We have finished with our two-week training and briefings, we have passed all the driving tests but we are still in Dili and with no date of deployment in sight...
People are telling us, "at least you get to stay longer in Dili" ( remember, in the districts there is limited electricity, no running water and if you're lucky one or two restaurants)! I wouldn't mind if it just wasn't as expensive as it is! We're already going to be paying 600 USD for a hotel room that doesn't have hot water, hardly a window, boring breakfast, roaming cockroaches and apparently shower doors that can fall on your head at any moment!
You may wonder, why haven't I changed hotels but, incredibly, here it becomes cheaper the longer you stay since they have monthly rates and nightly rates! Not to mention the restaurants...we're not cooking, we have no means to do so, so we're going out for lunch and dinner and all that adds up... I also wouldn't mind starting work, that is what I came for after all!
Today I had to go to the Portuguese Embassy where I registered in the consular section...that is, after I had to go make a lot of photocopies of my numerous identity papers - no, there is NO photocopier at the embassy! I also had to ask for a new passport...I still have a year and a half before it expires but unfortunately I have run out of free pages...this wouldn't have been a problem until they told us that when we take R&R (Rest & Relaxation) it is mandatory that we quit the country!!! That was another unforeseen expense...I wanted to use R&R to see the country, when else am I supposed to do it? At least I can now travel to the Philippines and Indonesia (I only managed Bali the last time around), which were the two missing on my 'What to visit while in Laos' list - Burma, of course, is another story...
We also did some more sightseeing...that's about all we can do other than twiddle our thumbs while waiting for a decision to be made regarding our deployment. We visited the Alola foundation, which was created by Xanana Gusmão's wife (Xanana is the current PM) to help vulnerable women in Timor and teach them how to make handicrafts...His wife is currently fighting for a very ridiculous notion to allow children to study in their mother tongue...at first, it seems like a fair notion but there are more than 30 dialects in Timor Leste, how are they going to manage to go to university if they don't learn at least one of the official languages (Tetum and Portuguese), how will they be able to compete internationally if we're cutting their legs from the get-go! A lot of Portuguese speakers in Timor feel like this is a direct attack on the Portuguese language, I tend to agree...
We also visited the Santa Cruz Cemetery, or attempted to until a drunkard came running after us, grabbing us and scaring us out of our wits! If you don't know the significance of this cemetery, you should! It was the turning point for Timor's fight for independence against Indonesian invasion.
On November 12th 1991, the Timorese were holding a pro-independence rally/funeral procession for a student that had been killed by the Indonesian army. The cemetery was surrounded by Indonesian army during the funeral and suddenly the Indonesian army started firing at random into the crowd killing everyone in their sight. The Indonesians claim that their general had been stabbed prior to the shooting but there are many accounts that counteract this version. The massacre would probably never be known to the outside world but luckily two journalists were present and were able to film the entire thing, you can find this video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HkktBcIDzg. The killing of a New Zealand citizen that had been among the protestors also helped raise the outcry of the outside world and support for Timor's independence. The date is still celebrated today as the turning point in Timor's struggle...you can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Cruz_massacre
I'll get back to twiddling my thumbs now...more from Dili (unfortunately) soon!
People are telling us, "at least you get to stay longer in Dili" ( remember, in the districts there is limited electricity, no running water and if you're lucky one or two restaurants)! I wouldn't mind if it just wasn't as expensive as it is! We're already going to be paying 600 USD for a hotel room that doesn't have hot water, hardly a window, boring breakfast, roaming cockroaches and apparently shower doors that can fall on your head at any moment!
You may wonder, why haven't I changed hotels but, incredibly, here it becomes cheaper the longer you stay since they have monthly rates and nightly rates! Not to mention the restaurants...we're not cooking, we have no means to do so, so we're going out for lunch and dinner and all that adds up... I also wouldn't mind starting work, that is what I came for after all!
Today I had to go to the Portuguese Embassy where I registered in the consular section...that is, after I had to go make a lot of photocopies of my numerous identity papers - no, there is NO photocopier at the embassy! I also had to ask for a new passport...I still have a year and a half before it expires but unfortunately I have run out of free pages...this wouldn't have been a problem until they told us that when we take R&R (Rest & Relaxation) it is mandatory that we quit the country!!! That was another unforeseen expense...I wanted to use R&R to see the country, when else am I supposed to do it? At least I can now travel to the Philippines and Indonesia (I only managed Bali the last time around), which were the two missing on my 'What to visit while in Laos' list - Burma, of course, is another story...
We also did some more sightseeing...that's about all we can do other than twiddle our thumbs while waiting for a decision to be made regarding our deployment. We visited the Alola foundation, which was created by Xanana Gusmão's wife (Xanana is the current PM) to help vulnerable women in Timor and teach them how to make handicrafts...His wife is currently fighting for a very ridiculous notion to allow children to study in their mother tongue...at first, it seems like a fair notion but there are more than 30 dialects in Timor Leste, how are they going to manage to go to university if they don't learn at least one of the official languages (Tetum and Portuguese), how will they be able to compete internationally if we're cutting their legs from the get-go! A lot of Portuguese speakers in Timor feel like this is a direct attack on the Portuguese language, I tend to agree...
We also visited the Santa Cruz Cemetery, or attempted to until a drunkard came running after us, grabbing us and scaring us out of our wits! If you don't know the significance of this cemetery, you should! It was the turning point for Timor's fight for independence against Indonesian invasion.
On November 12th 1991, the Timorese were holding a pro-independence rally/funeral procession for a student that had been killed by the Indonesian army. The cemetery was surrounded by Indonesian army during the funeral and suddenly the Indonesian army started firing at random into the crowd killing everyone in their sight. The Indonesians claim that their general had been stabbed prior to the shooting but there are many accounts that counteract this version. The massacre would probably never be known to the outside world but luckily two journalists were present and were able to film the entire thing, you can find this video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HkktBcIDzg. The killing of a New Zealand citizen that had been among the protestors also helped raise the outcry of the outside world and support for Timor's independence. The date is still celebrated today as the turning point in Timor's struggle...you can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Cruz_massacre
Poor Filipa!
ReplyDeleteI have been reading all your really interesting posts and I guess it is not as calm as you had imagined, right? ... Shower doors falling, rock throwing... Get ready for the snapping turtles attack!
Just be careful! And try to make the best of it! It will surely be a lot of fun twenty years from now, great conversation topic when sitting with friends in a comfy couch in the Upper East Side!!!!! Stay well and avoid aggressive showers!!! Love, Ana Sarmento
creepy...it's like a scene of a Hitchcock film! Take care girl!!! beijinhos***
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