Doing things at the drop of a hat

So today was a surprise: our friends George and Libby called early in the morning and asked if we would like to go for a drive out of town to a village up in the mountains. YES PLEASE! It was the first time we’d been out of Dili and it was super fun. Bullet points:

• The mountains are pleasantly cool.

• There is an awesome memorial which is like a raised open-air tomb for 10 important people whom I think were killed in 1942 by the Japanese. It is pink and white with grass on top and it is impossible to describe, but it is lovely.

• It took an hour and a half to drive the 45 windy, bumpy k’s, and two and a half to get back. Growing up around Lismore and driving on the range to Armidale during college was apparently a good preparation for driving around the mountains of Timor, where narrow roads just drop away to magnificent views of hills and valleys. I felt right at home, while at the same time feeling a bit sorry for George’s son, who is our age but wasn’t very trusting that his dad would not crash into another vehicle on a narrow corner, or drive over a cliff.