It’s been a while since I last posted. I have been on a week’s holiday in South Korea since my last post, but I decided not to create a post about that (I did have a nice time). We are nearly into 2026, and I will likely leave Timor in November 2026, so the end of my time here is now something I can almost see before me.
My activities here continue as normal and I’m busy. I’m getting the most satisfaction out of teaching the kids here in Fatuquero. I feel I’m making a difference. Mathematics, English and other subjects like world geography, climate change and plastics pollution.
Today, I took one of my kids classes (the one I teach on the veranda of my home) on a field trip hike to the Fatin Turizmu near Fatuquero. The students had been asking to go for a few weeks. I enlisted my good friend and neighbor, Maun Tano, to help me and we gathered the students and started the hike at 8:30am.
On the way up the climb we passed some graves (named “rate” in Tetun, pronounced “ratay”) which are family of one of my students and include some war veterans. All of the students went to each of the 6 or 7 graves, touched the grave and crossed themselves. I had never seen this before. In Timor the dead are far from forgotten and are continually remembered and celebrated, with their graves normally located on the same land as the main family home.
My dog, Charley, came along even though she is pregnant 😁. Loyal to the last. I bought her a new collar and I now get even more stares from people as I walk along with Charley by my side. Mana Berta says I need to be careful around holiday time as people may want to steal and eat Charley, but I think now she has collar then that is much less likely to happen.
Once at the Fatin Turizmu, the students were able to view and identify some of the local villages and other spots they knew. We then had some snacks and drinks (which I had hauled up the climb earlier 🥵) but not before we had a prayer led by one of the students.
Of course, it can’t all be fun…. so I gave the students a short maths class 😁. We are continuing to learn about fractions. Their attention span was even less than usual, so it was a relatively short class finished off with some colouring.
The weather held and we had just a little bit of rain on the way back down. The students ran way ahead of me as I was slipping and sliding slowly down. All in all it was a great excursion. I’m proud these kids have stuck out my weekly classes for 1 year now. I will be planning the next excursion for early next year.
So, a short but sweet post from me today. I have plans to do some cycling over Christmas and so I will be sure to post about my adventures. Wishing you all a happy Christmas and great New Year for 2026🎉🍾. Cheers!!!!!!
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