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Published: March 26th 2008
Annie's Beach Party
Liquica beach for Annie's b-dayThis will be my last entry from Timor. The last couple weeks confirmed that I made the right decision in staying in Timor this long.
The beach trip to Liquica for Annie's birthday was a blast. I rented a scooter to get out there. And more or less, I had no mishaps. There was a point where I almost drove off the road and this ambulance with heavily armed guys in camo stopped to "take control of the situation". They followed Asha and I with their lights flashing until they got bored and thankfully passed us, waving and smiling.
Last Wednesday I went up to Laclubar for the Easter. It was fantastic staying at my house with the whole family (save Ano - whose absence did not please his mother). After two interminable evening masses on Friday and Saturday, Sunday was all about the parties. I was invited to 3 baptism parties, one which was so lavish it resembled a Timorese wedding reception. Evidently I was wasn't the only one who thought that because when the priest got up to give the prayer, he slipped and said "bless this marriage, I mean, baptism". At this same party, I was
Baptised Joe Cole and mom
Sabina and her just baptized son Joe Cole (aka Ajitu). asked to open the dance with one of the teachers, Alu. Unfortunately I had just visited the old ladies in the kitchen and had a mouth full of betel nut, red saliva dripping from the corners of my mouth. Alu just shook his head and we tore that dance up.
Dili is still under curfew and electricity has been spotty. But I've still managed to have a great time over candlelit dinners. A couple weeks ago I was having one such dinner and Andrew (international human rights lawyer extraordinaire) passed along this true story:
In a small town in Timor, a young girl got pregnant. The boy she claimed was the father denied it. This matter went to the lian-nain (traditional holy man). He could not decide the matter so he took them to a neighboring lian-nain who was considered more powerful. This lian-nain talked to the boy and the girl. Each of them brought forth a friend to support them. After much thought the lian-nain came to them and said, "On my land, I have a lake. In this lake, there lives a crocodile. This crocodile eats liars. So I'm going to throw you both in and
Me at the beach
After snorkeling at a beach between Dili and Manatutu. we'll see who is lying and who is telling the truth."
The boy immediately confessed to being the father.
I leave for Bali today and then on to Yogyakarta. I've decided to cut my time in Indonesia a bit short and fly to Vietnam after Yogyakarta. I've been advised by several people to spend more time in Cambodia and Laos. I'm anxious to get up there and see something completely different.
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Jason
non-member comment
Hi!
Great stories from Timor! Watch out for the crocs! ; )