Dili, Timor-Leste and the present

As "Frankenstorm" begins to bear down on the Northeast, let me describe what it was like to be in sunny, tropical Timor-Leste.

September 29th - Leaving Singapore and Arriving in Dili

I was sad I could not spend more time in Singapore. It was a very interesting airport, so I can only imagine how interesting the city would have been. There were buses and trains that went straight from the airport to downtown for a very reasonable price, but alas, there will always be another day.

The flight from Dili to Singapore was pretty nice, but by this point my body was so messed up about what time of day it was and when I should have been eating that I could just not stomach any more food. It was a shame too, because the food on this flight was really nice, I just could not eat it. I was the slowest person in the section around me (which is usually the case with me on the planes, I don't know why that is. I'm not usually a slow eater) and I thought there was a chance the plane was going to land and I was still going to have my nice food tray.

Landing in Dili was an experience. We came in over the water and landed on a small air strip that was next to palm trees and the sea. There was one other plane already on the runway, and that was it. They pulled our plane up next to that one, rolled the stairs up next to it and out we walked onto the tarmac. Oh my goodness, it was hot and muggy. I was not quite prepared for this level of heat.

As we walked up to the airport, I saw the UN peacekeepers standing at the entrance. I had never been to a country that currently had a UN peacekeeping force. As I went through immigration, there were many of them, from many different nations, milling through the people and talking to them in various languages. After immigration was baggage claim - a single belt that dumped most of the suitcases on to the floor. I have been to tiny airports so this was nothing unusual.

Lucky for me, the Embassy had sent a driver to meet me at the airport and I didn't have to deal with trying to find a taxi and the hotel on my own. Whenever I have visited an airport, no matter the country, there is a pretty standard taxi system. There are the taxis that wait in the designated area and then there are the taxi drivers who stop you on the way to the designated area and offer you a ride in their taxi for a "better price." As I followed the Embassy driver through the craziness that was the tiny airport exit full of family, sellers, taxi drivers, I was just so glad to not have to figure this all out on my own. I truly love traveling and experiencing other countries, but for some reason I kind of stress out about the airport part of it (just wait until I get to Jakarta...oh the experience there...)

The driver was very kind and explained a little about himself and the city to me as he took me to the hotel. The hotel was a nice place - the room itself reminded me very much of China. The a/c units were exactly the same and there was one in the living room and one in the bedroom, which was especially nice. The hotel had a little restaurant and I figured I would check that out later. As I settled into the room I thought I would have a little rest and then go in search of dinner (it was about 3:30 in the afternoon). So, I tried to stay awake until after 4, and then I laid down.

And then I woke up at 3:30am. Jet lag is some fun stuff. I tried to force myself back to sleep and it worked, a little. I got up and decided to see if I could use the computer to get on the internet. The hotel had given me the code but I had to enter all this other information to get the computer hooked up in the first place. I am pretty proud of myself on this one. After years of listening to my father-in-law and my husband discuss computers, settings, IP addresses, etc., I was able to figure out how to get this to work without any assistance. A moment of triumph for me.

September 30th -
I was invited on a outing by some people from the Embassy for my first full day in Timor-Leste. It was a Sunday and we went to Maubara, where there is a Dutch/Portuguese Fort. After viewing the Fort we had lunch and the restaurant inside. My first experience with Timorese food was really great. Chicken with rice and some kind of sauce. Very tasty.

The beach is beautiful in Timor-Leste. The water is so clear and blue. We walked to the beach across the street from the Fort and I put my feet in the ocean, accidentally. As we were standing on the beach, there was a whale that swam by. The depth of the water increases dramatically not too far from shore and there was a whale coming up out of the water and breathing through its blow hole. It was awesome. We all tried to get pictures, but it was difficult to do. Once I upload my pictures I will add the one with the whale - the tiny silver sliver in the sea. As we were all searching for the next place the whale would pop up - the ocean came up and soaked our shoes. It was a long ride home with squishy socks.

I was invited to celebrate Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival with some people from the Embassy that evening. It was really fascinating to spend time with others who had been living in Timor for some time. By the time 8pm rolled around, I could not hang on any longer. I took the short walk back to my hotel and crashed. Then 3:30am came around again...


Next time on the blog...meetings! That is pretty much what my trip in Dili consisted of. But that is the point of these familiarization trips. And they were some very fascinating meetings.

For now, I need make sure I have everything in order to prepare for this storm. They have said its going to be bad, but so far there is not much wind and a little rain. We will see how it goes down over the next 12 hours though. I have never been through a hurricane. Should be interesting.

And being that it is so close to Halloween, I chose this weekend to start watching The Walking Dead. Alone. That might have been a mistake. Sometimes this show is scary!

