I am now in Dili.
We traveled the road from Maliana to Dili for the last time - in the near future, anyway - with the car loaded up with all our possessions and our hearts full of goodbye for Bobonaro and Maliana. We stopped in Maubara for the last time to have lunch and enjoy their 'pão com chouriço' and check out the art crafts for last minute presents to loved ones, saying goodbye to Liquiça in the process.
The climate in Dili is hot and tense...
There have been incidents of car stoning and burnt tires everyday; our own car was stoned on Tuesday after my colleague C left me at my friend's house, no windows broken but three massive dents and a huge scare for C!
Everyday we receive messages from every source, UN, Portuguese Embassy, etc. telling us to avoid this road or that road, to be home before nightfall and to reduce all movements around the city.
But if you were to arrive in Dili tomorrow you wouldn't understand because the city seems to be at peace. On Tuesday, shops were still closed but Wednesday it was back to normal activity albeit with reduced hours.
I'm actually staying in a not so friendly area, getting there is hazardous and I try to limit by comings and going so I find myself roaming the city or hanging out in friends' gardens, waiting for the time to go home. Today, we finally went to the new Timorese Resistance Museum, the space is quite nice and the potential, since it's still not completely finished, is huge as a space for exhibitions, movie-showings and cultural gatherings.
But this hasn't exactly been what my last week should be like!
Meanwhile, my last few days in Maliana witnessed a funeral, a lot of dinners, farewell parties, and finally a trip to the hot springs in Marobo!
Apart from the funeral, of course, these last few days were a wonderful way to say goodbye to Maliana and to the family that we have created here.
Our RSC family threw a party for us, electoral UNVs, last Friday! It was wonderful to be able to say goodbye to the team that supported us throughout these last 6 months. We had speeches, gifts and dinner and after the dinner, we had dancing! It was truly the United Nations, with everyone showing off their cultural dances or styles. The whiskey went far too quickly, leaving some a bit worse for wear but it was all great fun, definitely a night I'm never likely to forget!
The hot springs were a great follow-up to the party. The road was treacherous and hard but we've seen worse during the elections. The pool was far too hot to swim in -40 degrees celsius (although we still dipped in)!!! - but the scenery was beautiful and a great ending to our time in Bobonaro.
On Monday, our STAE colleagues threw us a farewell party. We thanked them, they thanked us, we hugged and danced and hugged some more. Trying not to be overwhelmed by the occasion was difficult, especially when our coordinator apologized to us for all the times that he was angry with us or with the UN, which was quite surprising but relieving to hear. I'm going to miss our Timorese colleagues, their smiles, their laughter and their acceptance of us as their own.
I'm going to miss my afternoon runs, chasing the pink and orange sunsets of Maliana, with the mountains and the river on my left as I'm going downhill with the wind at my back and the children yelling out to me 'Boa Tarde!'
I'm going to miss seeing the buffaloes and cows crossing the river every afternoon to take a quick bath and their colors of brown, white and gray.
I'm going to miss the rice fields of Cailaco with its changing colors along the season and seeing the people diligently toiling their fields.
I'm going to miss the bougainvilleas that grow around the district, decorating each house and road with its colors of whites, reds and pinks.
I'm going to miss the colorful geckos running up and down the walls with their nightly calls.
I'm going to miss the suicide chickens everyday trying to give me a heart attack with their daredevil attitudes towards my car!
I'm going to miss the people that I've met, international and national alike, they have made this adventure special and unique.
I'm going to miss having random strangers say "Bom dia/Boa tarde/Boa noite" when I pass.
But most of all, I'm going to miss my Maliana family: Madalena, Jessie and Carlos, who made my life in Maliana enjoyable, full of laughter and fun. They helped keep me sane throughout this adventure and I'm going to miss their daily presence, their daily affections and support.
I'm not going to miss however, our troubadour guard who thinks he's Frank Sinatra! He's kept me awake or woken me on far too many occasions!
