I have now been in Maliana 3 days...
I'm currently in the office, on a Sunday, just to enjoy electricity and the internet...
There is electricity at home from 7:30 in the evening until 6:00 in the morning...we don't have a generator and therefore only have the luxury of public electricity...
If it rains a lot (which it has these past few days), the roads are impassable and you are left stranded in Maliana...
So, you're wondering, what is there to do on the weekend, then!? Do you remember a time when internet didn't exist and kids would go out biking and playing outside instead of being stuck in the house watching TV and playing videogames? Well, I do but I can't do any of those things 'cause its bloody hot here during the day! ;p
Instead, we learn to enjoy the simple things in life, like reading, going for a walk to discover a canal or contemplating the scenery - it is beautiful here in Maliana with the rice fields - or just talking and telling stories...
On Saturdays it's market day so everyone is off to the market, we go in search of fruit - there is a lack of fruit in the districts since everything gets shipped off to Dili, damn you Dili!! We have bananas, and if we're lucky papayas and avocados but those are very rare!
C and I, having just arrived, went looking for the little things that would make our lives here more pleasant. I went in search of tais and batiks (colourful fabrics from the region) to make my box furniture look a bit more homely. In the process, we must have bumped into every single Malay (foreigner) in the city...I am happy to inform that there are more international women in Maliana, uff!Like I said, there isn't much to do and Saturday is market day so we bumped into the same Malays constantly!
We also found playing cards - I had been looking all over Dili and hadn't found them, take that Dili (although I would prefer fruit!) - there were boxes containing 12 packets of playing cards, the vendor showed us the box with the 12 packets, we took out one and we enquired the price, Mana told us "3 dollars", seemed reasonable so C asked for another packet and we handed her 6 dollars, to this she says "No, Mana, it's 3 dollars", we don't understand and show her only 2 packets and the 6 dollars, she then shows us the entire box and says "3 dollars" !! We only wanted 2 packets but she woulnd't sell them separately so we had to buy the entire box and it only cost us 3 dollars!!! I think I know what I will be handing out at the next UN party ;)
Tomorrow I get to take my first helicopter ride in Timor to assess the landing sites in the district for Election day! Ah, work is hard here in Maliana!
I'm currently in the office, on a Sunday, just to enjoy electricity and the internet...
There is electricity at home from 7:30 in the evening until 6:00 in the morning...we don't have a generator and therefore only have the luxury of public electricity...
If it rains a lot (which it has these past few days), the roads are impassable and you are left stranded in Maliana...
So, you're wondering, what is there to do on the weekend, then!? Do you remember a time when internet didn't exist and kids would go out biking and playing outside instead of being stuck in the house watching TV and playing videogames? Well, I do but I can't do any of those things 'cause its bloody hot here during the day! ;p
Instead, we learn to enjoy the simple things in life, like reading, going for a walk to discover a canal or contemplating the scenery - it is beautiful here in Maliana with the rice fields - or just talking and telling stories...
On Saturdays it's market day so everyone is off to the market, we go in search of fruit - there is a lack of fruit in the districts since everything gets shipped off to Dili, damn you Dili!! We have bananas, and if we're lucky papayas and avocados but those are very rare!
C and I, having just arrived, went looking for the little things that would make our lives here more pleasant. I went in search of tais and batiks (colourful fabrics from the region) to make my box furniture look a bit more homely. In the process, we must have bumped into every single Malay (foreigner) in the city...I am happy to inform that there are more international women in Maliana, uff!Like I said, there isn't much to do and Saturday is market day so we bumped into the same Malays constantly!
We also found playing cards - I had been looking all over Dili and hadn't found them, take that Dili (although I would prefer fruit!) - there were boxes containing 12 packets of playing cards, the vendor showed us the box with the 12 packets, we took out one and we enquired the price, Mana told us "3 dollars", seemed reasonable so C asked for another packet and we handed her 6 dollars, to this she says "No, Mana, it's 3 dollars", we don't understand and show her only 2 packets and the 6 dollars, she then shows us the entire box and says "3 dollars" !! We only wanted 2 packets but she woulnd't sell them separately so we had to buy the entire box and it only cost us 3 dollars!!! I think I know what I will be handing out at the next UN party ;)
Tomorrow I get to take my first helicopter ride in Timor to assess the landing sites in the district for Election day! Ah, work is hard here in Maliana!
great stories!! really hard work I see ;)
ReplyDeleteWell, Life is not easy down there!
ReplyDeleteMas aproveita e colecciona estas aventuras para contar mais tarde.
Não faças nada que não valha a pena... e, sobretudo não corras riscos desnecessários.
Beijos. mãe