Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra

 We arrived at Bukit Lawang after a full day in the car (with the craziest sick stomach symptoms ever, thanks Lake Toba mountains...). We had been in contact with 2 tour guides and had to pick one for the hike the next day. That was dramatic in itself, involving one of the guides telling us karma was gonna get us since we ended up deciding to go with someone other than him. One of the guides was at the place the car dropped us off, ready to walk us to our hotel. Introduced as Eddy, we later met Eddy #2. This was the second time a person'd introduced themselves as the person we were planning to meet, only to find out later that that person was just the friend of the real person. Why people do this is beyond me, as in the US this would be deception. They meant no harm, so why not just introduce yourself as Eddy's friend???

 That night we hit the hay hard! We were very satisfied with our little treetop bungalow, complete with a view of the river!

After a power breakfast of eggs and "pancakes," (SE Asia backpacking places are known as the Banana Pancake Trail because they all serve an assortment of fruity pancakes...really crepes, but still delicious!), we met our guides Eddy and Antone, and our two new friends, a German and Belgian guy solo travelling through SE Asia...whew, brave men!

Antone

Jungle Eddy
jungle_edie@hotmail.com
+6281397125596
fb = jungle edie 

Into the jungle! Our hike began with what is dubbed the "Jungle Breakfast," a straight 15-minute hike up the hill into the jungle. I think it was about 5 minutes into this that I was sweating through my shirt and Britteney was questioning the wisdom of this "fun vacation" choice! 

A typical path on the way up

The guides work together, one in front giving in information and one in back wandering off the trail looking for animals. We have to say, they were quite impressed that we random tourists spoke Bahasa Indonesia. Though they speak English really well, using Bahasa Indonesia really allowed us to have more conversation and joke around. 

  

Thomas Monkey, "Funky Monkey," has a distinctive mohawk!

The real attraction is the wild (rehabilitated) orangutans!! We saw 5, a couple, a mom and baby, and a male. They stayed way high up in the trees, so it was hard to see them, mostly just an orang blur!!

Orangutans are only native to Sumatra and Kalimantan, and we saw many of the Sumatran orangutans. Fun fact: orang means person and (h)utan means forest, so their name literally means "person of the forest."

Sometimes Eddy had to cut a trail through the brush with his knife...yikes!

WATCH OUT for the rattan!

Prepping lunch in the jungle!

While Britteney is a little blurry here, this is the one and one picture
 in which I do not look disgustingly sweaty, so there you have it!

The river we crossed and followed to our campsite

Then we bathed under this lovely waterfall, not unlike a cheesy romantic/jungle-setting movie! 

The resident monitor lizard (not quite a Komodo, that's another part of Indonesia!) at the campsite. 

This was the most intense camping ever, no air mattress, Mom! 

     Note to future travelers, this is just as rock-hard as it looks. And despite being in Indonesia where I always assume it is perpetually hot, it was chilly! I was not awake enough when the guides were asking us if we wanted blankets, so I slept without one until 3 AM, when one of the jungle men saw me "sleeping like a shrimp" and gave me his blanket!! Thanks, Ahmad!

The next morning we got up and trekked back up for about 2 hours. I was truly only sore from the sleeping, and just a hit in my calves. Otherwise, this is a very doable hike!

Our new German friend (above) and Belgian friend (below) modeling the way down the bluff!

Britteney, focused on getting out of the jungle! 

At the end, dirty but very happy! Ready for rafting back down the quickly flowing river! 

Upon our return, anyone else would have crashed, but Britteney and I set out to cleaning our stinkiest clothes ever. Again, anyone else may have found a laundry cleaning service, but we are self-sufficient PCVs, so I grabbed the laundry detergent packets I'd brought, and we set out to bringing my famous laundry parade to Bukit Lawang!

We decided to stay for one more night and catch the early bus back to the airport. I read by the water, bought a jillion souvenirs for all those who minta-ed oleh-oleh, and went to the orangutan feeding platform.

This also meant we could go to the discotheque Saturday night! Unfortunately for me, that meant very late and I am usually ready to sleep at 11 PM.  We really left at about 9 PM for a dinner hunt, up and down the hill time #16 and #17 (man I was sick of that path!). 11 PM was when we left for the discotheque...resulting in a vastly new record, out until 3:30 AM, home at 4 AM, packing until 4:30 AM, and leaving for the bus at 5:15 AM. A record 45 minutes of sleep! (The record for "least amount of sleep I've ever had" prior to this was about 5 hours of sleep...) The discotheque was definitely worth it! While maybe not the best music, it was refreshing to let loose after 6 months stuck in a village with no dancing!!

