Some Final Thoughts...About the Jungle

In the craziness, laughter, and challenges physically, there were moments where I had to pause was reminded first that I was actually trekking through the Sumatran Jungle, and second, that the God who created the breath-taking views that surrounded me is the same God who has me in the palm of my hand, and knows not only what these next few months hold, but also has planned what I will be doing next semester. One can do a lot of thinking while they are drenched in sweat, dehydrated and physically spent. Since I found out I was coming to Indonesia about a year ago, I viewed January as a huge drop off. I knew I was coming here, and that was great, but I had no idea what my future would hold. Now, January is still an unknown, but God is faithful and I can see that he is slowly filling in that gap. As I continue to pray for guidance in what exactly I should do next semester, I have to pause once again and bask in the peace that passes all understanding and praise Him that he is not a God of worry and chaos, but he rather the blessed controller of all things.

Chapter Five: Welcome Back Jungle Trekkers!

We spent the evening just hanging out with one another, we attempted Phase 10 once again, and I was able to redeem myself from the previous pathetic attempt. We laughed a lot and reflected on the amazing day. The next morning, we had breakfast, packed up and headed back out on the path we had taken only 36 hours before. Around 10:00am we boarded another Jungle Bus to head down the mountain to the Tiara Hotel in Medan complete with a pool, hot showers and plenty of towels. The ride down was not nearly as painful as the ride up was. It was really cool to get to see the scenery during the day. The road was just as bumpy, but this was time also ridden with cattle, children with air guns, and a pig. It was the holiday for the local people, and every year at this time, the little boys get a new plastic gun. They were everywhere: on top of buses, and in the middle of the road. We safely arrived in Medan after a long three hours.Our first destination in Medan, unfortunately, was a Crocodile Farm that Pak Barhum recommended. It cost only 50 cents to get in and see groups of thirty crocodiles stuffed into 12X10 foot shallow pens. It was one of the most disturbing things I have ever seen. I have no doubt that if our friend Mr. Steve Irwin had really been on the trip with us, he would have been appauled at this sight. At the Crocodile Farm were also other animals including puppies, some monkeys, and a couple snakes. We left that place a little traumatized and rather speechless.There is nothing that compares to walking into an air conditioned hotel after a couple days in the nice humid jungle. The Tiara Hotel was an excellent way to finish up our trip. That night we went down the street to a huge fancy mall. We walked around and did some window shopping, then decided it was time for dinner. We decided to try out a Korean Restaurant. After a twenty minute wait, we were seated at a round table in the back corner, and within minutes the waiters were bombarding us with trays of food for us to choose from. It was extremely stressful, and they kept coming throughout the entire meal. It was very good food, my favorite dish was the soft shell crab.The rest of the night was spent playing Phase 10, we were determined to get to Phase 10. There was a lot of laughing, some trash talking, a little bit of bullying, and a lot of storytelling. At 1:00 in the morning we had finally reached Phase 10! We would be okay if we never saw that game again:)

Chapter Four: Indonesian Bubba, Extreme Trekking and a "Compliment," with a cherry on top!

There are hardly words to adequately describe the trekking experience. It was kind of like extreme hiking, steep slopes, slippery rocks, huge trees, twisting vines, enormously large ants, orangutans swinging in from all places, waterfalls, flowers, not to mention the interesting men who were our guides and the humidity that truly took our breath away. I have never sweat more in my whole life, Lordy it was hot! For the scenery and the experience though, it was worth it. I took some pretty nice falls and got pretty dirty and gross, I felt like a true Jungle Trekker, and sort of even looked the part (Abby you would be proud).

The nine of us were in the hands of three jungle men. The lead guy, whose name none of us could remember, had long black hair, a gotee, and a cigarrette in hand at all times. He wore a shirt with the sleeves cut off, cut-off shorts and flip flops. Fortunately he knew English, so he was able to tell us about the orangutans as well as the different plants and other animals in the forest. Quite the knowledgable fellow. I would say he is the Sumatran equivalent of Bubba, the maintenance man at the Sea Scape Resort. At the end of our journey, the most perilous section, I was bringing up the rear along with Jungle Man. I forgot until we hit the steep slope heading down to the river that I have a slight fear of heights, ok, a pretty significant fear of heights. Which apparently can make the fear of slipping and falling to a painful death a little more scary. During the 45 minutes we spent repeling down the mountain with nothing to really hold on to but roots and vines, my heart was pounding and the pressure to find the right footholds was made greater with Jungle Man telling me the whole time "Slow is best, ya? You go down backwards, ya?" Nonetheless, after eight hours of intense hiking, good stories, friendly visits from the orangutans, and indescribable views, we had successfully reached the river that would take us back to the Jungle Inn.

