The Final Post

Now that we are safely home, and mostly recovered from jet lag, I wanted to write one last post talking about the final few days and our lasting impressions of the trip.

If you want to view several hundred pictures from our trip - you can click on these links.

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The last couple days we drove up to the mountains, about an hour away, to a town called Berastagi - where the weather was significantly cooler!  Our plan was to hike up to a volcano that afternoon, but as we drove the clouds came down and it started raining.  Instead, we walked down to a huge market and wandered around the fruit and flower vendors.  Joanna told us that all the fruit and vegetables in that area of Sumatra came from here, and so there were more kinds of fruit than I've ever seen.  There was one kind of fruit called "snake fruit" - or Salak, that looked like it had scales on the outside.

I had the first experience of haggling for the price of something in Indonesian!  I asked the price, she told me it was 70,000Rp (7 dollars), and I said, in Indonesian, "Maybe the price is 50,000? (5 dollars).  She said no, and I waited...she asked her manager, and he said yes.  It is kind of  an amazing feeling to negotiate a price in another language.

We hoped that the rain would clear up by morning, and that we would be able to hike up to the volcano then - but when we woke up, it was foggier than it was before.  But it was still a very relaxing trip.

We drove back to Medan and headed to the airport.  The flight back seemed much longer than the flight there - maybe it was because when we were going to Indonesia, were excited to head to a new place and so it didn't seem so long.  None of us slept very much on the plane, so we got to New York exhausted.  We knew that we had to stay up until an appropriate time to go to sleep, and we knew that if we didn't go see the city, we would kick ourselves later.  The hotel shuttle picked us up at the airport and they let us check in early (very early) which was a blessing.  We took a 45 minute nap and then headed to the subway.

The weather was 72 degrees and sunny, so it was the perfect day to walk around Central Park.  I started to realize that most of my knowledge of New York City was based on scenes of movies that happened to take place there.  "Oh, that was where so-and-so was in that one movie" was heard all afternoon.

We walked from Central Park to Times Square, passing Carnegie Hall on the way.  We stopped at a place called "Ray's" and had some New York style pizza, which was HUGE.  After we ate dinner, we were more tired than ever.  We made it back to our hotel room, and the last thing I remember was laying down on the bed for a minute, fully clothed, while Caroline was in the bathroom.  The next thing I remember, it was morning.

We were back in Jacksonville by 11:00am the next morning, pulling up to Chick-fil-A.

FINAL IMPRESSIONS: What We Were Not Prepared For...

- We didn't expect everyone to be smoking indoors.  It didn't really occur to me, but that's kind of just an American prohibition, and only recently.
- We didn't expect there to be so many malls and shopping centers that looked so much like America.
- We didn't expect the language to be so passive.  No one says direct, exact statements - everything is indirect and inferred.  Joanna described it as giving someone a lot of lines to read between.  You wouldn't say to the taxi driver "it's this street" - you would say "brother, maybe it's this street, yeah?"
- We didn't expect jet lag to be so much harder on the way back than it was on the way there.
- We didn't expect that the money exchange would give us so much trouble.  It's 10,000 Rupiah to 1 USD - so when it comes to paying the taxi driver, you're not sure if you owe him $0.31, $3.10, or $31 because they have a 100 bill, a 1,000 bill, a 10,000 bill, and a 100,000 bill and there are SO MANY ZEROS on every bill.  It didn't help that the largest bill they had was 100,000 Rupiah ($10) and that if your bill was less than 60,000 ($6) they wouldn't break the big bill.  They really wanted as close to exact change as you could.
- We didn't expect the food to be so spicy!  I had some of the hottest food I've ever had there.
- We didn't expect there to be dog sold as meat on the side of the road.
- We didn't expect the time that we were there to feel both like 2 days, and 2 years at the same time.  It seemed like we had just gotten there, and also that we had been there forever...it was odd.
- We didn't expect all of the locals to be drinking instant coffee...it's Sumatra for crying out loud, and everyone was drinking instant coffee.  I was not prepared for this.

"...to visit widows and orphans..."

Today we went to play with kids at an orphanage by Joanna's house.  We brought them crayons, markers, stickers, and paper, and we drew with them and helped them practice their English and they helped us practice our Bahasa (the Indonesian word for "the language").  

When we first got there, all but one of the kids were down the street doing their Qur'an recitations.  We walked down to meet them just as they were getting out, and walked with them back to the orphanage.  After they changed, Caroline, Abbie, and Joanna started drawing and playing with the stickers, and I helped one of the kids salvage some old wood to build a chicken coop.  

