YA LEUM 32–2 weeks in Lake Toba, life on the island
The sight from our tent was amazing. When we set the tent outside, we didn’t even notice how special the place we chose was. The friendly girl who woke us up by the morning was responsible for the place… I thought she was going to ask us to leave. Yet, I was wrong. She invited us for a coffee. We prepared the breakfast with whatever we had. We bought some passion fruits and pineapple and our friend brought something from the kitchen. And we prepared a breakfast that lasted for 4 hours.
My knee was still seriously hurting… But the sun was shining strongly, the sun was painted with a joyful blue and we had the most beautiful sight of the entire island.
Our new friend welcomed us as if it was her home.
Meet Stefanie: a happy, strong, young, and hardworking woman.
We told stories, talked about our life, ate pancakes, laughed out loud, and, in the end, Stefanie said: “You guys should stay here! I am so happy to have met you! Then we can have breakfast again. And there is no need for you to stay in your tent. We have plenty of rooms”.
That place was a little paradise on the island. We were on an empty guesthouse, which was mainly used to host the conferences of the Municipality of Lake Toba. Stefanie managed both the events and the rooms… but lately, she had no guests.
Right on that day, we visited the best local doctor. Yet, the best doctor wasn’t even able to get me an x-ray. He wrapped my leg with bandage, told me to avoid moving and to wait for it to get better.
I was in terrible pain and really worried about it being something serious. The only thing appeasing me was the fact that the doctor said “it isn’t broken! It will get right soon!”.
I was not happy with the answer and I’m a huge fan of local medicine, thus I asked Stefanie for a traditional doctor on the island.
She called her mother, who called a friend to find out this lady who is a masseuse and helps people who suffer from several diseases.
The path to get there was not the best, first due to how hard it was to follow the GPS and because I felt even more pain sitting on the motorcycle.
When we arrived at the address, a lady who was about 70 years-old welcomed us, smiling but speaking no English.
After I got to the waiting room, our new doctor had to call the neighbor, who called another person to get my illness translated.
Then, she took me to her little room, we sat on the floor, and Mathieu gave me his hand while she started to feel my knee.
I couldn’t stretch out my leg due to the pain but she kept massaging a point right below my knee, to get me to relax some of my leg muscles. However, it was terribly painful.
She told Mathieu to hold my hand and started to press my leg even harder.
That’s when I started to scream and cry due to the pain. I cried like I never cried before. She kept massaging the exact same spot… Mathieu, on his turn, was feeling as much pain as me…
This experience lasted for about 45 minutes. When she was over, I could actually stretch out my leg a lot more. I was still far from being fine but I was not feeling as bad as when I entered there.
My new 70-years old Indonesian masseuse called her neighbor again, so that she would call her friend with a new translation request.
“You have to return in ten days. You have to massage those spots every day. And avoid walking”.
Lake Toba is a calm island, with few tourists and an irresistible charm. We did not know what we would find there but with my knee in this state, it was clear that we were not leaving soon.
We went back to our new home, where Stefanie got us a very nice room with a stunning view.
And thus, life began on the island.
Mathieu bought a pineapple and massaged me every day and day in, day out, he would go out to get some passion fruits with the neighbor.
We would eat at the few open restaurants when it was possible or cooked on our little stove or in the main kitchen.
We worked on our computers on the most beautiful coffee of the island and we spent our nights with Stefanie, her husband, and their children.
One day, Stefanie asked us out to visit her family on a different part of the island. “I have spoken a lot about you to my parents. They would like to meet you guys!”.
It was Sunday, a family day. And there we went, to have lunch.
We sat on the floor, Stefanie’s mother brought all the good things Indonesia had to offer, and we spent our entire afternoon there.
For the mid-afternoon snack, Mathieu and I planned to bake a cake!
“Do you have a place to bake a cake?” — we naively asked.
“Of course, let me get the oven”, she promptly answered.
“Let me get the oven?! Is it mobile? Isn’t an oven supposed to be something big?”.
I could not be more wrong. Fooled by my way of seeing the world.
Stefanie’s mother confidently brought a sealed casserole, which was to be placed on the top of the stove…
When she left the kitchen, I burst out laughing because we had already made the base of the cake and I was almost sure the casserole was not going to work.
Yet again, I was completely wrong!
We baked not one but two cakes! And the chocolate cake was actually better than the previous ones.
At the end of the day, Stefanie’s parents offered us a fabric that is traditional in their culture, the Batak culture, to be used around the neck.
The exchanged goodbyes as if we knew each other for a long time. We left with a full heart and grateful for the people we met.
Stefanie’s mother is happy, sweet, full of energy, and friendly. Her father is a calm man, who is also tender, fun, and resourceful.
On the next week, there was a regional conference with the government leaders of Lake Toba. It was an important event for the city. There was a lot to organize: rooms to clean, get the beds ready, organize the chairs and tables, and prepare both the lunch and dinner.
During these preparation days, we prepared the garden with seasonal flowers and Mathieu and other young people cleaned the dead plants.
When the big day came, we organized ourselves like a true team. The meeting point was in the kitchen, which was where we would note what was left to do and identify the things that were not going as they should.
Lunchtime was my favorite part of the day because Stefanie’s mother was the cook!
She cooked the best hot tomato sauce with tofu I ever ate. Once again, we sat on the floor, ate using our hands, which only makes it better, and I was invaded by a moment of deep happiness and gratefulness for having these people in our world.
Everyone played a part in it! We, Stefanie, her parents, and all the young people there worked on the guesthouse!
On the next days, Stefanie asked us to share our testimonial as visitors with the students from several schools!
We could never deny such request, and, at this point of the journey, we had already done it a few times.
One of the times, we organized two days with plenty of activities and games for the students from a school of the island. They slept in the same guesthouse we did, thus it was twice the fun.
When we said goodbye, we took many pictures and for the first time in my life, someone asked me for an autograph! We gave autographs to 45 children! It was fun!
On our second experience, we visited a school that was coming from Medan for a weekend in Lake Toba. We shared some of our traveling experiences, about school, and our jobs. We talked about our dreams and the things we still wanted to do. The students also asked for our autographs… I started to wonder if it was something usual in North Sumatra.
Days went by and we still had no plan to leave. We were feeling good and, for the first time, I was exactly where I wanted to, doing exactly as I wished: nothing.
We were already known on the island, the restaurant lady, the pineapple seller, the passion fruit neighbor, the owner of the stationary shop, the owner of the coffee with the best fried banana, and the workers of the most charming hotel of that region.
Life was calm, people had a broad smile, there was no rush in their lifestyle, which is the opposite of the city where I live today. There, a smile says “You’re welcome here”.
I felt at home all the time, there. I made a new friend. And, once again, I learned how we are all alike.
Stefanie is like me, in another country.
Once again, someone opened the door of their house and their family to welcome a stranger.
Today, I still bring Stefanie in my heart. We still talk and I always want to know how life is going on the island.
October 2017,
Patricia Assis