I'm also not going to miss our neighbor's roosters, the devils that kept me awake along with the security guard!
I'm not going to miss my lumpy bed and the poor or non-existent electricity of our house (or entire city for that matter!) and the on again-off again of our running water.
I'm not going to miss the heat...well, not for a while anyway!
And I'm definitely not going to miss the incessant mosquitoes!
I have also learnt a lot during this adventure, especially about myself.
I have learnt that I can co-exist with spiders living in my room - if I don't bother them then they don't bother me, never thought that would be possible!
I have learnt that I'm a great 4x4 driver! Rocks and boulders are no match to me!
I've learnt to play battleship, yatzee and ternas y escaleras!
I've learnt I can actually sow quite decently, coming out of this mission the richer by a dress, two tops, two breast pins and two little bags!
I've learnt that I'm a pretty fast reader, having gone through 26 books in the space of 6 months (ok, maybe I already knew that ;)
I've learnt that I enjoy bucket showers and that given enough time I can get used to chillingly cold showers every morning!
I have also learnt never to live next to a school ever again, especially if I want to have a lie-in on Saturday!
I've learnt that, along with M, all you need is a little imagination to make a meal out of nothing!
I have learnt that I can accept a lot of hardship with a smile - or at least with an attitude of "oh well, what can you do" - I couldn't possibly expect to have the same conditions in Timor that I would have in Portugal, Belgium or the US, so I just accepted it and made the most of it!
And I truly hope I did make the most of it!
I will be leaving Timor on Saturday without having gone to Atauro Island, Oecusse or Mount Ramelau, which I truly regret but having been stationed in Bobonaro limited my possibilities for travelling around the country. We were too far and isolated from everything else so we had no other solution than to fall in love with Bobonaro, which I did!
Its mountains, its rice fields, its animal life, its people!
Thank you Maliana, thank you Bobonaro, for taking me in and for showing me your magnificent beauty. I will never forget you, to the very last detail.
Thank you.
We traveled the road from Maliana to Dili for the last time - in the near future, anyway - with the car loaded up with all our possessions and our hearts full of goodbye for Bobonaro and Maliana. We stopped in Maubara for the last time to have lunch and enjoy their 'pão com chouriço' and check out the art crafts for last minute presents to loved ones, saying goodbye to Liquiça in the process.
The climate in Dili is hot and tense...
There have been incidents of car stoning and burnt tires everyday; our own car was stoned on Tuesday after my colleague C left me at my friend's house, no windows broken but three massive dents and a huge scare for C!
Everyday we receive messages from every source, UN, Portuguese Embassy, etc. telling us to avoid this road or that road, to be home before nightfall and to reduce all movements around the city.
But if you were to arrive in Dili tomorrow you wouldn't understand because the city seems to be at peace. On Tuesday, shops were still closed but Wednesday it was back to normal activity albeit with reduced hours.
I'm actually staying in a not so friendly area, getting there is hazardous and I try to limit by comings and going so I find myself roaming the city or hanging out in friends' gardens, waiting for the time to go home. Today, we finally went to the new Timorese Resistance Museum, the space is quite nice and the potential, since it's still not completely finished, is huge as a space for exhibitions, movie-showings and cultural gatherings.
But this hasn't exactly been what my last week should be like!
Meanwhile, my last few days in Maliana witnessed a funeral, a lot of dinners, farewell parties, and finally a trip to the hot springs in Marobo!
Apart from the funeral, of course, these last few days were a wonderful way to say goodbye to Maliana and to the family that we have created here.
Our RSC family threw a party for us, electoral UNVs, last Friday! It was wonderful to be able to say goodbye to the team that supported us throughout these last 6 months. We had speeches, gifts and dinner and after the dinner, we had dancing! It was truly the United Nations, with everyone showing off their cultural dances or styles. The whiskey went far too quickly, leaving some a bit worse for wear but it was all great fun, definitely a night I'm never likely to forget!
