*shakes head*

Armando – one of our two directors – told me today, with a lot of giggling*that indicates he doesn’t quite get the seriousness of the situation, that he got tired of pulling his laptop out of its case at security gates in airports, so in Heathrow airport last week he just told security that he didn’t have a laptop, even though he had two in his bag. OF COURSE, they noticed and made him go back.

Sometimes it is interesting to see my Timorese friends’ and colleagues’ reactions to things they’re not used to, and sometimes it makes me want to put my head in my hands and moan...

• Herminio and Armando don’t laugh, guffaw or chuckle, they giggle, there’s no two ways about it.