Those Muslims who are able to safely do so are required to fast during the month of Ramadan between sunup and sundown. Ideally, not even a sip of water once the sun rises, until the sun sets. This means mealtime is a big deal when it gets dark. Traditions of gathering as families and neighbors… Continue reading Ramadan and Meals
Category: Language
Edi Long Hair
The pier we emerge onto at Lake Toba is a small, unassuming stone affair. Large, volcanic stone mortared together, layer upon layer out of the calm surrounding water and leading to land. Two young men sit hoping for customers for their water-craft tourist experiences. I pause to talk with them. With only a month of… Continue reading Edi Long Hair
Practicing Language With My Grab Driver Who Is Also a Charismatic Pastor
Grab is the Indonesian (Southeastern Asia, really) equivalent of Uber. It’s practically pennies to get back and forth to most anywhere in the sprawling city of Medan and a lifesaver when every day the temperature and humidity wrestle with one another for dominance. I was invited by the waitress at the restaurant across the street… Continue reading Practicing Language With My Grab Driver Who Is Also a Charismatic Pastor
Lenten Beauty
It may at first seem counterintuitive, that in the midst of Lent we could find and enjoy beauty. But contrition and repentance are not the same thing at all as boringness or repetition or monotony or ugliness. If anything, our Lenten contemplations should drive us in part by comparison – the aching awareness of our… Continue reading Lenten Beauty
Drinking from a Firehose
It’s hard to believe we arrived in Medan two weeks ago. Although we feel so inadequate in terms of language, we’ve learned so much in such a short time. Like this post’s title, we’re at times overwhelmed by the process of learning a language and a culture as well as how to function in life… Continue reading Drinking from a Firehose
Hungry?
Looks good, doesn’t it? Incredibly ripe and fresh. You’d like one. You know it. How would you get it? You’d have to know what it is to begin with, what to call it and then where to find it. You’d do a near-invisible sorting of the many potential places in your area you even know… Continue reading Hungry?
Kevin
Our first full day in Medan included an outing to a nearby shopping center. It’s a five or six story mall filled with restaurants and stores and on the top level there’s a grocery store. Partly to practice our Bahasa Indonesia skills and partly out of necessity for some basic kitchen goods and partly out… Continue reading Kevin
Good Mooooorrrrnnniiinnnggggg Medan!
Hello and good morning from Medan, Sumatera, Indonesia! We arrived safely on our flight from Jakarta yesterday evening. We may not look terribly excited in the photo but we are – just weary as well! The sig behind us, as we exit the airport terminal in Medan, means Welcome (at least we think it does!)… Continue reading Good Mooooorrrrnnniiinnnggggg Medan!
Quarantine Day 4
Because they counted the day of our arrival in Indonesia – Wednesday February 9 – as our first day of quarantine even though we spent most of that day in the air – today is our last day of quarantine. The quarantine hotel informed us yesterday that sometime after 8am today we would be tested… Continue reading Quarantine Day 4
The Nelson Family Indonesia 