The Nelson Family Indonesia

This past week we celebrated Gena’s birthday by visiting a part of Sumatra we haven’t been before. It’s only about 50 miles outside of Medan, but our drive to Berastagi took nearly 4.5 hours because of rain and it being only a two-lane road all the way up and down the hills.

Did I mention rain?

There was rain. While still nominally in the dry season we’ve experienced some dramatic downpours in the past week or so. Saturday night another deluge let loose, and we gave thanks once again for our house situated on a street where flooding has never been a problem. Which made the mystery of an inch or more of water forming in our dining room that much more perplexing!

When I heard Gena’s cry of alarm I quickly determined the source of the leak was not from upstairs or from our front door and yard but rather from the door leading to our back patio and kitchen. It’s been not quite a year since our last surprise out back. This time fortunately there were no flames, but rather water pouring in from the pond in our back yard. I threw a towel down to slow the influx of water into the house and began troubleshooting.

Sure enough, the three drains in the back yard were all clogged. After a few moments work they were unclogged and busily guzzling the pond. That was a huge relief. Then the task of clean-up could begin in earnest.

Mika was still away at art class but the rest of us tackled the water in the dining area and Mika’s bedrooms with various brooms, towels and other implements of destruction. I called our drivers to push back our departure time for Berastagi (remember Berastagi?) an hour. It took us the better part of an hour to push the standing water out another door. We set up fans to start drying the floor as we gulped down our (cold) dinner, and were thrilled the house was in order enough for our house-sitters/friends/former teachers and we could hit the road for a 2 hour tour (insert 60’s sitcom theme song here).

It took over twice that long but we finally arrived safely and commenced to enjoy our three-day escape from the heat of Medan. While Medan is very much at sea level Berastagi is about 1600 feet (meters?) above sea level and correspondingly cooler by almost 20 degrees. It was a much needed rest as well as an enjoyable exploration of the area, which may serve as an excursion destination when our Southeast Asia region team and families assemble in Medan in January for our annual retreat.

We are thankful to God the house was not damaged, we were able to get things cleaned up and in order in time to depart, and that our travels to and from Berastagi were safe!