Timor Times

A MOUSE A MOUSE it just poked its little nose out from under my bookshelf, arghhh. I thought I had heard one scrabbling around this week! *sigh* time to get the mousetrap out, I guess. Grahhhhhh. If it could refrain from making any noise or pooing on clean teatowels*, we could co-exist. But mousie clearly has no self-control, so goodbye mousie it is.

See? Am also brave about ridding flat of disgusting vermin. (Not going to take any credit for my nonchalance with spiders because I have not worried about spiders unless they were actually sitting on my head or something for years.)

• Mice are vindictive little bastards, not only do they love clean teatowels but they shun dirty dishes in favour of peeing all over clean ones, cutlery, bowls etc.

I am not the bravest about many things one can take the opportunity to take an adventurous spirit about in Dili. (see: riding scooters in crazy traffic / risking attack; walking at night; running alone on the beach; eating salad.)

Now, I have friends (the unlucky ones who have bak mandis; other lucky friends, including volunteers, have places with actual hot showers!) who admit that they can’t hack the cold water in the mornings anymore, it’s just that little bit too cool. I would just like to point out that I have been having cold sponge baths every single morning, sometimes again in the evening, for the last seven months or so. And I will be until I leave.

So, this is THE issue where I can claim to be TOUGH. Guess all those Canberra and Farmidale winters came in handy for something!

I love the end of the year; the lead up to hot weather, Christmas, holidays, my birthday... In Canberra I always feel this starting in September, when it goes back to being merely quite cold, instead of freezing. You see more people about and suddenly there are more social activities and work revs up because people want to get things done before the end of the year. I love activity, I love being busy, I love warm weather and I love to look forward to things, so I guess that’s why this is my favourite time of the year.

This year I feel like I’ve gotten an early start on that time. The weather hasn’t stopped being warm, and although that’s a little difficult whenever you have to step away from the comfort of an airconditioner (and believe me that happens often), it triggers memories in my head of end of the year, end of school, end of uni. There is a grass track I walk on part of my way to work here and it reminds me strongly of the track to my old primary school. It all combines to make me feel like I’m constantly on the brink of a holiday or a good time somewhere. (No, in case you hadn’t noticed, living and working in Dili is not really like a holiday. Not the kind you’d want to go on, anyway. I cook in a hut every day and wash in cold water, remember?)

I don’t think I am that close to the holiday (3 months til Darwin! 3 months!) or a good time in the sense of lots of things happening (seeing I am still stuck at home all the time). But, I (in usual organisational mode) am now making some preparations for getting my stuff and myself back to Australia. And that makes me happy and I enjoy funny little things about my life here now more (the dogs, my crazy walk to work).

Because last night was the only time I’ve ever been to a dinner party in Timor and exactly the second night I’ve stayed out until after midnight – OF COURSE today was the day the airconditioning repairdude knocked on my door at 9.30am in order to demand payment (at least that didn’t hurt, it was only $25). OF COURSE. I really should have seen that one coming. WTF is wrong with him? Why wasn’t he at church like a normal Timorese person? AARRGHHHH MY HEAD.
On the bright side – 3 months today until I get on a plane for Darwin! Whee!

I asked a friend if he would give me lessons in quick-step the other day, so in a very Dili way we ended up having a dance lesson in someone else’s loungeroom this arvo (because he lives in a hotel and I live in a hovel and neither of us has dance space). I just do so much better when I can dance! It is my happiness in living.

And then somehow I ended up at a dinner party last night; marked, not only by the lovely people and great food and general happenin’ atmosphere, but by the fact that it was the first time I have been to any malae gathering where I was the only Australian. We had a Nicaraguan, an Austrian, a Swiss, a Croatian Canadian, a (forgive me, V) Canadian from Chinese background, a French, an Australian, and a Spaniard. We had a marvellous debate about the stupid and horrible things people from each country have done. Austria won. (Or lost, whichever way you look at it.)