wrapping up

I'm back in Medan for one last night in Sumatra. The rest of the group went back except for me and Kellee, so we are just hanging out here, capitalizing on free wireless at Starbucks and delicious Indonesian food before we head back to the Bode tomorrow. It's been an incredible trip and I highly recommend Sumatra to anyone looking to travel in SE Asia. It's a bit more off the beaten path and we were able to avoid the throngs of tourists who are probably concentrated in Jakarta and other more mainstream spots in Indonesia (we also lucked out because it's not peak tourist season right now). My favorite parts of the trip:

*Trekking through the jungle all day, waking up in the jungle, trekking again and then rafting down the river back to town.

*Eating lunch on top of a volcano as the mist rolled through.

*Biking around Samosir Island with incredible views of Lake Toba.

*Eating Indonesian food. Spicy, delicious and definitely much tastier than Kmai food.

*Scrabble. Our group is incredibly competitive and my novice scrabble skills definitely paled in comparison to some of the veteran players. Add that to my list of things to try to master.

*Just spending time with other Peace Corps volunteers. There are a lot of things that no one will be able to understand about my two years in Cambodia except other PCV's. It's nice to be able to exchange our insights about the past two years, how we started, how far we've come, and how ambiguous the next chapter seems.

Tomorrow, it's back to Cambodia and straight back to site for Kmai New Year festivities. Not sure what it's going to entail this year, but hoping it's a bit more entertaining than last year...





Cooper, Nate, Jen, me and Kellee

traditional Batak architecture