Never before have I wanted to go swimming so much, what a refreshing end to such a long journey. After a couple spills on the rocks, some splashing around and nearly getting swept downstream by the strong current, we got into the rafts that turned out to be inner tubes tied together. Funny story: I was aware, prior to my arrival in this country, that I was going to stick out. Not just because of the white skin, but because I would tower over 3/4 the population. Up until the moment we took our places in the raft, I hadn't faced too much discrimination, some stares, yes, but no blatant comments. I had planned to ride in the two person raft with Jennie. As I began to jump on, one of our guides ran over and said, "No, you go in the other one. You too big." It didn't end there. I got up and moved to the other raft and began to get in behind Emma, and once again the same guide said, "No, no. You sit here, you have special figure, must sit here." How does one respond to that, especially with the language barrier it was clear he wasn't meaning to hurt my feelings or anything. He wasn't aware of what he was saying, which allowed me to maintain a laid back attitude and respond with a "Well, I'm gonna take that as a compliment...praise God I have a 'special figure.'"

Finally, after we were all situated in the rafts, we headed down the river hoping to beat the storm cloud that had began to form as soon as we got out of the jungle. The rapids were true white water rapids. The ride was amazing! Definitely my favorite part of the day. It was about thirty minutes before we were back where we started earlier that morning. To top it all off, at the entrance to the reserve was a mother orangutan with her baby. That was one thing I was hoping to see before the day was done, and it was a perfect ending to an amazing day.

Chapter Three: Breakfast- Complimentary Creepy Crawlies and Sour Bean Milk

I awoke the next morning to find a nice giant spider in the bathroom, a bonus that they failed to inform us was included with the room:) After dousing myself in 100% deet and sunscreen and donning my polka dot bandanna, I was ready to tackle the jungle. Every jungle trekker needs a good breakfast to fuel them for the treacherous journey ahead of them. Good thing the Jungle Inn puts extra protein in their pineapple juice, yep there were some nice little orange bugs in my pineapple juice, but no worries because risk-taking Molly laughs in the face of swallowing unidentified insects. After breakfast we headed down to the river to go to orangutan reserve. We had to take a canoe across the river. It was hooked to cables, and was navigated by a man in his skivvies. Quite the sight at 8:00am in the morning, but also a rather nifty way to get across the river.

When we got to the other side it was breakfast time for the orangutans. There were a couple in cages when we first entered the reserve. We hiked further into the jungle to a platform where a dominant female name Suma was coming to eat. She was quite the character, giving us the eye every once in a while as she at her 25 bananas and dumped out her cup of sour bean milk. We found out later that she was pregnant which explained some of her moodiness and...eating habits. I had watched a show on Animal Planet a month or so ago on which Steve Irwin visited this same place. In honor of him, Emma and I had fun adding commentary to the amazing creatures we were going to observe. I will try and get footage of that, as humiliating as it will probably be:)

After visiting Suma, we separated from the rest of the tourists and embarked on our eight hour trek through the Sumatran Jungle.

Chapter Two: Swiss Family Robinson with a Hippi Twist

We took a bus up the mountain for almost three hours.
Nine teachers
three very interesting guides
no AC
four wheeled drive road
no leg room
anti-motion sickness pills
Indonesian music
rooftop riding

This is what made this particular leg of the journey unforgettable. When we finally got to Bukit Lawang and were dropped off by the bus, our friendly guides took us on a "10 minute walk, good for body." It was more of a twenty minute hike back through the Kampung until we finally reached the Jungle Inn. Jennie split us up by birth date, two to a room. Alyssa and I got the best room. We had read on the blog about a room that was literally built into the side of a mountain, with a balcony and a hammock right next to a waterfall. That was exactly how it was. The Jungle Inn is by no means a four star resort, although Pak Bahrum would beg to differ, but it is a pretty awesome place.

It really looks like the house on Swiss Family Robinson, fully equipped with jungle men playing guitars and singing Pearl Jam. It was 12:00am when we arrived at the Jungle Inn and we were scheduled to begin the day at 7:30 that morning. That night I fell asleep to the sound of the waterfall wondering/fearing exactly what the "jungle trek" would entail.

