Time Flies

Another week has sped by here in Sumatra!

I really can’t believe how fast it’s going.

This week was supposedly our relaxing week after the Jungle Trek, but it’s still been extraordinarily busy – or I suppose ordinarily busy as there’s never a dull moment here.

Every afternoon I helped delivering our Youth Ranger Programme to our students – lots and lots of painty feet. This was made a little more exciting on Friday when a Scorpion decided to join our lesson. Lots of barefoot children turning over pots and trying to find the pictures we had hidden with a Scorpion lurking nearby made for a real Western Health and Safety nightmare. Here though, it’s just another day at school!

Wednesday we had our first Kickboxing class, followed by karaoke! My arms hurt the next day!

One of my favourite classes this week was my teenage group on Friday, who I was teaching about jobs. This week my class was all girls and every single one of them had a dream career- Doctor, Lawyer, Policewoman. Every single one of them also told me that their mother was a housewife. I really really hope that these girls don’t loose their dreams as they grow up and the pressure to get married increases. And I will do my best to ensure that they don’t, but it sometimes feels like we are battling with culture here.

The girl who used to do my job has returned to Sumatra this week, with lots of energy and a huge welcome from everyone here. I had been worried about meeting her – She created very big shoes to fill! But it was actually such a relief to meet someone who has done this job before and to realise that many of the pitfalls we face here are indeed just the inevitable pitfalls of trying to run a small charity in a conservative culture on a tiny budget, rather than our own mistakes.

On Friday evening, we headed to the ‘Night Market’, which I naively assumed was a market at night. No no. The Night Market is the Indonesian equivalent of the Hoppins, only with much much older and more terrifying looking ride and no loud music to hide the sound of the struggling engines. Here, you can win exciting prizes on ring tosses- such as plastic cups, laundry detergent, or if you are really lucky a broken looking stove. You can also fish for live fish – I was very glad they didn’t have a hook a duck equivalent. The most extraordinary bit of the night market however was the motorbikes.

You pay 10,000 rupiah to climb up a rather unstable ladder to the viewing gallery, where you look down in to the motorbike ring. Then, once the show begins, four bikers (barefoot and without helmets of course) drive up the side of the ring and grab money from your hands at the top. As the show went on the stunts became increasingly dangerous – driving with no hands, driving with one leg in the air, driving lying down. I have to say I was very relieved when the show ended and everyone was still alive. The noise and the fumes in the ring were also incredible! I was quite impressed that two of the drivers were female however! Go girls I suppose?

Yesterday, we joined our kindergarten on a trip to a nearby competition. The day was off to a bumpy start when our Oplet turned up half an hour late and we had to sit on the roof due to the lack of seats inside! But luckily we made it to the competition just before the national anthem (and balloon throwing??) began.

While most of Kindergarten were there for a colouring contest, many of those attending were also entering a traditional fashion show. The costumes were something else entirely, each one from a different Indonesian culture. Some of our students were a little stage shy, but on the whole the day was a great success – I’ll let the photos speak for themselves!!

Yesterday afternoon we watched the Rugby here at the Trust – converting one of our classroom into a viewing area! Later, we headed out to a traditional Indonesian BBQ – I’m getting better at eating with my hands! We had planned on an early night, but the rain had other ideas and we were trapped at the pub until about 1am! Eventually we made it home a little soggy and headed to bed.

Today is a day of much needed rest, laundry and reading! Although I wouldn’t be surprised if plans change – they tend to do that rapidly here!