The hot springs were a great follow-up to the party. The road was treacherous and hard but we've seen worse during the elections. The pool was far too hot to swim in -40 degrees celsius (although we still dipped in)!!! - but the scenery was beautiful and a great ending to our time in Bobonaro.
On Monday, our STAE colleagues threw us a farewell party. We thanked them, they thanked us, we hugged and danced and hugged some more. Trying not to be overwhelmed by the occasion was difficult, especially when our coordinator apologized to us for all the times that he was angry with us or with the UN, which was quite surprising but relieving to hear. I'm going to miss our Timorese colleagues, their smiles, their laughter and their acceptance of us as their own.
I'm going to miss my afternoon runs, chasing the pink and orange sunsets of Maliana, with the mountains and the river on my left as I'm going downhill with the wind at my back and the children yelling out to me 'Boa Tarde!'
I'm going to miss seeing the buffaloes and cows crossing the river every afternoon to take a quick bath and their colors of brown, white and gray.
I'm going to miss the rice fields of Cailaco with its changing colors along the season and seeing the people diligently toiling their fields.
I'm going to miss the bougainvilleas that grow around the district, decorating each house and road with its colors of whites, reds and pinks.
I'm going to miss the colorful geckos running up and down the walls with their nightly calls.
I'm going to miss the suicide chickens everyday trying to give me a heart attack with their daredevil attitudes towards my car!
I'm going to miss the people that I've met, international and national alike, they have made this adventure special and unique.
I'm going to miss having random strangers say "Bom dia/Boa tarde/Boa noite" when I pass.
But most of all, I'm going to miss my Maliana family: Madalena, Jessie and Carlos, who made my life in Maliana enjoyable, full of laughter and fun. They helped keep me sane throughout this adventure and I'm going to miss their daily presence, their daily affections and support.
I'm not going to miss however, our troubadour guard who thinks he's Frank Sinatra! He's kept me awake or woken me on far too many occasions!
I'm also not going to miss our neighbor's roosters, the devils that kept me awake along with the security guard!
I'm not going to miss my lumpy bed and the poor or non-existent electricity of our house (or entire city for that matter!) and the on again-off again of our running water.
I'm not going to miss the heat...well, not for a while anyway!
And I'm definitely not going to miss the incessant mosquitoes!
I have also learnt a lot during this adventure, especially about myself.
I have learnt that I can co-exist with spiders living in my room - if I don't bother them then they don't bother me, never thought that would be possible!
I have learnt that I'm a great 4x4 driver! Rocks and boulders are no match to me!
I've learnt to play battleship, yatzee and ternas y escaleras!
I've learnt I can actually sow quite decently, coming out of this mission the richer by a dress, two tops, two breast pins and two little bags!
I've learnt that I'm a pretty fast reader, having gone through 26 books in the space of 6 months (ok, maybe I already knew that ;)
I've learnt that I enjoy bucket showers and that given enough time I can get used to chillingly cold showers every morning!
I have also learnt never to live next to a school ever again, especially if I want to have a lie-in on Saturday!
I've learnt that, along with M, all you need is a little imagination to make a meal out of nothing!
I have learnt that I can accept a lot of hardship with a smile - or at least with an attitude of "oh well, what can you do" - I couldn't possibly expect to have the same conditions in Timor that I would have in Portugal, Belgium or the US, so I just accepted it and made the most of it!
And I truly hope I did make the most of it!
I will be leaving Timor on Saturday without having gone to Atauro Island, Oecusse or Mount Ramelau, which I truly regret but having been stationed in Bobonaro limited my possibilities for travelling around the country. We were too far and isolated from everything else so we had no other solution than to fall in love with Bobonaro, which I did!
Its mountains, its rice fields, its animal life, its people!
Thank you Maliana, thank you Bobonaro, for taking me in and for showing me your magnificent beauty. I will never forget you, to the very last detail.
Thank you.
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