THERE at the desolate and ravaged Meulaboh airport, we waited at a food stall near the runway for the plane. The shack walls were patched with dilapidated wood. The whole stall measured only 3 x 4 meters square. Sandra and I, both from Jakarta, sat on the bench outside, under the trees, and ordered a coffee and the basic rice dish. During that slow morning, only four buyers came, one after another.

Seven meters away, a newly built military