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.