The verdict is in, I'm off to Bobonaro!

We FINALLY had our deployment briefing today! By briefing I mean our bosses read off the districts and the people that are going to them. Before I go on, I must remind you that we have now been in Dili for nearly 3 weeks, the other batch of UNVs that came before us have been in their stations for more than a week now. We were waiting to be interviewed by the team leaders (our bosses) in order for them to decide where we would go...To be honest, I don't really understand (and I know I'm not alone) what exactly the interview was supposed to define regarding where we would be stationed...I say this because we were asked where in the country we would like to be placed and in what position (STAE or CNE, logistics, monitoring, civic education or voter education) and I think about less than half actually got what they had asked and maybe the same amount (if not less) are actually happy with what they got!

I got Bobonaro (district capital: Maliana)...I tried to be very flexible during my interview, I said that I had been in Laos, which is a landlocked country so I would REALLY appreciate being placed on the coast but that I didn't care where on the coast...I got the middle of the far west...Mountains, with the nearest beach at least an hour away by car (roads permitting)!!! Remember, Timor Leste is an island, I don't think asking for ANYWHERE on the coast was that inflexible but oh well, Maliana is supposed to be beautiful so I guess I'll make the best of it...goodbye diving though! Maliana is also one of the 5 regional focal points for the UN so there is a big UN presence there (ie. internet won't be a problem!), I needed something positive out of this! For those that are interested in seeing where your dear friend will be for the next 6 months (!!) here are two maps to help you out:


Bobonaro in Timor Leste (red area in the middle - remember the left side of the map is West Timor which is part of Indonesia, except for Oecussi, the
enclave in white)









Bobonaro itself