The kids said several times that they wanted to trade skin with us and be white - we told them that in America, a lot of people want to be tan and brown like them.  They also wanted our noses.  I had never really thought about it, but Europeans have very prominent noses compared to Asian/Southeast Asian noses.  

When we started to leave, they wanted to get our autographs and take pictures with us.  Cries of "satu lagi!" (one more!) were heard for the next 20 minutes, and picture after picture in endless combinations were arranged - and just when we thought we were done, another person or camera would appear and the whole process would start over again.

In all honesty, handing out stickers and drawing with these kids doesn't seem like a huge spiritual act, and I don't want to make it sound like it was.  There is a verse in James that says that religion that God accepts is to visit widows and orphans in their distress and to keep yourself unstained by the world.  I've always loved this verse because it takes something big and complicated, and makes it really simple and practical.  It's not hard to play with kids.  

Our Trek into the Jungle

It has been a few days since I posted last, but I promise, I have good reason!  We went out into the jungle about 3 1/2 hours north of Medan to a place called Tangkahan.  They only turned on the power at night, and then, I think it was a rolling blackout, because the power would only stay on for a few minutes, then turn off for a few minutes.  

Needless to say, there was no internet.

Even now that we are back in Medan, the internet is so slow, it takes a good 20 minutes to upload ONE picture.  I took about 40 minutes last night and uploaded two pictures to my facebook wall, if you would like to see a picture of an elephant blowing water in my face.

We arrived in Tangkahan just in time for the elephant bathing, after a very VERY bumpy road.  The elephants went down into the water and rolled around to get most of the mud off, and then they came over to the shallows where we waded in and used brushes to scrub them down.  Elephants are far hairier than I thought they would be.  

After they were done being scrubbed, they stood up and the local Indonesians told them to suck up water with their trunks and shower us!  It is an unnerving experience to have an elephant trunk, full of water, hovering in your face for a few moments before you are showered with cold river water!  

Caroline's elephant didn't want to shower her - in stead, he would suck up some water, hover his trunk in her face, and rest his trunk on her shoulder and spray behind her!  Caroline thought that he was just being considerate :)

After our showers, we were given a handful of bananas and we fed them all to the eager elephants.  There was one baby elephant named Amelia who was not trained very well, and would nudge us and try to take the bananas out of our hands!  She was adorable and mischievous!  We put the bananas one by one in each trunk and they fed themselves - unless we held the bananas over our heads - then the elephants would lift up their heads, open their mouths, and let us throw the bananas into their mouths!  Also, this was my birthday, so I'm pretty sure next year won't be able to top this!

We were staying at the "Jungle Lodge" that night, which proved to be a bit more "jungle" and not as much "lodge" as we thought.  There were spaces between the boards in the one room lodge that let small bugs and critters in, but we had a mosquito net over our bed.  The power, as I mentioned, was sometimes on and sometimes off.  When the lights were off, it was so dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.  

During the night, a mouse or a rat or a ninja trained howler monkey got into our room and started rummaging through our snack bag (which we neglected to secure, not thinking through the whole "you're in the middle of a Sumatran rain forest" thing).  Caroline, being in the middle of a Sumatran rain forest, became notably warm as the night went on.  Both of us being frightened of whatever evil rat/mouse/ninja trained howler monkey was pillaging our seaweed flavored cheetos, we sat in darkness wondering how long it would be until it would tire of cheetos, and start hungering for our fevered bodies.  Being the kind of man who would fight off up to, but not exceeding, four crazed ninja howler monkeys to protect his bride from death by monkey, I resolved to brave the darkness, scare off the intruder, and turn on the light, so that my wife could take a cold mandi.  <-- Refer to this link to review how we bathe here.

Blanket in hand, I stuck my toe out of the mosquito net, frantically swatting the blanket around the room, in the blind hope that I would somehow not be forced to do battle with any jungle beings.  I crept, inch by inch, hunkered over and flapping the blanket in front of me like a hunchback matador, until my hand reached the wall opposite our bed.  I turned on the light to find....nothing.  The room was empty.  Whatever small mouse had been timidly picking at our plastic bag had no doubt scurried off as soon as I stirred from the bed.  We put the snacks in our suitcase, Caroline cooled off in the mandi, and we went back to bed.  

Oh yes.  All night there was a gecko, lizard, frog thing out side our window that would would honk four times, every ten minutes, all night long.  It was a long night.

