Friday

Friday we had a morning meeting with Praeses Plasthon Simanjungtak, the leader of District 5. He presented a plan for our visit and what we will be doing during our time here. We also had discussion of the goals for the SALT workshop. We may need to change the format a bit from our original plan to better accomplish the goals envisioned by our companions.

We had lunch at a Batak restaurant and had the opportunity to eat traditional foods in the traditional manner....with our fingers.

After a rest period back at the hotel, we visited an ulos factory. An ulos is hand-woven cloth that is used during many ceremonies and celebrations. They are colorful and may include special patterns and bead work. They are part of Batak artistic culture that was in danger of being lost but the government has encouraged the skills to be taught to younger women so the culture can be carried on.

The president of Indonesia came through Siantar today and some streets were lined with people wanting to wave and catch a glimpse of their President.

In the evening we went to dinner at the International Restaurant. We ate many traditional Indonesian foods and had the opportunity to sing Karioke. We were seranaded by Pastor Sondang and also by Erista (P. Plasthon's wife).

In the late afternoon we had a big rain storm. This is supposed to be the dry season but they have been getting frequent rains.