Chapter One: Christmas Trees, Tears and Shrink Wrap

This trip came at the best and worst time. The combination of being sick the weekend before and missing out on two whole days to get up for the following week and starting my first week of teaching full time made for one of the most difficult weeks since I have been here. Lessons were tough, the to-do list was long, and my energy level was low. I left school on Thursday burnt out, discouraged and about ready to quit. God is good though, he knew that I needed not only a break away from school to recharge, but an adventure that would challenge all the things I never thought I was cut out for.
We successfully left the school at 11:45am on our way to Jakarta. Jennie planned to use various discriminating tactics to make sure the taxi rides and room placements were random. So all the tall people rode in one car, and the shorter people in another:) The ride to Jakarta was really fun. We agreed to try only to talk about school unless absolutely necessary. This provided for quite the conversation in the vertically blessed taxi:) We talked about everything from car accidents to Christmas Trees! Praise God for hardly any traffic, we were able to get to Jakarta in about 2 1/2 hours, which got us to the airport with about three hours to spare.
While waiting for our turn to check in, we sat on the floor near a machine that shrink wrapped luggage. It was rather fascinating to see the items that people wanted shrink wrapped, still not quite sure what the purpose of that was, but it was entertaining nonetheless.
In the three hours we had to wait, we filled the time by playing the game Phase 10. Who would have thought that that game would have become a theme of the trip, and the bane of my existence. Seriously, it was awful. The object of the game is to get through ten phases of card combinations, if you don't, then you collect points throughout the game for cards you have left over. Apparently, the object of the game for Molly was to fail miserably and rack up more points than all the other players combined. It took about four or five rounds for me to finally make it to Phase 2.
We were able to check in without any issues, and got on the plane without elbowing too many Grandma's in the process. On domestic flights there are no assigned seats, so it is a free-for-all when the lady announces that the plane is boarding. We ended up sitting relatively close to each other, and the majority of the flight was spent resting up for the crazy bus ride that awaited us in Medan.

Coming Soon: Chapter One of the Sumatran Jungle Adventure

We have safely returned from the Sumatran Jungle with some bug bites, some sore muscles, and hilarious stories galore! From the physical challenge of trekking in the jungle for eight hours and getting to see some of the most breath-taking views of God's creation to the hilarious moments and amazing conversations with with my brother and sisters in Christ, this trip changed my world. Stay tuned to the Sumatran Jungle Adventure Series!

Insert National Geographic Theme Song Here

The jungle adventure begins tomorrow afternoon. As soon as that clock hits 11:45am, nine anxious teachers will be piling into taxis on their way to Jakarta to catch a plane that leaves at 5:55pm for Medan on the island of Sumatra. We will then all pile into one...yes one...van and head four hours up the mountain to The Jungle Inn. The next morning we will eat breakfast before we go watch our distant relatives chow down on their breakfast at the Orangutan Reserve. After feeding, we will embark on a six...yes six...hour "jungle trek" in hopes of seeing more of our distant relatives. You may think the adventure ends there, but it most certainly does not! At the end of our "trek" we will be white water rafting down the river back to the orangutan reserve. After one more night at The Jungle Inn, we will head back to Medan, but not without stopping at the crocodile farm first:) Saturday night we will stay at a hotel and head back to Jakarta on Sunday morning. That is the itinerary, and you may be asking yourself "why in the world is Molly Evans going on a trip like this?" I have been asking myself that same question...and the answer is because Indonesia has turned me into a risk taker, and I live with an adventurous roommate who is very persuasive:) Plus, I am an Evans and adventure...or disaster in some cases... is inevitable on any vacation, so why not take a chance in the jungle?
I hope to return on Sunday with amazing pictures and tons of hilarious stories. Please be praying for safety and health for all of us who are going:)

Recovering from what felt like death...

If you all were readers of my blog from Ecuador, you probably remember how sick I got. I was certain that nothing would top that horrible experience, but I was wrong. Friday after lunch I started to feel pretty nauseous, and then by the end of school was hardly able to think I felt so gross. The rest of the evening consisted of me getting sick almost every twenty minutes...not exaggerating. It was awful. I don't get sick very often and I especially don't get the upset stomach kind of sick, but this most certainly tops the charts. I had heard of a lot of people in the past having to go to the hospital due to dehydration after an extreme case of Bandung Belly. I was almost sure that was going to have to be me, because there was nothing left in my body, and just the thought of putting something in it made me get sick. That night I got a little bit of sleep, and the next day felt a little better, but still couldn't keep anything down. Spent the day on the couch watching a marathon that could have been called "Random/Awful Movies from the 90's." This morning I feel a lot better. Pretty weak because I have nothing in my system, but much better. I have never been that sick before in my life, and hope that it was the first and last time I have to experience it.
In other news, this past week was great! I took over almost everything except Language Arts. All my lessons went well, I think the fifth grade has finally figured out a routine that works. Next week I start my six weeks of teaching by myself...kind of scary, but I will be fine.
Also, this Thursday we head to the Sumatran Jungle to hang out with the Orangutans. We have all been taking our Malaria meds, and are ready for what will most definitely be an adventure!