Yeah, ok

Here are some pictures, more explanation later. One is a monkey, another is the lake, actually two of the lake. One of me in king garb--the shoes are an exact replica of authentic Batak sneakers. There is also a picture of some statues meant to represent the dancers who would have entertained a Batak king.

The driver for the week cost roughly 120 US dollars, the hotel, about 36 US. The food at the hotel was not all that great, not terrible, but we didn't feel like going out to the town after a long day of travel and being out in the sun and so took the path of least resistence known as the hotel restaurant. Most of the pictures taken are of me or my travel companion and I don't think that this is the forum for posting such things so I will try to email pictures to anyone interested, well, not anyone, friends and family.

As a gesture of kindness, a friend and I invited a new teacher out to dinner with us last night. He is Singaporean. There seems to be a tendency amongst the Singaporeans to think very rigidly. One teacher here, also Singaporean but not cut from the same cloth, is an excellent primary level teacher, a natural. He is, however, not a licensed teacher or as the Singaporeans say, a "trained teacher." They place a great deal of emphasis on the "training" and have often made him feel inadequate for lacking "training." At dinner, this man asked if I was a "trained basketball coach" and when I said no, he asked if I'd read manuals on the subject. Very odd. I said I am the basketball teacher because I'm the only one at the school with even the remotest understanding of the game. He didn't seem to understand. There is a rudeness to this sort of questioning and I just try to avoid these people, as do many others.