Seberaya is a small village of 500 or so in the highlands of North Sumatera. It may not be big, but it's home for two of my roommates in Bandung. Javen was the first person from this village to ever graduate with a bachelor's degree from a state university, as well as the first to get a Master's degree. After New Years I had the chance to visit his younger brother, Eko, who had returned for the Christmas/Idul Adha/New Year's break. We spent 3 days hanging out and doing what people in Indonesian Batak Karo villages do... not much but sit around and talk. There is a coffee shop about every other house, and they're almost always occupied by men, both young and old. In the customs of this culture, the women do most all the work and the men sit around and talk about it. Good deal if you're a guy. Most of the families make their living by farming vegetables and oranges (see pictures below), along with scattered livestock. Javen and Eko's parents run a small health center, the only one in town, that services all kinds of medical ailments, including birthing, which costs a mere $45 per baby. The above picture is the one and only paved street in home, which doubles as a highway wandering along to the next village.
