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September 24, 2005
Baucau, Baucau
Three-day trip to Baucau, and I come back with one banana, a bad case of stomach-unhappiness, and a headache. In truth, it was amazing. What was more astounding was that we stayed in the same guest house I had stayed at on my first trip to the districts, three days after I'd first come to Timor, and all of three, whole, months ago. Self-reflection here we come. So, I sat about on the porch in the evenings and wrote like a mad woman - about Timor, about me (have I changed? am I still the same? am I still sane ...), and drove my poor co-worked nuts with curiosity about just WHAT I was writing on about.
But really, Baucau was fun. At one point, my co-worker and I were stuck without a car and went microliting around until we found lunch at a local padang (where they didn't really figure the meat needed cooking, so I kinda went hungry that day). The kids coming home from school on the microlet thought it was hysterical to have a massive malae crouched on their bus. I have discovered that despite the discomfort I really like microlets. I also like their price (10 cents, anywhere the microlet is going ... not a bad deal, and sure beats train rides).
But what I've really discovered is that I love driving. The landscape here is phenomenal. Over the space of a couple kilometers, you can feel you are in a jungle, and then the world's sparsest desert. At one point, the land juts up from the sea in steep slopes of bright red earth spotted with evenly-spaces white trees with thin, light green foliage. I should have taken a picture, but I was too busy gawking. Driving, you see the wares hawked on the side of the road, and the excitement of people seeing a car pass by (kids scream 'malae, malae') - and you realize just how incredibly lucky you are even to have wheels.
Enough reflection. I'll put a pic of an old Portuguese something in here for kicks, and then I'm going to pig racing later today.
Posted by storbert at 12:24 AM | Comments (0)
September 22, 2005
Buzz-Worthy
Today's newest entry comes via Bharath 'Buzz' Mohan [he's got a blog too, for anyone interested in reading more about Timor], who found it via ETAN, who found it via ... I don't know but who cares it's funny. It's even more funny if you know that Mr. Buzz is from Adelaide.
Here it is: East Timorese man fined over cock-fighting involvement
An Adelaide court has been told that a man from East Timor, convicted for being involved in a cock-fighting racket, considered the practice as "normal as Australian Rules football and horse racing". Lien Kong Puc, 30, of Melbourne today pleaded guilty in the Elizabeth Magistrates Court to two counts of ill treating animals. In July police found three fighting roosters inside boxes in the boot of Puc's car, when they raided an organised cockfight at a farm north of Adelaide. Puc's lawyer said the roosters did not belong to his client, who did not know it was illegal to attend a cockfight in Australia. He said Puc came from East Timor, where cockfighting was an accepted sport similar to horseracing in Australia. The magistrate convicted and fined Puc $1,000 and ordered him to pay costs to the RSPCA which took care of the roosters.
Posted by storbert at 10:56 PM | Comments (1)
September 17, 2005
The Trip to Maliana
Yes, I am back from my visit to Maliana. There, I was supposed to do some 'business development mentoring' as this is, believe it or not, my current job. But before we get there, we drive for three hours over rocky coastlines and past gorgeous beaches - into the middle of the country (away from the coast) to where the land is green and smells like Alabama, for some reason (I can't explain it). This is just a random picture of a man sitting on a stump that I found interesting:
So we get to Maliana, and since the manager isn't going to meet us until later, we hang out with a monkey named Saca (but apparently you can call all monkey's Sico):
Eventually, after wandering around the city we actually make it to the radio station:
And that really is the extent of my trip. Exciting now isn't it. Oh, and I slept -- which I didn't take a picture of, though I promise to try harder next time.
Posted by storbert at 1:43 AM | Comments (1)
September 16, 2005
Pictures of the Home
This is my house in Bedau Lecidere. I'm not even sure how to spell it -- much less what address it is. But you can find it on the dirt road right next to the pigs, if that helps:
This is the dirt road. That structure down at the end of the road is a cock fighting ring. Yes, that's right -- I live in the cock fighting district:
That's about it. More tomorrow with pictures from my trips to Ermera and Maliana.
Posted by storbert at 3:29 AM | Comments (0)
September 11, 2005
Atambua Pics
I have no time, because I'm headed out of town again - but I will write stories about a little town called Atambua sometime later this lifetime. Here are some pics for now.
1) A church.
2) A boy fanning a fire. We call it 'burning the hills'. People burn everything around here.
3)An interesting wall painting. And people sitting by it with chickens.
4) Street art - on the street. It reads: 'Scream Eros'. Don't ask me why that's funny, but it just is.
Posted by storbert at 7:58 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
September 10, 2005
Korean Pictures
Leo has gone trigger-happy with the camera. Gorgeous pics though. I have almost forgotten what a sky-scraper (or even a building above 2-stories) looks like.
Posted by storbert at 12:24 AM | Comments (0)