Another Week in Indonesia

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We had a busy week.  On Tuesday after district meeting, we used our car to pick up the Young Women president and her daughter and grabbed another young woman and made visits to three families whose young women are not coming regularly right now, for a variety of reasons.  It was a positive experience.  At the last house, they fed us a noodle soup. We continue to be amazed at our driver, who knows this city so well and can get us to place to place without hardly consulting a map

This picture is of one of the young women who is working at her family's warung (roadside restaurant) in this picture (yummy fried bananas!), but looked very nice today when she taught an excellent lesson.  

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, Sanford took family portraits as part of our Family History Weekend.  He has spent the last few weeks getting them cleaned up and printed and framed, with a family tree on the back.  Then we have the pleasure of delivering them.  There has often been a sweet spirit as we brought them into the house.  One brother took a picture of the picture and posted to Facebook with his thanks.  

In addition to our English class at the kampung north of town, where we are still getting over 20 kids every week, we were asked to teach a class in another neighborhood.  Over 30 young people showed up, including some teens.  Next week we will need to plan to split the group and maybe have Sanford take the advanced students out on the porch for conversation while a younger missionary takes over his ipad and helps me inside with the younger ones.  We don't have a keyboard for songs there, but I bought some decent speakers and figured out that if I use Windows Media Player, I can slow down the speed of the song to 80 percent. We always start with the Hello song and they are learning the vocabulary to sing "In the Leafy Treetops."

We had taught the Articles of Faith for the church leaders' English class on Sunday, so that meant five English classes during the week.

And our usual Wednesday and Friday classes were challenging because it turned out that our only television at church, the one we use for our class, is now displaying upside down.  They knew this last Sunday but nobody thought to tell us.  Yikes!  We used a projector on Friday, and hopefully the television will be replaced soon.

In my spare time, I am preparing a report for the incoming mission president's wife, who will be taking over the duties as mission medical coordinator.  On Friday while Sanford was in a meeting, I was typing about one common complaint here in Indonesia, and right then the phone rang with a call from a missionary who had that very problem. 

This week we had a treat outside our window one day; it was so clear that there was actually a horizon. Usually the background fades into haze, smog or smoke drifting over from fires in the rain forest of Kalimantan.  But we could finally see the towers in the distance.  

Our First Idul Fitri

Google Doodle showing Jalarta on the left

Indonesia has come to the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, during which devout Muslims fast from morning until sunset every day.  The time at the end of the month of fasting is, Idul Fitri or Lebaran in Indonesia, is an important holiday, with two legal holidays (Thursday and Friday this year) and many businesses taking a full week off.  The children are also off school for a month during this time.

People living in cities typically go home to their kampung, or neighborhood where they were raised.  There is a massive exit from urban areas, the railway station was very busy, and when we needed to make a trip on Sunday evening, the ride-share companies charged a premium for peak demand.

We underestimated how soon the impact would hit.  We had a bill due, and ran late on Tuesday, so went to the bank on Wednesday...only to discover it was already closed.

During the fasting month, some restaurants close during the day, and those that remain open find a way to prevent people on the street from seeing people eating.  Our favorite neighborhood spot covered their windows with cake boxes, a common strategy.  Others have blinds that pull, and even the outdoor warungs have curtains that they put up, not blocking the entire entrance but just at people level.  We are also careful not to eat as we walk along the street.  A few weeks ago I bought a frozen treat at a grocery store, and left it in the bag until we got home.


The Thursday night, we planned to stay in, but could not go to bed early because of the noise of the fireworks.  We actually had a great view, but I could not seem to capture any of the fireworks on my phone camera. The white rectangle to the right of the screen is a shopping center that turned one side of the bulding into a super-sized screen to transmit messages of good will and flash ads.

On Friday afternoon, we went with a friend from church to visit her aunt who is Muslim and fixed a lovely meal for us.  It was so interesting to learn about the local traditions.

One of the customs is to beg forgiveness of those one may have offended during the previous year.  It is a lovely custom, and I do ask forgiveness if I have offended you.  But isn't there also a Jewish custom to do that during one of the Jewish fall holidays?  Perhaps a reminder of how many religions claim descent from Abraham.

We also had another invitation from church friends who have Muslim friends in a nearby village.  We were treated to another meal there on Saturday morning.

That was north of Medan, almost to the port city of Belawan, and over a bridge that can only handle one car at a time.  After visiting two families and enjoying a feast, they took us out to a waterway only a few minutes away, where we saw some amazing critters including crabs of various colors and types, as well as these mud-hopper fish.

Saturday night, Sanford performed his first baptism on this mission.  All in all, Lebaran felt a lot like the Christmas season.  Even those who are not Christian per se get caught up in the joy of family and a break from routine.

Just Like Home

I appreciated the zest for travel exhibited by recently deceseased Anthony Bourdain.  When I am traveling to a foreign country, I do try to eat the local food.

