The Dili clothing market was a feast for the eyes. Rows and rows of second hand clothing from Singapore, Japan, and Indonesia hung on bamboo structures. I had to duck down to walk through the internal maze of shops. Even though I bought a few awesome pieces (hot pink tie-dyed dress for $4!) I was perfectly happy seeing the vendors selling tons of clothes, fresh fruit and veggies, bags of overflowing rice and ground coffee, and even meat.
This past weekend I took a beginning scuba diving course with Dive Timor Lorosae! After only snorkeling for the first time a few months ago, I was new to the beauty, magic and life under the sea.
I had to be convinced to go with my housemate as I was fairly certain the crocodiles would be waiting for me. Everyone here has a crocodile sighting story followed by a tragic ending (death!). My mind was running wild with the possibilities of encountering a croc and the headlines that would follow: "Malae Taunts Sacred Crocodile, Pays the Price!" It's bad enough that you could get eaten alive by a croc in Timor-Leste, but some people believe that if you do, then you deserved it. How horrible!
Timor-Leste sits in the coral triangle making it one of the best diving spots in the entire world so I just couldn't pass up this great opportunity. I put my fears aside and jumped in the van on the way to Dili Rock Beach.
We geared up and waded in, eyes peeled for viscous killing machines lurking in the water. We floated out a little ways, reviewed our hand signs and procedures, deflated our jackets, and started sinking. I was blown away by the exquisite coral and sea anemones, the neon colors, funky shapes, and intricate patterns . It all looked like I was in a Dr. Suess book. I wish I had an underwater camera! To paint a picture of the amazing life I saw, here are a few similar pictures I found online:
This was quite the first underwater experience! Thankfully we didn't see any crocodiles!
Me, Simone (Instructor) and Meredith after our dive! You can watch this video to get an even better idea of what it was like:
In honor of World Water Day on March 22nd I participated in a walk with local NGOs to promote awareness of the importance of clean water and sanitation. I walked with people from organizations including WaterAid, ChildFund, Unicef, The Red Cross, and AusAid along with members of the community. We made our way through downtown Dili stopping traffic and shutting down busy streets. Most importantly, we carried containers filled with 3 gallons of water to experience what it feels like for many people living in rural areas of Timor-Leste who have to travel far distances to collect their water. Even though it was only a 1 mile walk, much shorter than the trips some people have to make in rural areas, it was hot, humid, and those containers seemed to get heavier with each step.
Clean water is something I definitely took for granted before coming to Timor-Leste. I never had to be so careful to avoid getting a few drops of tap water in my mouth. I have a new appreciation for clean running water since I now have to rinse fresh fruit and veggies, wash my face, and brush my teeth with bottled water. While this might be inconvenient and annoying it doesn't come close to what people have to do to get their water in rural areas here. The sad reality is that 31% of the population in Timor-Leste do not have access to safe water and 50% of population do not have access to sanitation. Walking around Dili it's normal to see open gutters and drains that lead straight to the ocean; this is basically their open sewage system. When it rains this problem is even more apparent as the streets flood and become murky brown with waste and debris, contaminating even the fresh water supply.
Access to clean water is an important issue not only in Timor-Leste but globally. About 884 million people lack access to clean water. All over the world it's usually women and children who are responsible for collecting water for their families for drinking, bathing, cooking, and cleaning. Sometimes even after spending hours collecting water, the water they've collected is contaminated. This has serious health consequences; 12% of children don't live past the age of 5 due to poor sanitation and unsafe drinking water. Plus, the hours spent collecting water are hours not spent working at an income-generating job, caring for family members, or attending school.
The Water Walk ended with a huge ceremony complete with music, a drama performance, speeches from community leaders and delicious food. These organizations are not only bringing awareness to the community and educating people on how to maintain their own water systems but also helping to bring clean water and sanitation to rural areas of Timor-Leste. Although it is a huge undertaking, they are slowly making progress. Here is a video for more information. And a longer one:
Malae-( Ma-Lie) noun, foreigner, assumed to be very rich. A word Timorese call anyone not native to Timor-Leste. Used frequently. "Oh look, a Malae!" "(honk honk) Malae, do you need a cab?" "Do you want to buy this wooden crocodile, Malae?"
