Gotta get out of Dili!

31 August-7 September 2013

By Friday the newbies, including me, are starting feeling a little more at home in Dili.  The usual saying is thank heavens it’s Friday, this is extra special as it is a public holiday here Timor-Leste.  We were invited to Kate’s birthday at Jesus’ Back Beach through one of Hamish’s friend that we bumped into at the Australian Embassy to vote for forthcoming federal election.  

It is an interesting walk to the beach - we went past the Stations of the Cross and turn off the path somewhere near the top and head down a goat track.  It was really to get away from the noise and hubbub of Dili and to just hang out with and talk stuff.

It was an absolute surprise to find what I considered to be one of the best Thai meals I have ever had for Saturday's lunch.  We needed to refuel after more house hunting and finalising Bhavani’s leasing arrangements with her landlords, who happen to live below her apartment.  Had some time out before heading to sample the Dili nightlife – woohoo!  We kept going onto wee hours of Sunday morning which is pretty hard for this soul who is normally in bed by 10:30!

Hamish and I joined Liz and Bree for a brisk walk taking the long way to Jesus’ back beach over the Hera Road hill.  It was good to get some exercise in as I am seriously missing my mountain bike….  Speaking of which the Tour de Timor started on Monday, which had about 150 competitors for the five day event.  I am planning on being one of the riders in next year’s TDT, my training will start once I get the hang of the road rules here.

I was in early for starting at BESIK on Monday where I was shaken out of my bed – a magnitude 6.5 earthquake whose epicentre was located 312 kms north east of Dili.  I have never been so well shaken (except by Timor-Leste’s roads).  The only times I have felt an earthquake, well heard an earthquake, was when I was last in Vanuatu diving.  There were two instances where I heard a boom underwater.  I was thinking, “where’s the boat? Can’t they see the divers’ flag on the surface?”  It wasn’t until later on that I found out that it was earthquake.  Back to Dili, all of the locals started banging anything they could get their hands on to warn everyone and to check whether everything is OK.  To the best of my knowledge there was no damage.

It was my first day at BESIK (Bee, Saneamentu no Ijiene iha Komunidade, or Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program) on Monday.  It was good to finally start working in my volunteer role – I have only just realised that I have not being chained to a desk for four weeks, mind you, I could get used to that.  So for the rest of the week I have been getting myself familiar with how BESIK works and going into the field to understand the lay of the land and survey the pipeline route for the water supply in Licore.  The following picture is of the trusty survey team made up of the local villagers and Gerarsieu from BESIK. 

I was in the Baucau and Lospalos regions from Thursday into the weekend.  This was my temporary base for further field trips into the more eastern parts of Timor-Leste such as a village in the Lospalos region.  Gerarsieu and I again worked with the villagers to determine the problem that plagues part of the supply system.  This is still a work in progress to solve the problem.  The main storage tank for the system is located next to a primary school where we attracted the attention of most of the students of the school.  Primary schools are very basic and small in Timor-Leste, the students are taught in shifts (morning, mid-morning to mid-afternoon and afternoon) and sometimes even by gender as the schools are not large enough to cater for high numbers of school aged children.  The children are no different to Australia children, where some are shy, loud, quiet…

Friday night in Baucau was Karaoke time; it was good fun where some of us sang well while others were a little suspect (was it either - none of us should give up our day jobs or was it the bad room acoustics?).  The group included volunteers from Germany and doctors from Cuba, so half of the songs were in Spanish but no German, even I plucked up the courage to sing in Spanish towards the end!

On Sunday, swam several laps but I do not think I will receiving a call from TL sports commission to represent TL in the next Olympics.  I ended up talking to a young Timorese girl – she wanted to practice her English with me….  I feel as though I will get the hang of the local language soon enough.

Back to work tomorrow :(  seriously it should be good.