Farewell

I’m aware that more people are reading this blog now than I can really keep track of, so I’m going to have to stop using names of friends in Dili, I think. Anyway, I spent this afternoon at One Dollar Beach* at a fabulous picnic with a bunch of, I believe I can identify them as, lovely AYADs and others. I’m sad my friend’s going but the nice thing about friendships in Dili is that the friends I’ve made here are people I would want to know anywhere. So lovely girl, I’m sorry you’re going, I really appreciated that you were there with hugs or the right thing to say at a couple of crucial moments over the last 6 months. But I’ll see you again, I’m sure.

Anyway, about the afternoon. Apart from the constant bumping-into-people-one-knows Dili is a bit like Canberra in that you attend as many farewells as all other social events put together. It was a fabulously relaxing afternoon, with a marvellous spread, we have some talented salad-making cooks here (all the more talented because of the situation with limited ingredients). We stayed until sunset and it was a magical, with silvers and purples and pinks.

I really appreciate the friends I have in Timor.

• Beach at the back of Christo Rei, or the Christ Statue. I really prefer to think of it as Christ’s Butt Beach.