Bondia! Botarde! Boanoite!

That's Tetun for: Good morning! Good afternoon! Good night!

Tibar Bay 

Other than the major rain storm, having to drive through extremely flooded streets, and frequent power outages, this weekend was really cool. I got to attend a meeting about building a new port in Tibar bay. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) worked with a private consulting firm to research the environmental and social impact building a port will have on the local community. It was fascinating to listen to the research about the rich coastal environment and hear the why Tibar bay is the best place for the new East Timor port. The current port is in the heart of downtown Dili; this is bad for traffic and leaves no room to expand the port without bulldozing houses and businesses to make room. With a growing population and increase of exports and imports, the port needs to be expanded.  Since these were just the initial findings, much more research is needed, along with approval from the government, before a port can actually be built here. It was great to see the local people, fishermen and business owners, here to listen about the potential port plans and communicate their opinions and feelings. This meeting really got me interested in social impact work and I'm looking into what this really means (i.e. career options).

Tibar Bay Port meeting

As for work, I'm adjusting to the pace. It is much slower here than I'm used to. Which means that it must look like I'm working at lightning speed! Last week, I went home early a couple days due to major power outages, which are normal here. Then I got home and power was out there, too. Once it came back on I thought I would take a quick shower, only to get half way through and the water completely shut off. So, even though I'm staying in a comfortable house, I'm reminded every now and then that this is East Timor. On the way to work today we were stuck in traffic for about an hour due to cleaning up the mess from the weekend flooding. I guess I could say I'm used to sitting in traffic from growing up driving in LA and living in California, but I don't think traffic is ever comfortable. On the bright side, there was a gorgeous view the entire way!

Traffic on the way to work

The highlight of the weekend was when we hosted a fabulous dinner party! This was to get me acquainted with some of my Aunt and Uncle's favorite people in East Timor. The food isn't always great here, but this night is was! Pork loin with garlic, fresh baked bread, delicious cheese ( which is hard to find here), and two fresh salads! It is hard to get delicious fresh fruit and veggies here, so anytime a fresh salad is served I'm perfectly happy. I met Tracey Alexander, the women I will be staying with for the rest of my trip. Tracey is the Honorary British Consul for East Timor; after a night of chatting with her, I'm definitely looking forward to moving into her place and having many more great conversations!

having fun with my Aunt

chatting with Tracey