The next morning we floated down the river on tubes with two guides, and were taken to a waterfall with a pool at the bottom.  We swam in the pool, stood under the waterfall, and had lunch which was packed by our guides, which they served to us on banana leaves.  We stayed there for about an hour and finished floating down the river.  As we floated down, we passed a water buffalo standing with only his head out of the water, about 30 yards from us.  

Once we finished, we hiked back to the trail and our driver took us back to Medan.  Our driver, who was in no hurry to GET to Tangkahan, got a phone call from his friend and was told that they were going to to karaoke that night.  Apparently karaoke is a big deal here, because he floored it, and we didn't stop the neck breaking, swerving, speeding, driving on the shoulder of the road, until he dropped us off at Joanna's door.  

The next day we did a little bit of souvenir shopping with a friend of Joanna's, and went to small group that night.  Today, we are headed out to get some coffee for friends and family.  By the way, the locals here all drink instant coffee.  On Sumatra.  They drink instant, packet, cream-and-sugar-included, coffee.  I was not prepared for this.      

Ducks and Crocodiles

Today was a day of mixed emotions.  I will come clean right here and now and admit that I was the agent of death for a certain duck.  It was feeding time at a crocodile zoo, and live duck was on the menu.  I threw this duck to its most certain and eminent death by the jaws of hungry crocodiles.  Do I feel guilty?  Insatiably.  But as I have eaten duck on previous occasions, I have had to tell myself that whether I had eaten it or the crocodiles had eaten it, it was going to be eaten.  Its death was most certainly swift and there is do doubt that it was thoroughly enjoyed by those who dined - which is all I have ever asked for from a duck.

When I wasn't tending to hungry crocodiles at the expense of my peace of mind, we ate Sushi to celebrate Joanna's upcoming birthday, and Shana's recently past birthday.  Shana and Jay are dear friends of Joann's who have four fantastically animated children, and one on the way.  

For dinner, we went to Jay and Shana's, where Joanna, Abbie, and Caroline played with the kids, and Jay and I talked to each other and with a Batak Indonesian man who was working on their air conditioner.  I had a crash course in Indonesian history, which barely scratched the surface, and got to use the little bit of Indonesian I have learned, and listen to conversations, trying to pick out the few words I know.

Tomorrow we are going to bathe elephants a few hours away, so be looking for pictures of that!  I promise, I won't feed any more ducks to any more predators...unless that predator is me.

The Dragon Roll!

Some kind of fruit drink that Caroline ordered.

This guy was 40 years old and was HUGE!!

This is my look of guilt.

These are the enjoyers of duck.

Coffee Pooped By Cats

If you have never heard of Kopi Luwak, you are in good company - I too had never heard of Kopi Luwak until this very day.  I heard about it, because I had some.  Caroline, Abbie, Joanna, and I all went looking for a coffee shop which came recommended to us by a friend of Joanna's.  It was explained to us how this particular coffee was eaten by Asian Palm Civet, a cat/weasel-like animal indigenous to South-East Asia.  The Civit selects the best beans to eat, because it only likes the best.  After the beans pass through its digestive system, the beans are then excreted and collected from its feces.  These beans are then washed (thoroughly) and roasted.  Ours were roasted that morning.  I not only had a cup of this coffee, I also bought a bag of un-ground beans to take home.  The coffee was good, but the story is priceless.   

Although Joanna is not a coffee drinker, she did sample a bit.

This is me toasting the Civit who passed my coffee beans with such care and affection.

This is actually a picture from the other day - we got caught in the rain and Abbie rode on the back, side saddle, with a banana leaf to protect herself from the rain.  This girl is seriously adventurous!

This is the back of my head, driving on one of the busier streets in Medan.  At one point (not in this picture) I drove against the flow of traffic (Joanna explained that, for a motorcycle, there is no such thing as the "wrong side of the road"), I drove though traffic jams, weaved in and around cars, and at one point, drove on the busiest street in Medan.  

Joanna is very trusting with my motorcycle skills.  We were stopped at a red light for this picture, by the way.  

Joanna peaking in through her recently-painted TARDIS doors.

Abbie enjoying a Nutella shake at Breeks, an American restaurant in Medan.

Later that night, we went to a graduation ceremony for Joanna's school.  There were seriously eight courses of food put in front of us!  We ate more, and more food kept coming.  At one point, the brought us chicken that was sauteed in coffee - a new experience for everyone at the table.  

Joanna teaches at the Singapore International School in Medan.  It is a private school, based out of Singapore, which is on the same school curriculum/schedule as Britain.  She teaches middle school geography and literature.  We got to look around her school the day before yesterday and meet some of the staff.  If you want more information about SIS, here is the link to their website.