This week was full of Malae activities.
To my surprise, there was a St. Patricks's day celebration complete with Guiness Beer and Irish dancing! There was no green beer, but who needs green food coloring when you have a perfectly good beer, anyway? Tracey sang with her choir. And our new Japanese housemate, Tai learned how to celebrate Irish-style.
Meredith and Tai
Tai, Me, Meredith, Photo Bomber,& Tracey
At the going away party there were many French expats and some Timorese neighbors. The kids were so cute, running around and posing for pictures. The party felt very familiar, as it seemed like parties I've been to back home; People hanging out around the food in the kitchen and "lawn" games. Although here it should be called dirt games because I don't think I've seen a proper patch of grass since I've been here. I had no idea that the French have a game called Petanque , which is basically our Bocce ball. We played until it got too crowded to safely throw large metal objects in the dark. The only difference about parties in Dili is that I had to figure out a ride home long before I wanted to leave. After passing up some good opportunities early in the night, it left some slim pickings by the time I wanted to leave. There are not too many people here with cars and it's really not wise to get cabs late a night, so this just forced me to make friends! This was much easier since I was with my housemate, Meredith. We made friends with a girl who moved to Dili from Wisconsin. Strangely, she was the 2nd person I met this week from Wisconsin. She also happened to be my cousin's ballet teacher. Dili is a small town.
Tai, Viv, Me, and Meredith at the going away party.
Over the past week I've been to Castaway a few times. An extremely Malae activity. Castaway is a restaurant on the Beach Road that is pretty much the Dili "hot spot". It's filled with Malaes at breakfast, lunch and dinner every day of the week. On Friday nights they even have a live band who is surprising pretty good. Some of their best covers included songs from CCR, Sublime, and The Beatles.
Great week, but I'm hoping to get out to the other districts and hang out with some locals next week.
I went to Chicken on a Stick tonight at the beach. You can get a chicken skewer for $0.25 each, a small basket of rice for $0.25, a ear of corn for $0.50, and a coke for $0.50. I was full for $2.00 which is the cheapest meal in Dili.
I was enjoying my dinner until a pack of dogs surrounded us and eagerly waited for a fallen morsel. Some even tried to bully their way around to get me to throw a piece of anything their way. This was all very unsettling because Tracey was bitten by a dog a few days ago! She was walking down an unfamiliar street and a dog came up from behind her and bit her calf. No warning, just suddenly, pain and gushing blood. She then had to get a series of rabies shots; not only were there 8 shots with huge needles but it cost a whopping $1500! We managed to shoo the dogs away as much as possible and eat quickly. Despite having to be cautious of the hungry dogs, it was still cool to see the view of the island from where I was sitting. I've heard that the island is shaped like a crocodile but every time I looked at a map I really had to think abstractly to see the crocodile shape. Until I sat out on the beach and looked at the east end of the island. I was shocked to see that it was completely shaped like a crocodile! Can you see it?
The little baby kitty now has a name! Her name is Francesca, or Chica for short. She was named after the new Pope Francis (Francesca) and since he is from Argentina it also seemed fitting to call her Chica. After only one week of bottle feeding little Chica is getting bigger! She's opened 1 1/2 eyes and is gaining strength, crawling out of the straw hat we keep her bundled up in. She truly is a cat in hat, but not for long!
Today I climbed about 500 steps to see the 88 foot tall Cristo Rei (Christ the King) statue. This statue of Jesus stands on top of a huge globe overlooking the ocean. It was incredibly stunning! Although on the way up I had to take frequent breaks to stay hydrated, I eventually made it to the top to see beautiful views of the island
The Cristo Rei statue was given to East Timor by Indonesia in 1996 for the anniversary of their 20th year of occupation. It was inspired by a similar statue in Portugal also called Cristo Rei and one in Rio De Janiero called the Cristo Redentor ( Christ the Redeemer).
Here are some photos of the journey:
View from the bottom
Along the beach
Stations of the Cross on the way up
Made it to the top!
Cristo Rei
These two girls asked me to be in a picture with them before I had a chance to ask them to be in a picture with me! Too cute!
