Challenges & Highlights

The past week I had a few challenges but many highlights. Feeling a little sick all of the time-challenge. Walking along the beach and seeing 3 baby goats- highlight. Here is a brief recap from the last week.

Sunday was Jim's birthday. We joined some friends in Liquica, where we swam, ate, and relaxed. But it seemed like the whole day lead up to bringing out the homemade chocolate magnificently frosted T-rex cake. It was delicious.

One of my favorite days was when I went to drop off Ela, the nanny, at her home. Ela has sort of been my window into Timorese life, so far. She speaks really good english and translates for me. Plus, we like to chat about life, her new economics classes, our families, and eating good food. When we pulled up to her house there were her 2 brothers, 4 sisters, and 2 nieces out on the patio. They happily welcomed me in and greeted me with a kiss on each cheek, the customary greeting. She showed me around the house, which was similar to Alda's, but with more rooms. I loved sitting on the porch with the family while the dog and kids ran around.  They brought out an old photo album and shared pictures of their childhood and a few of their parents' wedding photos. They even showed me their pet pigs and piglets! The whole trip made me very happy. 

I finished my first project for TRM this week! My project included creating a system so their client's can give them feedback or report a complaint and creating a privacy policy for client data.  I hope to present my work within the next week, although I'm a little nervous. Challenges of my first few weeks included learning to communicate without knowing the language, not knowing anything about TRM's operations, and frequent power outages. Even though I've only learned a few words in Tetun, smiling goes a long way here. I've been doing a lot of smiling.  I'm lucky some of the staff speak english and are happy to explain the business to me.

TRM staff

Highlights of the first few weeks include when the CEO told me he is very thankful I'm there helping out and that now I'm part of the family, being greeted every morning with big smiles and "Bondia"  (good morning), and a going away party for one of the employees. The party was a great way to meet some of the staff that I don't get to see very often. There was delicious fried food, cake, and champagne. They played music, took tons of pictures, and presented gifts to the man that was leaving. When we were ready to eat they looked at me and pointed to the bottle of champagne and said "Mana, please" ( sister, please) I watched the other guy shake up the other bottle and I followed him; the top blasted off and champagne exploded everywhere! It was party time!

I went to Tracey's for dinner this week, too. This is the place I will be calling home for the next two months. Beautiful garden, quite a few cats, and an endless supply of new people to meet. One of the first things I noticed when I walked in was a huge framed portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The possibility of acquiring a British accent while I'm there is something to look forward to.  I move in this weekend. 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the week.