But it is different scenario when one is living in the same foreign country for more than a year.  So perhaps I can be forgiven for the joy of discovering that a new restaurant in our neighborhood serves salads.

Excellent salads.  Mine was pears and feta cheese with balsamic dressing, Sanford's was chicken with a carrot dressing.  Both were excellent.  A bit pricey by Indonesian standards, but a wonderful treat.

And we didn't get sick afterward, which is always a worry in foreign countries. I just hope that the restaurant stays open for the next 16 months.

Another touch of home was when we visited a member of our congregation who asked about Elder Porter's profession before the mission.  When we told him about being an ant expert, he jumped to his feet and invited us out into the yard to see his pest ants.

This happened all the time at home, so it was such a sweet reminder of how sometimes people can be the same all over the world.

Of course, this is Sumatera, so we had taken our shoes off to enter the home, then put them back on when we went outside to look at the ants.

We regularly drive past this business with a catchy name, which of course reminds me of the Disney movie and the Peter Gabriel song.

This company sells wallpaper and decorating accessories.  Attitudes regarding copyright infringement are a lot looser outside of the U.S.  (We spend a LOT of time driving around town, and so any amusement along the way is much appreciated.)



Another touch of home came on Saturday, when our branch president walked in wearing a Detroit RedWings hoodie.

Personally, I am not into hockey, although two of our daughters have become hockey fans the last few years (Go Florida Panthers!).  But the RedWings were definitely part of my background growing up, so it plucked at my heartstrings to see this shirt in such a foreign setting!

On Saturday, Elder Porter had a meeting in the early afternoon, and I had a lot of lesson prep that was better done at home.  Senior couples do not have to stay together all the time if there is a reason to work or travel separately.  We knew this, but it was the first time that I had gone out alone without backup. I managed to ask the security guard if a package ha arrived, and also book a car for travel to church.  I even made some small talk with the driver and gave him directions of where to turn. So maybe this is becoming like home

Horas!

One of the interesting things about being in the city of Medan on the island of Sumatera is the different culture from Java, the island on which most Indonesians live and on which the capital of Jakarta is located.  The Javanese are reputed to be super-polite and somewhat restrained.

Folks here in Northern Sumatera are from many tribes and ethnic origins, including Bataks from the area around Lake Toba, many Christians from the offshore island of Nias, Muslims from Ache and other parts of Sumatra, and immigrants from China, India, and other Southeast Asian counties.

The Bataks are known for being forthright, speaking their minds, and occasionally even being boisterous.  Many are wonderful singers.  The singing in our church is lively and enthusiastic, and many of them play musical instruments.  "Horas!" is the hearty greeting most Bataks use.

This week we were reminded several times that we are not in Florida anymore (or Kansas, or even Java).  We had various occasions to learn more about the Batak culture.

Sadly, the husband of a relative of one of our friends from church died, and we had the opportunity to attend his funeral.  We were so grateful that our friend brought extra sashes for us to borrow, Sanford in the dark blue and me wearing the red with gold embroidery.  This is a Batak tradition to show respect at weddings, funerals, and other key events.

The next day, May 29, was a holiday. The roads were clear, and we made it to church in record time for our district meeting.  The holiday was Waisak Day, which commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and death of the Buddha. Yes, this is a majority-Muslim county but there is respect for a variety of religions, so that public holidays celebrate key dates of various faith traditions.  Earlier in the month was a holiday for the Ascension, a Christian holiday.

And most of the Batak people are Christian.  This island has one of the highest rates of Christianity in the country.

Our Primary (children's organization at church) took advantage of the holiday with a swim party at a big hotel near our apartment.  Elder Porter wore a white shirt and represented the branch presidency.  I had my American-style swimsuit underneath my clothes, but it would have been considered immodest here.  The typical swimsuit looks like shorts and a t-shirt.

The swim party lasted quite a while (about 4 hours) and they served us dinner.  Not just any dinner, but a wonderful stew of pork.  This is rare for Indonesia, but not the Batak.  Since they are not Muslim, they enjoy their pork.  Many grocery stores do not carry pork but the Primary President had purchased it a local traditional market.

Indeed one kind of famous restaurant in this area is a BPK restaurant, which stands for Babi Panggang Karo (Karo-styled Roast Pig, with the Karo being a subset of the Batak people).

On Wednesday, we used the car to help some of the singles get their luggage off to a YSA conference in Bogor, on the island of Java.  Young adults from Malaysia also attended.  There was a talent show scheduled, and our young folk chose to perform a traditional Batak dance, and I caught a bit of the rehearsal.  This was so impressive to me, because a lot of young people would choose to do break dancing or some trendy Western music.  But they chose to share their culture, and some of the older people who saw them practicing said that it was authentic indeed.