Looking human again! Getting ready for the discotheque! 

 Overall, Bukit Lawang was such a success! A perfect balance of relaxing, trekking and sweating, and adventure! Thanks for a fantastic trip, Britteney!!!!

Lake Toba

Britteney and I began our amazing trip by flying into Medan, Sumatra, where we (eventually) met our van to bring us the 4 hrs+ of winding roads to Lake Toba. Upon arrival, we called the hostel owner and he asked if we'd met the driver yet. I said no, but we were not hard to spot in the crowd. A black and a white lady sorta stand out in North Sumatra. I mean come on, really. 

Passing the acres and acres of palm tree forests was so refreshing after the overcrowded, polluted East Java we were used to. This part of the country is scarcely populated, the air is so fresh, and we were just happy to be in a new place! 

Next, we hopped on the ferry over to the island in the middle of Lake Toba. (Lake Toba was formed by a volcano that erupted 74,000 years ago, wiped out the pre-human population in SE Asia, and then the crater caved in. Thus, a crater lake. This is the deepest lake in the world today, reaching 450 meters in some places. Yikes! Here's a link to the LEGEND OF LAKE TOBA as well. 

On the ferry to the island. For a landlocked midwesterner, I sure do love water! Also, I have not felt such a freshness in a long time as was felt crossing the world's deepest lake, knowing that my amazing vacation was beginning!
 

This place is so darn gorgeous!

Britteney and I getting ready for a day of 15 miles of hiking back and forth around Tuk-Tuk and Samosir Island! Whew! She was the best travel buddy, so flexible, up for adventure, and one of the funniest people I have ever met!

Here I am, getting ready to hike to that waterfall in the distant background!!! 

      Air Turjun (waterfall): This trail up into the mountains was lots of fun…if you are adventurous! We just kept asking locals where the trailhead is because it looks like you are walking onto someone’s road or into their yard…The trail up the mountain was hard (almost impossible) to find during rainy season as it was overgrown and there was a lot of runoff water. upon entering the trail, there was a huge puddle of water with big ol' cow pies, and Britteney was like, "Um, are we sure about this??" I was like, "YES! We are doing this, lady, you got this!" And that is how her running shoes ended up in an RIP state. Sorry about that, Britteney! We hiked up maybe 45 minutes, searching for the trail. This involved me gleefully smashing through brush trying to find the trail while Britteney thought I was crazy. I finally found a big, white water irrigation pipe that would lead us all the way up. The trail crossed the river, and after that the trail was impossible to follow because of mud, so we didn’t make it to the waterfall swimming pool, but it is promised to be amazing!!! Off-roading (hiking style) is my favorite, so I'm so fortunate Britteney put up with me doing it! 

View from halfway up, which is about as far as we got! 

KING SIDABUTAR GRAVE

The Batak king who adopted Christianity is

buried in Tomok, a village 5km southeast

of Tuk Tuk. The king’s image is carved on

his tombstone, along with those of his bodyguard

and Anteng Melila Senega, the woman

the king is said to have loved for many years

without fulfilment. The tomb is also decorated

with carvings of singa, mythical creatures with

grotesque three-horned heads and bulging

eyes. Next door in death is the missionary who

converted the tribe, the career equivalent of

boy-band stardom. (I borrowed this information from Lonely Planet!)

We were asked to put these shawls on in order to enter the burial place. 

Traditional Batak houses have 2 points at the end of the roofs. One is for the parents, and one for the child. It is the parents' hope that the child will have a better life (up and out!) than the parent. The Batak colors are also black (netherworld), red (this world), and white (the heavens).

Carving of the nativity...here we are in the tropics a week before Christmas, weird! 

I have a new goal: taking pictures of Bapaks smoking. Sorta strange
as I don't love smoking, but the way they take drags of their cigs is picturesque...

 The Bataks are Christians, which was so interesting for us, as we live in basically 100% Muslim communities. People wearing shorts, drinking beers with the tourists at night, waking up at a "normal" hour (7 AM+ instead of 4:30 AM for the first prayer time). We were not there on a day that we could go to church, but it would have been cool to have done so. Here are some shots of the intricate graves they build to honor their dead.

Christian Batak graves. This is for one person...

One can see here that there are multiple places to be buried within this grave. A body is put at the bottom, and then about a year (??) later, moved up to make space for when a new family member dies. 