Take it, Leave it, Store it?

The question of the day: do we take this item, leave it here (sell it, donate it, whatever), or send it to storage for the foreseeable future? Thanks to this line of thinking, our house is in utter disarray.

It has been hot here. Really hot. 90+. Now most of the time that is not really a big deal, but in a house that has no A/C (and possibly no insulation), that is really hot. Usually we can get our house to be between 5 and 10 degrees cooler than outside, which is not saying much. And then add the humidity. Needless to say, its very difficult to get the motivation to do anything inside the house when its that warm.

We should have buckled down and worked on packing this morning before the heat really took over but I just could not get moving. So Scott worked on the computer and I watched a movie and went through the rest of my clothes in the one room that does have a window air conditioner - our bedroom. I only ventured out to get more clothes or put them away.

However, after realizing that we did not accomplish enough on our precious day off together (one of the few we have left) we decided it was time to just put a few things in order for the future pack out. Instead we attacked the living room, dining room, and office. It may not sound like much but that is at least 60-70% of our possessions. I found myself parting with things that nine months ago I was sure I needed in my life. I imagine that in the near future I will find myself doing this again. We want to downsize but at the same time there is no reason to get rid of everything just because we don't want to take it overseas.

We have some heirloom dishes, antiques, Chinese artifacts, and various other items that are not going to make it if we haul them around the world. But really, there is no reason we can't just put them in storage and leave them for years if need be. Its funny, but Scott and I have attached different meanings to different items which makes it difficult for us to let them go. For instance, there is a painting I absolutely love that we bought from an artist in France. Scott feels bad about the painting because he feels that he haggled with the artist to harshly while I love it because it was so difficult bringing it home without it getting ruined. For these separate reasons we will not let it go. It is an interesting time for us actually; learning what certain objects mean to the other person.

We did take a break to go see a fireworks display but a thunderstorm shut it down. Sorry about that Ohio. The 4th of July rain apparently followed us from Colorado this year. Instead we hung out with our friends for about an hour and then returned home to continue the packing. It is now 1am and we are calling it a night.

In other news, we had a wonderful 4th of July on the 3rd and Scott set off all kinds of fireworks with some people from our church softball team. I have some great pictures I will try to put up if the heat doesn't chase me out of the office. Tomorrow we venture to Canton to run some errands we cannot accomplish in this small town and visit with a friend we haven't seen since we were last in Colorado!

Its crazy. I have about a week and a half left here. I feel like I have so much to do and that I am walking  into a future I don't really know anything about. Should be quite the trip!

Happy 4th (now 5th, sorry!) of July!

The heat is on

And it is hot!!! Oh my goodness. I am not prepared for summer on the east coast. We had been lucky since we moved out here but nature decided to remind us where we live now. We have one window air conditioner, it is currently in our bedroom, and it is possible that during my upcoming days off that is going to be domicile all day long. I have so many things I need to accomplish but it's so hot in all the rooms of our house except that one.

In the evening we are living on the back porch. So far it's been nice but I know the days are coming when it'll be too hot to even want to be outside. Perhaps I will set up the air mattress in the cellar. Surely it will be cool below ground....

Back Home Again...from Indiana

I feel as if I am going non-stop. A quick trip to Indiana (I left yesterday afternoon) for a graduation and a wedding and I am already back in Ohio. I am here this next week, but then I will be off to Chicago! I am getting very intimately acquainted with where the police like to sit on I-71/I-70, which has so far worked to my advantage but I still have seen entirely too much of them. Also, my car has no A/C. This wasn't so bad on 70-80 degree days but when its 94? Not okay.

In Foreign Service News...

I received my salary offer! Very exciting. My packet with all my moving and transportation information is on its way to my door and next up will be my travel orders. This is where it gets really serious because I need these to book a flight - and that is when I will have a date and time for arriving in D.C. That seems so crazy. Today I realized we still have a video on the digital camera that we took when we were in D.C. the last time, when I was there to take the Oral Assessment for the Foreign Service. That was in September of 2010. Also since that time I have been carrying around my note cards I used to study for that assessment in my backpack. They have gone to school, to the library, on trips with me, all the while sitting in a small pocket in my backpack. I have no intention of removing them and in fact I am probably going to put them in my purse so I will always have them. I kept them because I figured I would use them the next time I took the assessment and I didn't want to lose them. Looks like once was enough for me. 

Ah, it is toasty in this house. I miss central air but I suppose this might be the best way to prepare for an unknown foreign locale that may or may not be ridiculously hot. I am guessing most homes in other nations air conditioning is not a standard feature.