We had a mixed day today. A pretty good flight into Medan. At this stage a 1.5 hour plane ride seems like a walk in the park. The scale of things has really changed....much smaller, much grittier. For instance, your belongings go through the security machine and land on the floor in a melee of people. After lining up for our visas, we found our luggage was already gathered by a KEEN porter who we then had to chase after to keep up with, while we moved from the arrivals to the departures area for our next flight.
We had some time to spare so we ventured into the city of Medan. Note - we had no knowledge of the Indonesian language or even how to parrot the word 'airport' back to the taxi driver. However, we made friends with our driver Tom, who gave us his phone number so we could call him back for the return trip to the airport.
We walked about Medan, slightly nervous, as we were carrying the laptops, while dodging traffic and taking it all in. We don't know how it happened but the minus of the day was that Dawna lost her wallet. Yes, you read that right, the sad news is Dawna has no wallet, no money, no credit card...you get the picture.
The good news is, we were visiting a bank around the time we noticed the absent wallet. The friends we had made at the bank helped us to call Tom the taxi driver. Alas, no wallet left in taxi, but he did come back for us and return us to the airport for our final flight to Banda Aceh.
The silver linings abound, Dawna's ticket and passport were in a separate pouch (Thanks Ruth) and Katherine is helping out with the lack of cash etc. So we are now staying at a nice hotel in Banda Aceh and it seems to be quite pleasant here. We know we will be spending our weekends here and there will be a lot of interesting areas to explore over the different missions.
We have met our third colleague, Rob. He seems like a great seasoned traveller/worker who has been working on library related projects in Asia since 1986.
We meet With FCM folk tomorrow, have a briefing at the local office and then head to Pidie in the afternoon.
All in a days work here on the great adventure. Dawna has a lovely new lime green wallet.
We've managed to roll with today's pluses and minuses.
Time for bed.
D&K.
We had some time to spare so we ventured into the city of Medan. Note - we had no knowledge of the Indonesian language or even how to parrot the word 'airport' back to the taxi driver. However, we made friends with our driver Tom, who gave us his phone number so we could call him back for the return trip to the airport.
We walked about Medan, slightly nervous, as we were carrying the laptops, while dodging traffic and taking it all in. We don't know how it happened but the minus of the day was that Dawna lost her wallet. Yes, you read that right, the sad news is Dawna has no wallet, no money, no credit card...you get the picture.
The good news is, we were visiting a bank around the time we noticed the absent wallet. The friends we had made at the bank helped us to call Tom the taxi driver. Alas, no wallet left in taxi, but he did come back for us and return us to the airport for our final flight to Banda Aceh.
The silver linings abound, Dawna's ticket and passport were in a separate pouch (Thanks Ruth) and Katherine is helping out with the lack of cash etc. So we are now staying at a nice hotel in Banda Aceh and it seems to be quite pleasant here. We know we will be spending our weekends here and there will be a lot of interesting areas to explore over the different missions.
We have met our third colleague, Rob. He seems like a great seasoned traveller/worker who has been working on library related projects in Asia since 1986.
We meet With FCM folk tomorrow, have a briefing at the local office and then head to Pidie in the afternoon.
All in a days work here on the great adventure. Dawna has a lovely new lime green wallet.
We've managed to roll with today's pluses and minuses.
Time for bed.
D&K.
6 comments:
The spirit of adventure rules! Let me know if I can help cancel credit cards, send money, etc.
I am so sorry about the wallet incident. Perhaps you are destined to buy a new wallet every time you travel to Asia. Everything else sounds - well - as the sylph would say - adventurous.
OUCH!
but I do like lime green
love from Wiles xo
Wow, what a day! So sorry to read about D's wallet. Take care, Aimee
Thanks everyone. It was a downer for brief moment and then I realized it was just a wallet.
Thanks Sylph for the cancelling help offer. I cancelled the credit card and ATM card from here. Another long story.
It is an adventure. We head to Pidie in about a half hour.
Dawna.
So glad Dawna sent the blog address - I couldn't find it by searching the blogosphere! Can I share this with other library staff?
The car rides sound worse than the flights.
Hope some of all that stuff you brought is useful - sounds like building the relationship is the necessary first step.
Toronto news...the big crystal ROM opened to mixed reviews, we've had several smog days, I missed yet another Riverdale Art Walk despite my best intentions, a new organic market opened at the Brickworks...
Enjoy your adventures, be safe.
PS Sorry about the wallet
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