Britteney posing by the lake while we wait for our lunch from the sketchiest waitress/cook ever. She was either high on the marijuana that was legal in Tuk-Tuk, or she was just plan strange. If I remember correctly, Britteney said something about crazy eyes and warnings from her mom to be careful around people with crazy eyes!!! 

The Batak roofs were originally the hairy part of a coconut tree, but due to
worries of fire and modern access to tin, tin is the way to go now!

The stone chairs, where Batak tribes met to discuss important things, such as punishments for law-breakers.
The Batak used to be cannibals in times of war, but that practice has long stopped.

 The nightlife at Tuk-Tuk was, well, rather scarce! Juan our hostel owner (pictured below), recommended we go to Roy's Pub. After an amazing dinner of pizza, we headed over, only to find we were some of the first people there (trend in my life anytime I go out...why don't people arrive until like 11 PM? I am TIRED by then!) Anyways, the local band was great, taking our Journey and Bob Marley song requests and singing with such gusto that we simply had to dance a bit! We also played pool, which is probably a very un-ladylike thing to do in our Muslim communities, so it made our pool-playing time here even better!

Our hostel owner, Juan, who was a hoot! 

From naughty to nice

Happy New Year! Blog posts to come about my trips to Sumatra and Singapore, I promise! 

Each semester we have a PC report we must do, and one component of it is "Share Your Story." In this section, we reflect on a challenge we had, how we addressed it, and what the results were. Admittedly, I thought there'd be more of these inspiring stories when I joined Peace Corps, yet not too many pop to mind. Perhaps with some more reflecting...??? Either way, this story makes me grin just thinking about these guys!

 January 2013, reflecting on semester one of teaching in Indonesia:

When I first arrived at my school and began teaching, I immediately noticed the lack of discipline and consequence for students, namely boys, who did not attend school. Even when they do attend, these boys in class 10-2 were disengaged and sleepy. They were frequently absent and there appeared to be virtually no way to get them to come. Parents didn't seem to offer punishment at home for those who didn't go to school (granted, my sample size is about 3, but of the many more that are frequently absent, I bet their situation is the same), and the school certainly didn't threaten them with any failing grades. This is the land where everyone passes, hooray! As an outsider whose focus is sustainability and community integration, there is not much I perceived I could do by way of issuing consequences that would a) have a lasting effect after I leave or b) be culturally relevant (like detention...it just doesn't exist at my school).

Thus, my counterpart Bu Umi and I focused on what we did have the power to do- encourage and empower! We began to very frequently engage and interact with the boys who were often absent, reinforcing that we valued their presence and participation when they were in class. When they answered questions, I responded with a goofy grin and a handshake or high five, which in turn was met with the whole class cheering. Bu Umi spent more time helping these boys one-on-one when it was independent work time.

The results are in, and this method of encouraging and empowering has been perhaps my biggest personal success as a teacher! Many of the "naughty boys" from class 10-2 now attend class every day and participate. Granted, it is rather exhausting to keep them engaged, because the material must not be too hard but still fast-paced to keep their attention. But virtually all of their grades have gone up, they are much more respectful, and try to do their work during independent work time. Bu Umi and I certainly cannot take all the credit for this change, as it namely comes from the boys themselves. Yet I still could not be more proud of them for the way they have begun to take their schoolwork seriously. All it took from Bu Umi and I was persistently giving them the message that we believe in them, gave them plenty of opportunities to try, and showed them that we respect and care about them. It is not too often in my young age that I have been in a position to be so proud of someone I want to cry, but Nahru, Nanang, Fais, Fanani, Ahmad and Amrul  have put me in that position, and I coudn't be happier!

Naughty boys from IPS-I who are, well, still naughty at this point. But I didn't have any pictures of the no-longer-naughty boys from class 10-2...

It's hard to remember sometimes, but even the murid yang paling nakal (the naughtiest student) is gifted in so many ways that you don't always get to see in the classroom. This guy can's speak a lick of English after 11 years in school, learning English every year, mind you, but he's an amazing musician. 

...And this is where the boys are supposed to be practicing what to do in Mecca, though it obviously shouldn't involve a blanket on one's head...

SHOCKER! (and a semester test for you!)

I have been in Indonesia about 8 1/2 months now, and there are some things that began as a shocker every time they happened or every time I saw them.

I take it as a sign of cultural adaptation that I no longer am (too) shocked by some of the strange things that happen. If there is indeed something utterly odd, usually I just chuckle to myself and say, "Oh, Indonesia!"

Enjoy the memories of my weird encounters of 2012!

Seeing monkeys in random places...

