~Have you ever had to speak another language so fluently that you had conversations with people you didn't know and was able to bargain prices down lower than 50%?
~Have you ever ridden in the smallest backseat of a van, while listening to God sing into your ears and watch the scenery go by of waterfalls, rivers, rice paddies, and villages?
~Have you ever had no reception at all and were only with yourself, God, and a driver for one whole day?
~Have you ever felt outreligioned? like the minority?
~Have you ever stepped into the mud of a rice paddie, getting your shoes completely dirty-while only trying to get the photo while the sun was still shining right on it?
~Have you ever gone on a trip with four adults, no kids, feeling like the oddball out until you got over the boundary wall since your actually the one that loves adult conversation?
~Have you ever eaten rice and spicy fish with your hands while entertaining a government official?
~Have you ever had one day where all you did was enjoy God's goodness and love, taking pictures and meeting new people?
~Have you ever tried durien? it's the nastiest smelling fruit they say.
~Have you ever used a blanket as a pillow from the extra bed in your hotel room since your sister couldn't come along?
~Have you ever meditated on Psalm 51 while watching the fog from the bottom of the mountainrange rise up right at the porch of your room?
~Have you ever ridden in a car so fast that you could only go with the flow because there were so many turns and your driver was basically a race car driver?
I have :)
We left on early monday morning, after a bad night sleep, warm milk with honey, soup, bread, and medication for me. Got in the car and drove to pick up my great aunt and uncle, who would be staying in Bukittinggi with us for a day.
We got to the airport, checked in, with only 4bags but 5 people (Mama and Papa shared), and were on our way to Bukittinggi with a 1hr. plane trip.
On that plane, my great uncle met up with a former governmeny employee of his, and since the man is still in the government, and the new boss of the government stuff in Bukittinggi wanted to see my great uncle and visit again, we were set for a breakfast at 10am, visiting at the government office (all in Bahasa Indonesia), and lunch at 2pm. After eating with our hands (that's how you eat in Padang) and talking about millions of business topics along with my exchange, the government boss saw how much i like klapuk *spelling*- the best explanation would be to say they're like green gushers, but softer and bigger, with coconut on the outside and brown sugar melted and warm on the inside- gave me 25... which i hid in the fridge and mama and i left because they're so unhealthy :P... we got on our way to Bukittinggi.
We were in Sumatra, the island north of Java, and were only able to land in Padang, where we met up with the government officials, because Bukittinggi was in the mountains- you had to drive for 2hrs. to get there.
My father (Pak Hardie) has a TV station there, so for him- this trip was majorly business, while for me, it was majorly photo-taking and sightseeing.
So, by the time we passed through all the waterfalls coming from the lakes above, we were tired, but still ready for anything new. We stopped to drink tea- that had been mixed with milk and egg- eat an interesting shiskabob with cow's tongue on it, (it was good!), and try something with pressed rice and coconut on the inside. :)
we got to bukittinggi around 5pm, checked in at the hotel, changed, and got ready to go to a wedding.
I had a room to myself, a wooden floor that you could slide perfectly on, a beautiful blanket that was heavy enough because it's a little colder in Bukittinggi, and ample time to hang out with God whenever I wanted to :) it was perfect. I had no reception, i didn't bring my laptop- only books, but this time was God's time.
We got to the wedding- me looking like a tourist, the rest looking like they were dressed for a wedding, and we shook hands, and left. that was honestly about it. the wedding was traditional, so they had decorated their house for the reception (that's what we actually went for, just to shake their hands and show our faces at the reception) and they had meals that people were eating on the floor around tables. tons of color and beautiful headdresses! I signed my name, took a party favour, shook hands, took photos, and we left again to eat dinner with more government officials. this was a different restaurant but still you would eat food with your fingers, and I ate bananas (smaller and sweeter than the ones in America) along with great fish and a little rice, because i can't eat too much rice or else my stomach hurts. and we left again for the hotel- to sleep, finally.
^I thought i'd mention here that almost every time we eat, we either have sweet tea or fresh fruit juice, at that meal i had sirsak juice (a DELICIOUS FRUIT!), at the meal before we had young coconut juice, and in the morning breakfast I had manggo juice.
The next morning, I was planning on waking up at 4am to have great alone time with God, but being so tired- i slept in until 5am, but forgot that Padang and Bukittinggi are the most densely populated (besides Jakarta) Muslim area, so instead of my own alarm, I was waking up to thousands of imams calling the Muslims to prayer. and I realized that I should've listened to God's Voice saying to wake up at 4am, because then I would've had time before I was bombarded with the ritual of waking up and going to pray at 5am. So to focus, I took a shower instead, and listened to music while reading devotions.
