Arrived to Medan, Sumatra


After 23 hours or so, I finally arrived here in Medan. Thank goodness for the Gameboy and the new Legend of Zelda game. I could of spent another 10 hours sitting on that plane with that game.


We feel a bit like celebrities here. We are wearing these bright yellow shirts that translate to “Volunteer Aceh”. People wave, honk, want to talk and stop us asking us how they can help.

Lot’s of English speakers. Unbelievable how well many of them can speak and how willfull they are to help. Americans could learn a lot from these people.

The country is predominately Muslim, so there are some things to get used to. The loud speaker eminating prayers from the Mosque at 3:30 in the morning is not the greatest. I also like the arrow on the ceiling of each room in the hotel letting us know which direction is Mecca. When we first got in, there was a lizard on our ceiling and he was also point to Mecca. Funny.

Also, there are like no street lights. Traffic just flows. Each car and motorbike use their horn to communicate their intentions. Honk to cut in front, to let someone know you are there, to warn another, to say hi, etc. I don’t think our car stopped the entire time from the airport to the hotel. It is just a big set of merging and splitting. My favorite maneuver was the “drive on the opposite side of the road, then honk when we are heading into a head on collision, while a motorbike try’s to merge in from our right. Then honk again.”


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