Cow skin that appears in my food...which I casually do not eat. Ever. 

Way too much attention that appears at unexpected times...

Monster tall.

Street musicians that wear Teletubbies outfits. The first time I saw this I was blow away!
Teletubbies in Indonesia? But now I've learned it's the most popular (read: scary-looking)
street musician costume in my area...

Huge piles of shoes everywhere to sort through to recycle.
I've since learned that this is unique to my village, awesome. 

Inappropriate shirts worn by children. I also saw one that a Muslim girl was wearing that said
something about drinking and being merry. That one clearly wasn't translated for her...

Indonesia: totally normal to wear masks out when in transit. I'd personally go for gloves
 if I was gonna cover up, cause people here do not wash their hands often enough...

Men showing affection by touching. Definitely different than in the US, where
masculinity is often associated with not touching anyone other than a high-five or bro-hug.

Personal grooming in public is more normal than in the US. My neighbor was trimming
 her eyebrows on her front porch while chatting to me a few days ago. 

Mass amounts of food (usually) no longer leave me in awe of how much time that took to cook,
cause food in these amounts are just cropping up everywhere!

My friend Rois (biggest xenophile I've ever met!) frequently brings me foreigners to meet, because why would I not want to meet other random white people?? Usually it's harmless, but it's still a little weird, let's be honest!

Garbage strewn everywhere, yuck! I still have yet to throw anything away casually
on the ground, and here's to another year of keeping it that way! 

The living room becomes a garage at night...or 24/7!

Ants are all over the place, gross! I can't say that I totally am used to these guys
 all over, but I've learned preemptive measures to avoid them visiting! 

And for kicks, here is a semester one test for you (all of the students from elementary school to high school test every day for about 7 school days), based on the answers my students gave on their tests! Be it noted that my test was not in this format, nor was it 5 random questions. These are just random gems from a bunch of different places!

A: General review

They are to be going is fruit rais. [Just take a sec to try to figure that one out. Answer is at the bottom of this post...]

That is clock past 9. [It is 8:45. Seems we'll have to work on time again...]

B: How are you?

I am supper.         [Really, you = dinner?? I think you meant "I am super."]

I am borken heat.        [Borken heat? Wow, it really is a bad day if you are borken heat. Translation: I am broken-hearted." Whoever taught my students "broken-hearted" is my enemy, because that's all they resort to when I ask them how they are. Including the 14, 15 and 16 year old boys: "Miss, I broken heart!"

He is not bed.    ["I am not bad."But apparently everyone here feels "bed" and sleeps in a "badroom." ]

C: What do you want to do after you graduate?

I want to nurse. [Well that is dead honest. Usually we say, "I want to have children" but whatever works! Haha, but really, she wants to become a nurse.] 

I am be an architecture. [Some days I feel like I'd rather be a building, too, dear student. But I think you really want to be an architect.]

I want to doctor. [Again, working on the difference between the noun and verb, here!]

D: Introduction

I am 7.  [If you are 7 you are a brilliant kid because you are a 10th grader. What you really mean is, "I am the 7th child in my family."]

Two brothers want two sisters. [Hopefully those two brothers "want" two sisters from a non-related family, otherwise that's a genetically questionable sentence, cher student! The real answer? "I have two brothers and two sisters."] 

E: How does she feel? 

She is board.   [She is bored. That's pretty close, correct when you pronounce it, anyways!]

She is bork.    [She is bored. What the heck is bork!? I don't know, but I like it.] 

She is boark.   [She is bored.] 

The answer to that mystery sentence from part A? "They are going to eat fried rice." 

We Are The Light of the World

I am so thankful that my life is never short of inspirational people who continue to challenge and inspire me and equip me to better serve those around me.

                                                                         ~  ~  ~

In a pleasantly-unexpected email, I was invited to read Kathryn’s new “Blessings Blog,” in which she intentionally takes time out of each day to reflect on what she is thankful for. She hits the nail on the head in that we are abundantly blessed each and every day despite our shortcomings. I so appreciate her efforts to bring to light the little things people take for granted, when truly we believe all those little good things come from God.

                                                                         ~  ~  ~

During IST I was met with some harsh criticism on my character that was both humbling and hurtful. The important thing was that I left the situation feeling that I learned how I could improve my character. 

This being said, in the midst of being taught this lesson, I slipped into my old habit and wrote an email that I’m not proud of (prompted by frustration at our differences) to some of my siblings. After hitting send, I was hit with that sick feeling of, “What have you done? That was a terrible thing to say.” I couldn’t take back what I’d said, so I was left to wait in anxiety of how they’d respond.

