Thoughts on Medan, Indonesia
Stopping in Sumatra for a few hours
My first time in Sumatra, my first time in Medan. It’s a dirty and gritty city. And even though I felt repulsed at all the chaos, it was kind of inviting too. I’m older now, and a bit more guarded in what I want to experience, but there was something so 2000’s about traveling on my own, if only for a few hours. Expansiveness, knowing nothing about plans and people or place. Medan isn’t a very interesting tourist destination, and perhaps that’s what I loved about it. The anonymity of what lies inside, only to be found from experiencing and talking to people. I love Indonesia.
Medan
The lack of English is real
But I love the grittiness
The wires crossing over each other
The lack of sidewalks like Malaysia
But weirdly more Dutch
Weirdly more dirty
Fewer tall buildings
More consonants
The kampung is just out there
The loudspeaker for the mosque is louder
The smell of the sewer is stronger
It’s a fucking city
The people are nice
There’s no crossing barrier
Go at your own risk
The people a bit fearless
Brazen
He said they are lazier
I said they are more reasonable
It’s just so dusty
Barefoot dusty
A child singing and playing a broken ukulele, between the cars during rush hour
Sprouting up in song
I felt guilt and looked down
A fire
Those motorcycle rickshaws
My driver sighing
A hole in the middle of the street
A plastic chair with a net
Belching smoke
A warkop
Rujak
Red black and yellow
Green is for the Malays
Dirty polluted puddles
Rainbow clumps hanging on the riverbank
Flip flops
Feet
Honking honking
Burning
Honking
Crowding
Crumbling
Grey brown grey
Tan
Grey grey brown grey
Mottles and mold
Cracks
They are so undisciplined
He said that
They are so lazy
He said that
But say what about the lady selling avocado on the street barefoot mere inches away from the rumbling cars and the fetid puddles