On Saturday after our adventure to Huta Bayu Raja, we decided to treat ourselves to Pizza House, the only pizza restaurant in Siantar. Of course as we were ready to head out on foot, it began raining very hard. We waited for it to slow. By they it was dark, and as we headed out we saw new wildlife, including very friendly frogs!
We arrived at Pizza House after stumbling along through the dark and puddles. The sidewalks are hard enough to navigate in the light so it was a bit of a challenge to complete the trek. We decided to play it safe with our pizza ordering and got an "American original" and a "plain cheese"...not really an inspiring marketing title!
Our pizzas arrived, making Nancy very happy!
Jacob and I approved of the taste. We decided the locals would not like it because it was just spicy enough to be pizza, not blazing spicy hot, plus the crust is too much like bread, which is foreign to many.
Of course we had to have our picture taken with the staff. There were as many workers in this place as at Big Ed's. There were also motorbikes parked outside, so there were similarities.
They packed up our leftovers and put a nice ribbon around the box to use as a carrying handle.
The next day we woke up bright and early to go to church with Hanna. We met outside the Nommensen main gate to catch the right bus.
Hanna and Nancy looked over her Sunday School teacher book during the trip.
We passed by the traditional market, the one that sounds like "Passagoula" but that's not quite right. This is the one that is not quite as nice as the Passah Horus.
Things got cozy in the micro-bus, but it was a friendly largely church going crowd.
We reached our stop and walked through a little village. These children we eating their breakfast and watching the world go by.
Nancy was attracted to this message board because of her name at the bottom. It turned out to be a condolence card for someone who died.
This is Hanna's church of the GKPS protestant denomination.
Once we arrived it became clear to us that we were joining Hanna for the Sunday School class she teaches. She enlisted Jacob to help here carry a humongous white board into the sanctuary.
This is a banner hung prominently at the front of the church. It talks about the theme for the church year.
Jacob and Hanna went to work writing out the words to "This is the Day" in English, Bahasa Indonesia, and Batak. This is a very popular song here.
Here are the words in Bahasa Indonesia. We will be practicing it at St. Johns soon so get ready!
Hanna did a great job leading her SS class, which started out with 20 children of all ages, and ended up with at least 50 by the end of the hour. Like most other events, Indonesians don't generally arrive on time to SS.
Jacob led the class in the English language singing.
Of course we had to do "Love, Love, Love".
Here we are with all the SS children before the church service began. You can see us in our usual back row position.
I love this wider angle shot because it includes the elderly church member walking in on the left. I wanted to take his picture but I couldn't leave the group. The church was a family church with many members related to Hanna.
This is the hymn board. It also lists the Bible readings.
We hit the jackpot as it was a Baptism Day for two babies.
We had asked at other churches after not being able to find their baptismal fount, so we knew that the water was simply scooped out of a bowl, held by the church elder.
The mothers wore beautiful cobia dresses and the fathers were dressed in suits and ties.
The main pastor asked me to read the Gospel lesson as part of his sermon. I felt a bit underdressed for this, but I would have completely melted in a suit and tie. Of course the church was open air with no fans or AC.
Even with the microphone pointing straight up I still had to squat down a little to speak near it.
After I read the Gospel then the pastor let loose with his 30+ minute sermon. We always have to pay attention because they tend to throw in an English phrase every 10 minutes and then everyone looks at us. There is a comfortable sitting area just beyond the pulpit. I hoped they would let me sit there but no such luck.
One of the baptismal families wanted to have their picture taken with us afterwards. We will be stars in their photo album forever!
I wanted to get a full photo of the mother's cobia, as it is beautifully embroidered with a colorful sash adding a nice touch.
Afterwards we went back to the bus stop to go to Hanna's home. We waited quite some time and looked up to realize we were standing under a cocoa tree.
Right next to where we were waiting for the bus, there was the home of a poor family with many children. They were staring at Jacob until he tried to take their photo, and then they all retreated to the other side of the porch. A mother hen and her chicks pecked around on the ground near the children.
We finally crammed onto a micro-bus after walking a short distance, then got off and walked a bit more to reach Hanna's home. The home was beautifully decorated, with contrasting color arched doorways, nice columns and light pink floral tile on the floor. Hanna's family was there to greet us, including her mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Sitio, her sister Evi and brother Friando.
It turns out we are all school teachers, so another photo was required.
After returning home we made a quick trip to the Passah Horus for pineapple shopping. Nala did her usual great job in picking out the best ones.
A few cut pineapples were on display, covered with little bees. Nobody here is afraid of them and just brushes them away, so I wonder if they can actually sting you. I was not going to investigate myself.
