Some of My Favorite Things About Kansas

I recently made a short 9 day trip home to Kansas for my older brother's wedding. After being gone for 16 months, there were several things I really appreciated about Kansas. These are listed in no particular order.
Wide-open spaces.

My 3 siblings, as well as all the rest of my family.

Silos...feedlots... steers.... the smell of manure.

My new sister-in-law!

Snow... haybales... and hot-wire fences.

Grandpa.

My baby calves.

Friends... Beef... and Famous Dave's BBQ Sauces.

Camping Burly Style

Last week I had a chance to get away and go camping with a group of friends. We decided we'd try to be a little "burly." It started slow, but we got a little burlier as things went along. Here are the results:

With the rain pounding down outside, staying inside the tent, snuggling up together, and singing songs... not burly.

Stroking the gotee you don't have... not burly.

Covering up your nose cause your buddy broke wind inside the tent... not burly also.

Arm wrestling with herniating effort... burly.

A plastic bag on your head so your hair doesn't get wet... um, maybe not so burly.

Playing some tackle American football... burly.


A swollen left hand from football... burly.

Gross-looking blisters from boiling water on the campfire... burly.



The "Leaves of the Loom" Adam line of loincloth... burly.

Two friends eating earthworms... burly.

One of them throwing it up when it activates the gag reflex by wriggling in his throat... still burly.

People Pics

Ladies at a "Wedding Eve Party"
The village "elder of traditions" is on the far right. He was pretty excited that I was able to attend this traditional wedding, and that I wore the traditional cloth around my neck.

That's a knife tucked under his arm - at a wedding.

Grandmas still love me.

Batak Karo Wedding

When I visited my friend Eko's village in early January, I had the opportunity to observe a traditional Batak Karo wedding. Batak Karo is the name of the ethnic group in this area of North Sumatra. This first picture is from the "wedding's eve" ceremony held the night before the wedding. The families of both bride and groom gather and, in an exchange of formalities, share the characteristics that make their relative a good candidate for marriage. This began with a huge meal around 6 in the evening, and didn't end until nearly 10pm.

On the actual wedding day, the bride and groom (on the right) approached the wedding place as the leaders of a long procession, flanked to the right and left by the groom's brothers and their wives, and trailed by nearly 200 relatives. When they drew near, they started a traditional dance, and danced all the way down the "aisle" (although its not a church building).

These are a few of the trailing relatives bringing rice and floor mats which will later be used in the "New Home Opening" ceremony/ritual for the newlywed couple.

Similar to America traditions, the bride's family sits on one side while the groom's family fills the other. The ceremony and meals last from morning until night. And you thought hour-long weddings in the States were long! In the background of this picture you can observe the groom and bride, along with the groom's brothers and their wives, preparing for a dance where people come and slip money between their fingers as their wedding gift.

Waterfall

Eko and I
By observing the people in the lower righthand corner, you can get a perspective on the incredible height of this waterfall, resulting in a power-washer type effect at the bottom.

Burial Traditions

As I traveled around the countryside near my friend's village, I was intrigued by the tombs (like the one above) that dotted the landscape. Almost every 100-300 meters or so there seemed to be another tomb, often in the middle of a rice or corn field or orange orchard. It was explained to me that these gravesites are placed in the middle of fields in order to bring the blessings of a bountiful harvest. Family members of the deceased bring not only flowers, but also food to place on the tomb. Most of the graves are quite extravagant as well, some with a tiled roof as large as a regular house (the above example is actually quite simple compared to others). In fact, it seems like these people often spend more money on these "houses for the dead" than they do on houses for the living. This seemed ridiculous to me, but as one friend explained it, that's because we Americans are future-oriented whereas Asians tend to be past-orientated. We primarily value and prepare for that which will happen in the future, while Asians value and remember that which has happened in the past.

Where's the Animal?

Just for kicks, see if you can spot the animal in this picture.