A TARDIS, a Mosque, and an Avocado

We ventured out alone again today!  Taxi rides and Becak (pronounced bay-chuck) rides are getting to be second nature.  A becak is a motorcycle with a covered side wagon attached to it, and they weave in and out of traffic like madmen.  It is late my time, and we've had a long day, so I'm just going to title the pictures below, and hit the sack.

 Caroline and Abbie shopping for presents

Avocado juice with chocolate syrup.  I didn't know those two things went together, but I have tasted an seen that the combination is good.

We visited a very old mosque, and this was their Qur'an.

Caroline, Abbie, and Joanna had to wear head coverings to enter, and we had to take our shoes off at the door.  I am sporting a traditional Indonesian shirt there...very comfortable.

Eating at a place called "Tip Top"

When we got home, we decided to paint Joanna's doors blue.  Why?  It's a Doctor Who thing.  If you don't get it, it's okay.  Not everyone can be amazing.

Also a Doctor Who joke.  Though I personally disagree (I think bow ties ARE cool) she is an avid David Tennant fan, so I don't hold it against her.

The final work!  I LOVE it!!

And, we painted them to be the inside of the TARDIS, so that the entire world is an adventure!  

In Which We Travel the City Alone

Because Joanna had to go and teach at her school today, Caroline, Abbie, and I got the chance to travel in Medan all by ourselves.  Did I mention that our Indonesian is minimal at best, and we often panic and start throwing out the few Spanish words that we know in hopes that simply because it was accessed in our brains under the "Foreign Words" folder, somehow, they will understand us.

Our first adventure was to tell the Taxi driver (whom Joanna so kindly called for us while at school) where we were going.  This involved handing him a piece of paper with the address for the money changer's office and saying the one phrase I had been practice all morning: "Saya mau ke sini" -- meaning "I want to go here."  He then asked us something very quickly, which we all shrugged to.  He laughed, realizing that that one phrase was the extent of our language learning for the day, and started practicing his English with us.  Super fun!

Joanna had told us "when you leave the money changers, walk against the flow of traffic a few blocks, and there is a huge mall...you can't miss it."  Always being the kind of people who try to do what people say we cannot...we missed it.  Badly.  Half a mile later, and one solid head-bang into a low-hanging metal box of some kind later (this city was clearly built for shorter people), we turn around, convinced that we had missed it.

Be backtrack and see the mall.  I'm not sure how we missed it before, because as we walked in, we discovered that it was six stories high.  And there were signs.  For things like KFC and Starbucks.

We ordered food all by ourselves...though I will admit, there was a moderate level of pointing at the menu involved.  Paying for the meal was troublesome, because the exchange rate is 10,000 Rupiah (Indonesian currency) to 1 USD.  If you didn't quite catch that...10,000 to 1.  This makes understanding their currency extraordinarily difficult, because there are so many zeros on everything, at first glance, you don't know if you are holding a dime's worth of money, or ten dollars worth of money.  So we sat there, counting zeros, doing math in our heads, trying to figure out if they wanted 130,000 Rupiah (13 dollars) or 13,000 (1 dollar and thirty cents).  Even now, as I look at this, I'm not sure how much we gave them.

After this, we got in another taxi (this driver had no desire to practice his English) and went to Joanna's school, where we watched her mold the young minds of the future of South-East Asia.  I kept thinking that these kids were going to get up on their chairs and say "Oh Captain, My Captain."  She is a brilliantly fantastic teacher!  It was great getting to see the master at work :)

Below are some pictures, as well as a full description of how one is meant to take a mandi (it's not a shower, it's not a bath...it's a mandi).

A rather unflattering picture of me trying something I did know what was, and in fact, still do not know.

This is the unknown substance.  Wrapped in leaves.  

Taking a mandi here is no small matter.  The big tank on the left is called a Bak, and it is always full of water.  The scooper that you see sitting on the edge, is your main source of moisture and cleanliness.  You get undressed, grab the scooper, and dump the cold water on yourself.  Although this might sound frightening to some of you, it’s important to remember that humidity is always at 100%, and the heat is so sweltering, it makes your skin feel like it constantly has honey on it, and it makes you want to always go to sleep.  These burst of cold water are heavenly!  There is a drain in the floor, so the entire bathroom has just becomes your shower.  An clever conservation of space and water, if you ask me.   

As a final way to end our day, we got caught in the rain and got soaked!  Made it home, dried off, and watched Doctor Who while eating watermelon.  Not a bad way to end a day.