Group photo at the watermelon stand. Ezra and Kristin accompanied us.
We arrived at Pizza House after stumbling along through the dark and puddles. The sidewalks are hard enough to navigate in the light so it was a bit of a challenge to complete the trek. We decided to play it safe with our pizza ordering and got an "American original" and a "plain cheese"...not really an inspiring marketing title!
Our pizzas arrived, making Nancy very happy!
Jacob and I approved of the taste. We decided the locals would not like it because it was just spicy enough to be pizza, not blazing spicy hot, plus the crust is too much like bread, which is foreign to many.
Of course we had to have our picture taken with the staff. There were as many workers in this place as at Big Ed's. There were also motorbikes parked outside, so there were similarities.
They packed up our leftovers and put a nice ribbon around the box to use as a carrying handle.
The next day we woke up bright and early to go to church with Hanna. We met outside the Nommensen main gate to catch the right bus.
Hanna and Nancy looked over her Sunday School teacher book during the trip.
We passed by the traditional market, the one that sounds like "Passagoula" but that's not quite right. This is the one that is not quite as nice as the Passah Horus.
Things got cozy in the micro-bus, but it was a friendly largely church going crowd.
We reached our stop and walked through a little village. These children we eating their breakfast and watching the world go by.
Nancy was attracted to this message board because of her name at the bottom. It turned out to be a condolence card for someone who died.
This is Hanna's church of the GKPS protestant denomination.
Once we arrived it became clear to us that we were joining Hanna for the Sunday School class she teaches. She enlisted Jacob to help here carry a humongous white board into the sanctuary.
This is a banner hung prominently at the front of the church. It talks about the theme for the church year.
Jacob and Hanna went to work writing out the words to "This is the Day" in English, Bahasa Indonesia, and Batak. This is a very popular song here.
Here are the words in Bahasa Indonesia. We will be practicing it at St. Johns soon so get ready!
Hanna did a great job leading her SS class, which started out with 20 children of all ages, and ended up with at least 50 by the end of the hour. Like most other events, Indonesians don't generally arrive on time to SS.
Jacob led the class in the English language singing.
Of course we had to do "Love, Love, Love".
Here we are with all the SS children before the church service began. You can see us in our usual back row position.
I love this wider angle shot because it includes the elderly church member walking in on the left. I wanted to take his picture but I couldn't leave the group. The church was a family church with many members related to Hanna.
This is the hymn board. It also lists the Bible readings.
We hit the jackpot as it was a Baptism Day for two babies.
We had asked at other churches after not being able to find their baptismal fount, so we knew that the water was simply scooped out of a bowl, held by the church elder.
The mothers wore beautiful cobia dresses and the fathers were dressed in suits and ties.
The main pastor asked me to read the Gospel lesson as part of his sermon. I felt a bit underdressed for this, but I would have completely melted in a suit and tie. Of course the church was open air with no fans or AC.
Even with the microphone pointing straight up I still had to squat down a little to speak near it.
After I read the Gospel then the pastor let loose with his 30+ minute sermon. We always have to pay attention because they tend to throw in an English phrase every 10 minutes and then everyone looks at us. There is a comfortable sitting area just beyond the pulpit. I hoped they would let me sit there but no such luck.
One of the baptismal families wanted to have their picture taken with us afterwards. We will be stars in their photo album forever!
I wanted to get a full photo of the mother's cobia, as it is beautifully embroidered with a colorful sash adding a nice touch.
Afterwards we went back to the bus stop to go to Hanna's home. We waited quite some time and looked up to realize we were standing under a cocoa tree.
Right next to where we were waiting for the bus, there was the home of a poor family with many children. They were staring at Jacob until he tried to take their photo, and then they all retreated to the other side of the porch. A mother hen and her chicks pecked around on the ground near the children.
We finally crammed onto a micro-bus after walking a short distance, then got off and walked a bit more to reach Hanna's home. The home was beautifully decorated, with contrasting color arched doorways, nice columns and light pink floral tile on the floor. Hanna's family was there to greet us, including her mother and father, Mr. and Mrs. Sitio, her sister Evi and brother Friando.
It turns out we are all school teachers, so another photo was required.
After returning home we made a quick trip to the Passah Horus for pineapple shopping. Nala did her usual great job in picking out the best ones.
A few cut pineapples were on display, covered with little bees. Nobody here is afraid of them and just brushes them away, so I wonder if they can actually sting you. I was not going to investigate myself.
Group photo at the watermelon stand. Ezra and Kristin accompanied us.
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