Aside from alluring beaches and its status as the nation’s leading source of housemaids, Pacitan, a small regency located 280 kilometers southwest of East Java’s capital of Surabaya, is also known as the birthplace of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Yudhoyono, who was born in Punung villiage, lived in Pacitan for 20 years before he went to Magelang, Central Java, to study at the Military Academy in 1970.

“When he [Yudhoyono] left for Magelang, most of his friends here were really sad,” Soedjono, the President’s cousin and next-door neighbor in Pacitan, said.

Watini, Yudhoyono’s aunt, also lives next door to the President’s modest home in Pacitan. She said that while Yudhoyono is commonly referred to as SBY, he is called “Sus” by close relatives and his neighbors.

Pacitan is somewhat different today compared to when Yudhoyono left to join the Army 42 years ago. It is no longer a backwater. The regency can boast of well-maintained roads, a commercial seaport, hotels and markets.

Foreign tourists can also be seen sunbathing or surfing on Watu Karung and Klayar Beaches, legendary for their white sands, turquoise waters and challenging waves.

Most of Pacitan’s residents, however, continue to work as farmers, growing everything from rice to corn to cassava to sweet potatoes.

Those who leave for the big city usually go to Jakarta or Surabaya or further afield to Pekanbaru, Riau; or even Kuala Lumpur, finding work as blue-collar laborers or housemaids, according to residents.

“Once a year when Idul Fitri comes, Pacitan will become more lively as all those people return home,” Suroso, 58, a respected local figure who like most Javanese uses only one name, said.

On malam takbiran, the day before Idul Fitri, children and teenagers can be seen walking around the village chanting takbir, or praises to Allah, while carrying home-made torches, often concluding their precession with firecrackers and fireworks after midnight.

When the first day of Idul Fitri arrives, local residents will go to the village hall to join mass prayers and to listen to sermons in Javanese, the dominant language in the regency.

After finishing their prayers, they will eat with family members at home before going to visit relatives and neighbors in a tradition known in Indonesia as silaturahmi.

The house belonging to a well-respected elder may be visited by more than 30 families in the same village during the two days of the Idul Fitri.

The family of the elder usually prepares various cookies or — for better-off families — trademark Idul Fitri dishes such as rendang (meat served with spicy curry) or opor ayam (chicken in coconut milk) to for the guests.

Yudhoyono’s election to the presidency has been good for the regency, according to local residents. “The impact on Pacitan has been huge,” Sunaryo, who was born in the regency said. “Since Yudhoyono became president, there have been many factories and businesses built here. You can see that nowadays Pacitan’s young people do not have to travel to Jakarta to look for work.”

Sunaryo was perhaps thinking of himself: He has worked in Jakarta as a construction worker since the 1980s.

Pacitan’s favorite son, however, did not mudik for Idul Fitri this year. Yudhoyono last visited Pacitan in January. Almost none of his immediate family members live in the regency. His mother, Siti Habibah, currently lives with Yudhoyono in his personal residence Cikeas, West Java. His father, Raden Soekotjo, formerly a district head in Pacitan, died in 2004.

Soedjono remembers that Yudhoyono was a good volleyball player in his youth, as well as a reliable band member.

Far from Pacitan and his youth, Yudhoyono observed Idul Fitri in a more urbane setting this year, first with his family in the Presidential Palace, and then with Vice President Boediono and Cabinet ministers at Istiqlal Mosque in Central Jakarta.

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