My brother’s response to my email was met with tears of thankfulness that he was compassionate and so open in his response to me. I still maintain today that I didn’t deserve such a kind email after what I said, and I will not soon forget the things I continue from people who I don’t normally go to for deep conversations. If you are reading this, Brian, know that that email has still left a big impression on me. 

                                                                         ~  ~  ~

Yesterday a dialogue was started on our PC Indonesia FB group about calling ourselves “volunteers” if we still make decent money. Without going into the details here, my friend Joe advocates that we abandon this title. In our dialogue, he said two things that struck me: “I try to do my best to read the perspective of the poor and pass it on.”

Joe also shared with me something his professor said: “People will hate you for these opinions, but people who matter continue to starve if these opinions go unheard.”

At first I read this as, “the people who will listen need to hear these opinions so they are motivated to do more.” Yet when I read it again, I realized the other, perhaps more important meaning: “the people who we are called to serve need us to speak out with them even if others don't like what we advocate for.”

Joe did go to a Catholic university, so it wouldn’t surprise me if his professor was drawing from Jesus’ teaching about being hated for one’s revolutionary opinions:

 “You will be hated by all because of my name.” Matt 10:22

“You will be hated by all nations because of my name.” Matt 24:9

But what Jesus is teaching and what Joe is practicing is this- it doesn’t matter what other people think. As Dr. Seuss said, “Those that mind don't matter and those that matter don't mind.” Sorry, Dr. S, but I’d have to disagree that people who oppose your viewpoints don’t matter, but the point is to follow your heart if you know that what you are doing is serving a greater good and bringing about truth in the world.

Joe is constantly reflecting on some really awesome questions, I encourage you to look at his blog, "Thoughts from Indonesia." 

                                                                         ~  ~  ~

The last person I want to give thanks for today is someone that I actually don’t know. "Kenny's Russian friend" did something I wish I had the courage to do. Instead of walking past the person who was sitting in the subway tunnel asking for money, Kenny’s friend stopped to talk to the person. She wanted to know about this person and give the person her time and attention, something that this person usually got from no one. I don’t know if Kenny’s friend gave the person something to eat or drink or money or just talked. At the very least, this young woman recognized this person’s humanity in a way that most people didn’t.

“Whatever you did for the least of these you did for me.” Matt 25:40

I am often torn when I see a person asking for money, something that is very frequent here in Indonesia. 

My American-ness tells me, “This is an able-bodied young person who is old enough and capable of working. Why is he playing a guitar in the middle of the road and soliciting money from passerby who don’t enjoy his 3-stringed, usually less-than-great music anyways?? We have to show him tough love and not give him anything so he finds some legitimate work to do.” 

My Christian-ness tells me, “Lend expecting nothing back.” Luke 6:35 

What to do?

Kenny’s friend would probably ask the person to sit by her on the bus and talk to her. I continue to be inspired by this story when I recall it. Like Kenny's friend,  How can I live as an extreme example of Jesus’ love? Right now, I do not give as freely as I should or could.

                                                                         ~  ~  ~

All this being said, I am doing my best to be a positive influence to the people around me. Granted, they don’t know that my motivation comes from my Christian faith nor do they need to because they’d freak out and think I’m trying to convert them (which is definitely not the case! If anything, they're trying to convert me!) In my eyes, the important thing is the intention in my heart. Kathryn’s thanksgiving reflections, Brian’s compassion, Joe’s thoughtfulness, and Kenny’s friend’s bravery stand as examples of how I can better serve the people around me with a more pure heart.

                                                                          ~  ~  ~

This song has been a joy to listen to these last few days. It is yet another reminder to be a better person because I stand for so much more than just myself. I will be seeing Kari Jobe when I go to the Hillsong Conference in July in Sydney! Please watch the YouTube video, too, for a beautiful example of someone whose style of worship is so pure. 

Kari Jobe

Her song is related to Matt 5:14, 16, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden...so you light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly [God]." 

"We are the light of the world"does not mean that we are the best and brightest, it simply means that we know the truth about how awesome God is and we were made to let that truth shine. In everything we do and say, we are to reflect the love we've been given. 

Admittedly, I often fall short. Fortunately, I am given a new chance each day and forgiven so frequently by everyone around me. 

"We Are" by Kari Jobe      

We are the light of the world,

We are the city on the hill.

We are the light of the world,

And we gotta, we gotta, we gotta let the light shine.

We are the light, we are the light, we are the light,

So let your light shine brighter.