This post will be a little short on words and I will let the photos try to tell most of the story. We have been here in the capital, Dili, for almost 1 week. Its been a week of language, culture, security and health training here in a small hotel in the capital. I will admit, I’m tired. Its been pretty mentally exhausting for me. My Tetun (one of the most prominent local languages spoken) is starting to filter into my brain. Some of the other volunteers are much more proficient already. I’ve been using a combination of a “flash card” app (Quizlet) and grabbing random locals to talk to as my main learning tools. I hope the ‘ald neurons start connecting soon. My Tetun language group is 4 volunteers with Mauna Elci as our fantastic teacher. Di’ak barak Elci 😀.
The volunteers and Staff are awesome. Its been a pleasure spending time with them. All “good souls 🥰”.
I managed to go out running a few times (with other volunteers) while here and I will keep that habit moving forward. Normally a 5am wake up for me and 9am bed (not much fun 😑 but it puts me in the right “head space”). The beach is beautiful (see YouTube vid).
Tomorrow we leave for Gleno, which is about 1.5hrs drive inland from Dili. There we will meet our individual host families who we will each stay and live with for the next 10 weeks of PST (Pre-Service Training). Its going to be quite the change from the hotel. Squat toilets, no shower (just bucket shower), animals around and a bunch of local customs and ways of living we will need to get used to. I’m both excited and nervous.
This week we took a field trip to the local market. It was a little daunting at first, but really cool. I did my best to speak the Tetun I knew. The kids at the market seemed to enjoy my attempts, the adults not so much. Below is one photo I took of sellers cleaning carrots by stomping them in water in a bucket. I suspect it was also keeping their feet cool 🤔.
Also we opened our Timor bank accounts with BNU Timor Bank. It was a bit of a palaver, but eventually we all managed to get the admin done. We all now have a cool $5 balance 😃!
One other interesting place we visited was the local “Boujee” mall here in Dilli, Timor Plaza. I must admit, it was pretty cool. But prices were way out of the league of most locals. I bought some instant coffee for $9, some Q-tips for 50c. I think after our time in Gleno (and then onto out permanent site) we will all want to return to Timor Plaza for sweet treats 😁.
Our last day of pre-site training, today, involved learning how to use a squat toilet, how to wash clothes in a bucket and how to start a fire. All quite fun (obviously the squat toilet demo got a laugh and, being a Brit, I LOVE toilet humor 😂). Pictures below….
The last image is the local Coka Cola here. I thought it was pretty cool. There are A LOT of Chinese imports here.
Some random walkabout photos below:
Lastly, we took a visit to the local Timorese Resistance Archive Museum. I had read about the recent history of East-Timor (now Timor-Leste) when I was back in California. It was tough to hear and see again in the museum. I hope to post more on that later. Below is an exhibit they have showing an underground Resistance hideout below a church alter.
Not sure when I will next post. Its unclear how the internet will be in Gleno.
Thanks for reading 🤗.
Leave a Reply