Farewell Sumatra...

Without a single doubt, my last three months, only in Indonesia, have been filled with unexpectedness and marvelous encounters.

Not having a plan and going with the flow is definitely a huge factor as to why it has been so fantastic thus far.

When I was in Berastagi, I went for a day walk to the Batak town of Linga. According to the guide books and local tourism recommendations, it is supposed to be one the nicest and most conserved local Batak Karo village in the area.

It took me quite a while to get to that area as I preferred to walk rather than bus it all the way. In retrospect, busing it would probably been a better idea, as the road side scenes on the way did not present much interest...and I would definitely have arrived at the town on time for the Batak wedding celebration happening that day. Bummer!

Anyhow, I walked...

When I arrived to the village, much to my disappointment, there were only very very few traditional Karo houses left standing, no more than 5. (Which compared to Samosir island where 80% of the island is populated with traditional Batak houses, made look quite ridiculous).

Anyhow, I walked around, searching for whatever interesting traditional marketing cultural sight might be left to see.

When I arrived to one of the largest traditional Karo houses left, I was greeted by smiles from a bunch of 5 local young students who were visiting one of their school mate whose family lived in that house.

We quickly connected, between photos of us, practicing their English, and a few words of French, and some information sharing, including the tip to go to Dua Warna waterfalls in Sibolangit, we ended up exchanging contact info, for when I would be in Medan a few days later.

Then I walked back to my losmen...

So as I was planning where to stay in Medan, I asked Susi for tips, and she quickly managed to get Maruli to host me in his student catholic boarding house. This boarding house is housing 8 male undergraduate students.

When I arrived on Medan, she and Maruli managed to borrow two scooters to come pick me up from the bus stop and drive me all across the city to the boarding house. Gosh, sitting on the back of this scooter, with my 65 liter heavy and bulky backpack on my back, I didn't feel all that comfortable, and even less, when zigzagging through the crazy Medan traffic. But it also was so exhilarating at the same time. Like an adrenaline rush created by the such a risky endeavour. Or at least it was for me, as for them, it just seemed like a simple routine ride.

At the boarding house, everyone was just so welcoming and incredibly nice, asking me all sorts of questions about myself and my trip, while trying to make me feel as much at home as possible.

The boarding house was near the university campus. (Universitas Sumatra Utara). So after dropping off my bags and chit chatting a bit to cool off from the criminal heat outside, we headed to the campus to walk around, take some photos, and eat...so delicious bakso.

After a late afternoon bakso, they decided to take me to a far away hindu-catholic temple. (Not quite sure about it still, have to do more research) but the fantastic highlight of my journey through Medan happened then. As we were sitting in a minivan/public bus, protestant catholic, christian catholic, Hindu, agnostic, Muslim, all next to each other, cramped up in that minibus, during rush hour, with an excrutiating heat in the air and no ventilation system, as if the absolute religious and cultural melting pot interaction that was going on was not as fabulous in itself, as the bus was riding along the traffic, we heard outside and above the traffic loud noise, the call to prayer and official announcement that it was at last time to break the fast for the Muslims following Ramadan. Seeing the frustration on the have of a Muslim woman for being stuck in the bus without being able to get anywhere to grab food and water to break the fast, a non Muslim woman in the bus offered her a bottle of water.

This simple act of cultural and religious harmony in a developing country where people struggle to make a living and ensure a future for their family just filled me with so much joy and at the same time with so much shame for being from a fully developed country where such harmony will never be seen. To this day I am still so amazed just thinking about this moment in this bus.

This was a beautiful evening.

When we returned to the boarding house, Susi, Elgina (Maruli's girlfriend) and Afri started cooking for the rest of us. A very simple mix of rice, noodles, some veggies and tempe. It was simple, modest, yet delicious...probably not just for the quality of the food, but more for the context of the moment, 8 young people sitting on the floor, sharing a simple meal and exchanging stories, life hopes, jokes, and other entertaining conversations. The beauty of genuine, curious, and hopeful young human beings is just fantastic.

The next day was phenomenal. I even drove a scooter in Medan's traffic and survived! Lol

Elgina, Susi, and Maruli took me all over the city on their scooters. I absolutely loved it. As we were zipping through the traffic throughout the day, I even almost felt as if I were a local. And in the evening, Susi was committed to volunteering and helping a group of youngsters rehearse some songs for the following days, church mass. And so I tagged along. The church was a Batak christian church, not quite finished to be built yet. We were about 15 people. We were there for about 3 hours. I mostly sat there and watched the interaction between the different ages, all united by their faith. The singing was so inspiring and enchanting at the same time.

They also all wanted to know about me, my life, my trip. You should have seen their eyes when I told them. Their faith, love of life, and happiness was as much an inspiration to me as my life and trip was to them. Another magical evening.

My flight was to taken off from Medan airport at 5am. Susi, Elgina, and Maruli would not have it any other way than for them to drive me to the airport, at 3:30 am, and on their scooters. I was and still am so touched by their kindness of heart. We had only met about 5 days before, and yet they were treating me like one of their own.

We hugged at 4am, in front of the airport security gate. I was sad to leave, not just Sumatra and Indonesia, more them, my new friends, my new incredible friends. I just hope I can return the favor some day...but I know without a doubt that our friendship will remain for a long, a very long time. Thank you so much guys, I could not have had a more amazing to say goodbye to Sumatra than the 48 hours I spent with you.

Farewell!...