Views of Siantar

We checked out Siantar on Google Earth today and were disappointed. How come you can see our house and church on Google Earth but basically nothing from Siantar? There were a few photos, and a map with very little detail, and that was it. I guess we'll have to submit some more photos during our time there.

Based on what we found on Google Earth, there's a great deal of traffic in Siantar. If you don't hear from us for a long time, it could be that we are stuck in traffic. Here's some of the images we found:

Currency Conversion

Did you know that 10 US Dollars is the equivalent of 86,150 Indonesian Rupiahs? We better get our math brains in gear!

So here's a test. How much is the bill above worth in USD? While you're at it you can start learning your Indonesian numbers...100,000 is Seratus ribu.

Background Information of Interest

To gain insight into the world we will joining, check out this address:

http://www.lutheran.edu.au/tools/getFile.aspx?tbl=tblContentItem&id=1512 .

The article makes for very interesting reading.

Our Home Away From Home

Here are some photos of our abode to be in Indonesia. We don't have any more detail than this, so it's quite intriguing. The pictures were taken by the missionary coordinator for Southeast Asia of the ELCA. We are very excited to have a place provided for us during this adventure.


This is the exterior view, no idea of the surroundings except the trees in the background would seem to indicate it's not in the middle of a big city.






Here's a view of one of the restrooms. A confirmation of running water!




The Purple Haze kitchen. To the far right is the two burner propane stove. I like the nice clean tile and stainless sink.

The formal living room, complete with formal furniture. I can't wait to check this place out!

Visas Have Arrived!

Today our passports returned home (to us) and now include our Indonesia visas. This makes the trip seem even more real, and with just a few weeks until departure it's time to get serious in our planning.

To help you pinpont our pending location, this first map gets you in the ballpark. Sumatra is the biggest island of Indonesia and is on the lefthand side.

The second map shows Sumatra in detail. Find the large word "NORTH" above the U in Sumata. Just to the right of this is the location for Nommensen University, the city of Pematangsiantar.

Preparing for Indonesia

We are working on our Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian language) and our visas in preparation for our trip at the end of June. Nancy and I are a bit more excited about the trip than Jacob, but that is to be expected. We have a great deal to learn in a short bit of time so it should be an exciting June around here!

A Guide to our Egypt Posts

If you are reading these posts following our return, here is a guide to sorting through them in order.

For a chronological reading of our "real time" posts from Egypt, scroll down and look on the right hand side under "Blog Archive". Click on the June 2010 section and then scan down the green titles on the right hand side until you find "Arrived Safely". This is the beinning of the trip in Cairo, and this set of posts go up the list and end with "Last Day in Cairo".

But there's more! Upon returning to United States (and convenient high speed internet access), we posted a large number of photos. To review these in chronological order, begin (still in the June 2010 section) with "Photo Review First Day Cairo Highlights" and continue up through the remainder of the posts.