I don’t know if I’ve told you about my neighbors. Oh, my sweet, sweet neighbors. Next to my house, there is a kos. A kos is like a dorm, with young people renting rooms and sharing a main living area, kitchen, etc. Well, most of the students that live in this kos belong to the Batak tribe. If you spend much time on this island, or in this country for that matter, you’ll quickly understand the reputation that follows this tribe. To be honest, most of them seem to be quite proud of the loud, overpowering, sometimes stubborn, almost manic preconceived notions that characterize the people of their culture. It’s true though. Most of the time, I really enjoy these Batak people. They are a little more my style than the quiet, reserved, always so gracious people from another tribe here. Now, of course, with everyone on the planet, sometimes you just need a break.
My neighbors, while I love them, sometimes drive me crazy. They love to sing, LOUDLY. It does not matter how much or little talent you have either. Most people here, they have some mad guitar skills. Seriously, it’s impressive. I can handle that. They are loud, no doubt, but I generally stay up later than they do, so I have a hour or two of quiet after they’ve gone to sleep.
What I didn’t anticipate is what noise filled my room a few weeks ago. It’s pretty early in the morning, maybe around 7ish. I wake up to a new noise, almost like a recorder. Who plays a recorder that isn’t in elementary school or a music education class ? I don’t know. I remember my roommate learning to play some songs on one while we were in college. Good times, ha! Anywayssssss, that’s what I hear at 7 a.m. Not only that, but in all seriousness, it is the theme from “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.” I kid you not. Although mornings aren’t my favorite, I laughed out loud at the reality of what was actually happening at that moment.
As far as the weeks after that, it became less and less amusing, until this weekend. We went to one of the treasures of this country – a beautiful lake only a few hours from my house.
See what I mean? Gorgeous. The photographs don’t even come close to doing it justice. We went for one of my national friend’s birthday. I did a lot sitting, a lot of reading, a lot of coffee drinking, and a lot of listening to Father’s voice. We even went out on bikes and explored a little. We ate some of the most delicious fresh fish. It was wonderful. One of my favorite parts was Saturday night. They had a traditional Batak song and dance night. Around 7 p.m., 5 beautiful girls and a full band showed up. We sang, danced, laughed, and had an awesome time.
It was in the midst of all of this carrying on that I noticed one of the instruments…somewhat foreign in appearance, but the sound was so very familiar…the recorder. Well, the village version. All of a sudden, the annoying sound I hear every morning became very different. Now, don’t get me wrong, it will still be less than welcomed sometimes, but I see where it comes from. Honestly, I see where the people come from. You see, there are about 3 million people that live in my city with me – my loud, harsh, overbearing, very crowded city. Those people aren’t far removed from this place though - the village.
And in seeing where they came from, I understand more and more about them. The more I know them, the more I love them. The same is true of our Father. The more I know Him, the more I love Him. Out of that also, the more I know Him, the more I love them. In knowing Him and knowing them, I grow to love them more and more.
As I was a participant in one of the traditional dances, one of the sweetest old men I’ve ever met spoke to us (in English, impressively!) about the meaning of one the the words in the Batak language here. Each tribe, aside from knowing the national language, also has a tribal language. I’ve heard them use “Horas!” as a greeting, but I’m not sure if anyone had ever explained to me the full meaning. Come to find out, it’s because it can mean just about whatever you want it to mean, “’Horas!’ can mean ‘Hello, Greetings, Good to see you, Good luck, Good-bye…”
For me, it served as a precious reminder of the rich beauty of these people and this culture. What a good Father to give such a real reminder of His goodness in this place. What a great privilege it is to serve Him all the days of my life! And although there is an ocean between me and much that I love, I know that I would never have traded moments like that night.
My neighbors, while I love them, sometimes drive me crazy. They love to sing, LOUDLY. It does not matter how much or little talent you have either. Most people here, they have some mad guitar skills. Seriously, it’s impressive. I can handle that. They are loud, no doubt, but I generally stay up later than they do, so I have a hour or two of quiet after they’ve gone to sleep.
What I didn’t anticipate is what noise filled my room a few weeks ago. It’s pretty early in the morning, maybe around 7ish. I wake up to a new noise, almost like a recorder. Who plays a recorder that isn’t in elementary school or a music education class ? I don’t know. I remember my roommate learning to play some songs on one while we were in college. Good times, ha! Anywayssssss, that’s what I hear at 7 a.m. Not only that, but in all seriousness, it is the theme from “The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly.” I kid you not. Although mornings aren’t my favorite, I laughed out loud at the reality of what was actually happening at that moment.
As far as the weeks after that, it became less and less amusing, until this weekend. We went to one of the treasures of this country – a beautiful lake only a few hours from my house.
See what I mean? Gorgeous. The photographs don’t even come close to doing it justice. We went for one of my national friend’s birthday. I did a lot sitting, a lot of reading, a lot of coffee drinking, and a lot of listening to Father’s voice. We even went out on bikes and explored a little. We ate some of the most delicious fresh fish. It was wonderful. One of my favorite parts was Saturday night. They had a traditional Batak song and dance night. Around 7 p.m., 5 beautiful girls and a full band showed up. We sang, danced, laughed, and had an awesome time.
It was in the midst of all of this carrying on that I noticed one of the instruments…somewhat foreign in appearance, but the sound was so very familiar…the recorder. Well, the village version. All of a sudden, the annoying sound I hear every morning became very different. Now, don’t get me wrong, it will still be less than welcomed sometimes, but I see where it comes from. Honestly, I see where the people come from. You see, there are about 3 million people that live in my city with me – my loud, harsh, overbearing, very crowded city. Those people aren’t far removed from this place though - the village.
And in seeing where they came from, I understand more and more about them. The more I know them, the more I love them. The same is true of our Father. The more I know Him, the more I love Him. Out of that also, the more I know Him, the more I love them. In knowing Him and knowing them, I grow to love them more and more.
As I was a participant in one of the traditional dances, one of the sweetest old men I’ve ever met spoke to us (in English, impressively!) about the meaning of one the the words in the Batak language here. Each tribe, aside from knowing the national language, also has a tribal language. I’ve heard them use “Horas!” as a greeting, but I’m not sure if anyone had ever explained to me the full meaning. Come to find out, it’s because it can mean just about whatever you want it to mean, “’Horas!’ can mean ‘Hello, Greetings, Good to see you, Good luck, Good-bye…”
For me, it served as a precious reminder of the rich beauty of these people and this culture. What a good Father to give such a real reminder of His goodness in this place. What a great privilege it is to serve Him all the days of my life! And although there is an ocean between me and much that I love, I know that I would never have traded moments like that night.
Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws,
we wait for you;
your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts.
Isaiah 26:8
No comments:
Post a Comment