to prayer. I would love a crash-course on islam, by the way; if anyone knows some good books, please leave a comment here and let me know. T'would be greatly appreciated.

DISCLAIMER: this particular post differs from many in that it is the first to feature some of my own opinions. If you are interested only in the travel and adventure side of things, you may perhaps wish to jog on to the next entry. If you want to see my take on certain aspects of local culture, stick around.

Almost always, I am entirely open to local cultures. You don't get very far around here with preconceived notions and holier-than-thou American ideas, especially concerning theology, democracy and the value of a life. However, there is one cultural value I've quietly begun a little war over. A small guerilla war. I'm vastly outnumbered, and will probably lose. But for what it's worth, I'm taking my little stand.

Smoking.

Here's a surprising statistic: Indonesia has the highest per-capita smoking rate of any country in the world. I had never considered the possibility until I got here. EVERYONE smokes. Almost every man I have met in this country is a smoker. Most teenage boys copy their fathers, starting from somewhere between the ages of 13 and 15. Many women seem to do so as well, although it's on either a more clandestine or more private basis (smoke around the house, not while they are out in public). Adults smoke, it's a choice, it happens. My problem kicks in when it engages the younger set. This is a coffe shop culture here. I'll have to explain more about it later, but for now suffice it to say that sitting in a coffee shop and chatting for hours is the primary social activity in Aceh, for young and old alike. It is the number one most popular business to be opened by young adults (in terms of entrepreneurship, it's a pretty easy choice; low start-up costs, broad general appeal, staggeringly good local coffee available for a low price, and an easy clientele of the owner's own age? It's a perfect set-up). The problem is, the primary sponsor for these coffee shops are the cigarette companies. Lucky strike: a smoother version of ourselves. L.A Lights (colorful banners). There's even one, whose name escapes me at the moment, which is showcased in its television advertisements with three rockstars singing to a bunch of tweens, and being super-cool for the stuff they smoke. Cigarette banners line the walls of these coffee shops. They're outside the shops. They have personal endorsements for every big coffee shop. It's crazy.
The problem then becomes the kids. On the Takengon bike trip (which I will finish telling you about soon, I promise), I ended up riding with a group called "Bike 2 School." They are a group of maybe 15 high school kids who mountain bike all over the place as their prime mode of fun. They're a great bunch of guys, they're a riot, and they're a fun group to spend your time with. They also happen to smoke, almost every single one of them. We walked down a street one night on our way to grab some grub, and they pulled out their smokes. They offered me a smoke. I politely declined. They asked me, why don't you smoke? One guy said "Smoking makes you Stronger, man!" He flexed his muscles. His buddies said yeah, yeah! *Flex* It was like something out of a bad early-nineties D.A.R.E commercial. I tried to convince them otherwise. Nope. They are utterly certain that smoking makes you a man. It legitimately makes you stronger. Probably makes you better in bed, too. That's actually where I finally got them, though. We looked at a cigarette box, where it warned of "impotensi." I came up with a suitable, undesirable rude hand gesture. They died laughing, got the message, agreed it was not a welcome side-effect. They began to listen, a little bit. There's a lot you can say to a group of smoking teenage atheletes that'll get through. Just got to pick the right vehicle.

Another fairly powerful tool is $$ (or, in this case, Rupiah, the Indo currency, Rp). I sat down with them and figured out how much it cost, every year. Same with a buddy or two here in the office. For a guy who smokes three packs a day, that's three dollars a day at a dollar for a decent pack. Twenty one dollars a week. Round it down to twenty for inconsistencies, and times that by 50 wks, to be on the conservative side. One thousand dollars a year, or 10,000,000 Rp. Ten Million. That's nearly three months' salary here for someone with a college degree (stop and chew THAT one over for a second, yeah?). Probably not too different in percentage for a smoker in many families in the states. But here, when you tell a kid they could buy three to five iphones for that price, or just tell an adult that final figure in Rp, people take some notice. I'm trying other techniques, but only with my close friends. I'd prefer not to antagonize people. After all, it IS a cultural thing, and especially for adults, it's their choice. When it's kids though, and its based on pretty much zero information on health consequences, a little bit of information never hurts...