Sunday morning I said goodbye to the clinic and to the crazy, chaotic, and energetic city of Dili and made my way to Triloka. The night before I left, the housemates I had been staying with had a small party for me. After pryer in the small back room, we gathered around the kitchen table where they wished me well and sent their regards to my husband and family and presented me with a traditional tais cloth. Tais is the traditional weaving done in East Timor. I stood there in this romm full of beautiful Timorese people speaking to me in [View Full Entry]

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Each morning I walk a few blocks to the clinic from the house I am staying at. It is a short walk that takes a long time. The heat and Timorese pace seems to have slowed me down. On my way to the clinic, I enjoy greeting my neighbors and especially the children who love to smile at me and occasionally walk a few feet behind me shouting, "Hey malai" (foreigner). Once I get out of the alley like back streets where my house is, I emerge onto a busy street full of pedestrians walking to school, work and the market, [View Full Entry]

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The past week has both flown and crept by. I have many contradicting feelings and thoughts about my stay here so far, it is amazing and lonely, exciting and laid back. The city is pretty run down and very dusty. Rainy season ended a few weeks ago so now the days are full of blazing sun, blowing dust, and intense, wet heat. The mornings and evenings are comfortable enough but by about 1pm I find myself covered in sweat and moving very slowly. I spend my days at the clinic from 8am until about 6pm. The mornings we do prenatals for [View Full Entry]

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Saturday I arrived at the clinic to 2 woman in the delivery room and one more in labor. On Saturday, I was able to see 3 deliveries and was thrown right in on 2 of them. After we had cleaned up the room after the second birth, the ground began to tremor slightly. It felt as if we were on a boat, and several women freaked out and ran outside. I wasn't worried though. After a very full day I walked the short way back to the house and sat down with my new housemates as they were doing homework. The [View Full Entry]

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We stepped off the plane yesterday into thick, damp, heat and after getting our baggage we met Constantino and Dr. Christine for a ride to Bairo Pite Clinic, dodging children, dogs, pigs and motorcycles. After meeting with Dr. Dan, I was off to the Midwifery Ward (Partera) to meet the midwives and get acquainted. After a short time, the Liddle's came to say goodbye and I was on my own. I met a doctor who is volunteering at the clinic and he gave me a quick tour of the entire clinic and I met a ton of people. The midwives and [View Full Entry]

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Okay. We made it to Taipei. The flight was fine, but long. We are not going to get out in Taipei, but I thought I'd drop a note and let you all know we made it here. Next flight is only 5 hours. [View Full Entry]

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We flew into Denpasar this afternoon. This place is amazing. We have rooms at a place run by nuns and we even have air conditioning. I will definately appreciate it knowing that I am not going to have that luxury much longer. After a cool shower we walked to a local restaurant where we had a great dinner outside, while watching the traffic fly past and the stray dogs sniff around. A particularly scruffy one was just chased out of the back kitchen by the young woman who served us. Tomorrow we fly to Dili, East Timor. [View Full Entry]

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I have my bags packed. Everything is in order here at home (I hope) for my 7 week absence. I am so ready to get out of here. Now I just wait for Ben to get home to take me to the airport. My flight leaves the cities this evening and I will be in Bali Thursday afternoon and in East Timor by Friday afternoon. So, now I am left to wonder about what this trip will be like. I really have few concrete plans. I will try to update this blog whenever possible. I am now going to go back [View Full Entry]

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