I left at 7am with a driver to discover Bukittinggi mountains, lakes, and villages. This driver was completely awake, and he was the one my father had hired as a driver tour guide for wherever we wanted to go so that we would have a driver and a tour guide. He was great fun! He took me through a canyon, past rice paddies, through the Banana Village, and about 4 others, until we got to Puncak Layang (I think), where we took the car to the top of the mountain, and then just basked in the beauty of the morning sun while overlooking Lake Menjawi (spelling!) and the Padang sea in the distance~through the clouds, pictures are now up on facebook :)
Then he took me to Ambon Pagi, another perspective and view of the same lake, so i wasn't that interested- but! the best part were the pictures i took of the most interesting thing there, the cutest little girl playing in the gravel. :) Beautiful Indonesian.
Then we went down 44 turns to get down to the actual lake- and these turns are basically 180 degrees because the mountain is so steep: and took photos at the bottom, and recommended a fisherman to fish on the other side becuase he wasn't catching anything where he was (but he didn't move and it reminded me of the story of the Jesus telling the fisherman to cast on the other side) and started back up the 44lvls to get back to Bukittinggi city and switch cars. My great aunt and uncle we're leaving that night- had just finished shopping, and needed to go to Padang again with my parents. So after switching cars at 11:30am, i went out to lunch with another drvier (his name was Ronnie and super nice and calmer than the other driver) at a European restaurant where I ate pineapple pizza (the kind my family likes at home) but with sweet chili sauce as well. And then we went where I wanted to go,
~buyingAlkaline batteries for my camera
~going to take pictures at this most beautiful place that was basically described as pride rock with one tree at the top, with a river at the bottom- and we took the pictures at the bridge, which was the most perfect spot.
~going to take pictures at the canyon, but this time, going into the little river beneath it to get the pictures with the sunlight reflecting, with the new small trees, and with a glorious feeling on your feet.
~going to take pictures in the rice paddies that had that morning sun still shining on them, and asking a lady to take pictures of her working- and to get the shot having to step into the mud, when too late realizing my foot and shoe would sink in. so mom- my mocassins are pretty dead right now, and in the wash. but it's the best story, and Ronnie took a picture. and I got the picture I wanted :)
~going to buy new shoes for $1.50, that look cultural, weird, and will probably last me 1mth if i wore them everyday
~going down into the Japanese cave, where they would hold prisoners, that the people of Bukittinggi now want to make cafes and historical stuff in, but haven't gotten around to it yet- so it's still super creepy and feels dark , and like you can get lost in it, but you really can't. (I was with my driver, we were speaking only Bahasa Indonesia).. and like 9% english.
~buying sandals and bags
~seeing the canyon from the side of the cliff, on top of the Japanese caves, feeling the wind, taking panaroma pictures, seeing God's goodness and grace, and getting to know a new family that was so fantastic
**Insert: That morning, I knew I was going to be alone the whole day, so God had prepared the devotion for this particular day to say- JESUS CHRIST, my Savior, the one that Muslims don't recognize, has made me FREE to be me, FREE from all fear of man, and FREE to enjoy His goodness, and really love like He loves me. So- being me, and being FREE, I enjoyed His glory and followed whatever His Voice was honestly saying.
And next: His Voice told me to take a leap of faith, and go with the family I had just met back to their house in the village, to see the village Kemang.
So I called Mama and Papa since Ronnie and I had no more plans, and I went with them.
Meeting the family of kemang :)
Kak Yandi and her husband, Barri, who works in Bali as a tour guide for Malaysians and speaks ok English.
Jeff and his nonexistent girlfriend, which we pinned to me to pretend I wanted to marry him so their father would freak out a bit, because I'm a bulle.
Verra- the mother of Izy(10yr. old), Putih (2yr.old), and a 1yr. old boy, who is calm and the oldest, seemingly revered. Whose husband works in Jakarta, but her children like the village more because there's more things to do- more things to see, so they're moving back with their mom and dad to the village, while her husband will continue working in Jakarta until Idul Fitri (the Muslim christmas) where he'll come up to see them.
Ibu and Bapak- the mother and father of the three children, grandparents of the three little ones, and the ones who are coming back to the village to live for good as well. They used to work in Jakarta but they're already 62 and such, so they're coming back to the village where the shop is closer to home and they can stay with Ibu's mother, who was living alone there before all 9 of them came back to the village to live again.
