---

Even though there is a lot of commotion in the street outside I refuse to get up before ten. Billy and Manuella are already out visiting relatives, so I can take it slow with the mandi chores and have some noodles for breakfast and look as tired and grumpy as I want to. I then go sit out on the front porch and relax in the nice shadow. As they arrive back at the house we say goodbye and I finally get to deliver that phrase I have been practicing to remember all morning (Obrigadu barak ba Ita-nia ospitalidadi). We depart around elven with two more passengers, a woman from next door and a chicken. Before returning to Dili we will drive into the mountains and the ancestral cemetary where the great grandparents can be found. According to custom, Manuella will pay them a visit before going abroad on her next assignment. There are so many curves on the road that it is easy to get disoriented. Weather continues to be great and the mountains are impressive. On the way down we stop by a local who is tending to some wild plants growing along the road to get some for the Billy's garden back home. The man has got the famous red smile of betelnut and the largest machete I've seen in a while.

We depart Maliana and continue driving through the same communities we passed through on the way here yesterday, it is not as if there were that many alternative routes to choose from anyway. The constant turning back and forth gets to be a bit too much for our poor passenger and we have to stop a few times to tend to her car sickness. I am fortunate to sit on the left side of the vehicle and now have a much better view of the coast and my camera is constantly up at the ready position. Good thing there was a stocked up shopkeeper in Maliana as I was running down to my last four films when we hastily left Dili. We stop at some scenic spots along the way, the most memorable one being a small hidden lake just off the side of the road. The shore has a lot of strange circular holes in the ground and lots of dried trees grasping for the sky. It is also a popular place with birds, we see two big flocks of birds hanging around, the pelicans being the most interesting. They're not that overly nervous and we can get fairly close before they decide to move out into the water. Sunday is also the day for the popular cockfighting. We pass by several men or boys walking with one or two roosters in their hands, returning from the fights.

The journey home takes the the greater part of the day and as we reach Dili the sun is starting to come down. We drive right past a well visited rally of the Freitlin Party. Upon returning to the hotel I am extremely pleased to have a long shower and then just lie down on my bed and have a much needed rest.

---