It was phenomenal. I ate with them, laughed with them, learned about Bahasa Indonesia and how it came from this area- Meningal, and how the Meningal language is a bit different since it's the dialect- but many of the Bahasa Indonesia words came from it.
I played with the children, and ate on the ground, in the shop, with my hands, with all of them- spicy fish, rice, veggies, and fried soybean (tempe). and got close to all of them.
I felt like God's love shining down out of no where on their life :) I love doing that.
Kak Yandi gave me a purse, I gave Putih and Izy the spongebob watch I was wearing, they taught me verbally how to make fried bananas, showed me the beautiful night sight of the Mount Merapi (different than the one that exploded) and Mount Lawang (where I had gone to take pictures from before), they helped me get 6 sarung (blanket like things that are famous in the villages) for presents, and really loved me while I loved them back.
It was like a new family for one day.
We got back to my hotel around 9:30pm, where Mama and Papa were waiting, because they arrived at 8:30pm, freshly back from their journey to Padang with my great uncle and aunt.
It was like living in God's favor, which could've been very dangerous- but reaped the best benefits.
and when they were leaving, Ibu and I shook hands, but didn't let go for the longest time.They felt so close to me, even though they were Muslim, completely different perspective of life, and had never been to america.
:) I felt like I could've been at home there.
Thank you God. That was beautiful. Just following You :)
When I arrived back at the hotel, mama looked exhausted, but there was durien (that fruit!) out on the table, so i sat down, apologized profusely and explained all i did that day, while I told my stories, her eyes started to light up and while Papa sat and talked with some friends- which he had been doing when I first walked in, mama and I chatted about beautiful things while I tried durien- which was not bad at all :) not my favorite, but not horrible either! and the smell wasn't a big deal either. thanks dad for all those times we ate weird food at the family fearfactor challenge :P
AFterwards, Mama, Papa, and I went to a healing massage therapist, who worked from his home- but was pretty well off. It was 10:30pm when we got there, and we were there until 11:30pm, because my mother's shoulder isn't so hot, and my father has something unfortunate as well, so as the therapist worked their bones and muscles like he knew their bodies better than they did themselves, I watched and talked with all of them in Bahasa Indonesia.
- when it was my turn, the man found spots where about 15small bones cracked when i didn't realize they needed to, and he found all my bruises and scars on my legs from the burn mark in jogja i got from a motor, the time that I fell into a gutter back in october, and the time I fell again in February trying to catch a taxi and got a huge bruise. :) He also found the bone in my shoulder that was tired. and after massaging that one, we were on our way home.
to sleep
at midnight, and after praying (because my mind will run wild instead of sleeping if i don't first focus it on God), I was out like a light.
Mama and I woke up around 7am the next morning, and after a shower, a surprise call from room service telling me i can order breakfast in (mom said it was fine), and then a beautiful breakfast of toast, spicy omlette, and tea/milk/egg mix again; along with the Psalm of the day from God saying that it's not sacrafices He requires, but a broken herat, and open mind- I was off ready to bargain prices down at the market with my mama for these car bobble heads, wooden flutes, sunglasses, leather sandals ($2.50), and souviner outfit saying Jam Gadang (a European clock tower that is an icon in Bukittinggi, went and only took a picture by it :P) for $3.50.
fantastic time. the best part though was when I understood this lady talking about prices, and finding that both the banana ladies were selling bananas for the same price, so i laughed- and she came over, a bit astonished, and we started chatting. while the bananas we're being made for me and my mama. short, sweet bananas (different from the skinny longer ones i ate the day before), grilled, and pressed down. then add coconut and brown sugar together, and it's so delicious.
We got out of the market by 10:30am, picked up papa after he said his goodbyes to his TV station and government friends, and we were off to buy interesting sweet potato (fried) chips, and pumpkin (fried) chips as well. both super good, with no preservatives or artifical coloring :P
back on the plane at 12:45pm, and back in Jakarta by 2:30pm. While traffic took until 6pm to actually get home.
God astonished me, with a three day trip, learning that I AM FREE to be me, to love, to TRULY follow His Voice, that He'll take care of everything, and that I am His :)
I had just gotten into the perspective of really loving people at SMA Tirta Marta even while they were testing, and as a result, God brought me to beauty- and had me learn two more lessons, that I am free in Him, and that He wants a broken spirit-not sacrafices of animals... learning those two by myself, in the most densely populated Muslim area, and taking risks that the Holy Spirit moved me to :) no matter what.
Go God!
next trip:
Bandung