Christmas Eve in Dili

The week leading into Christmas

So what does the week before Christmas in Dili entail? 

It seems that most of the expat community either head home or Bali which is a short hop away.

Many of the Timorese head back to their homes in the districts

Of course there are still many people, expat and Timorese alike that remain in Dili.  The youth in Dili and throughout TL put together Prezepius (nativities) to celebrate Christmas.  So without further ado, these are some of the Prezepius in Dili this year, my favourite is the last one as its so original.  It beat the second last one on this point which had lots of bling, colour and movement, call me superficial if you want.

This Prezepiu is in front of my house, note the tree stump is a traffic management device - it really has stuffed the traffic flow in the street but it is not my problem, in fact it is a little easier to get out of the house on the motorbike at the moment.

These guys know how to do Prezepiu, look at the string representing the rays of light from the start of Bethlehem and the plastic bottle covering the party lights for added electrical safety.  Baby Jesus arrived in this Prezepiu the following day after much dancing in front of the camera.

"I love my day/night job and just cannot help but dance in front of my Prezepiu..."

 

This was in front of the Palació do Governo and includes two inflatable Santas.

 

Are these camels or giraffes?

The fish being a point of differentiation to most of the other Prezepius nearby.

Santa at this Prezepiu looks as though he has just murdered Rudolph and the other reindeer ("how will I deliver the presents now?").

This is Tennant modelling what is possibly the smallest Prezepiu in Motael.  The kids must have got jaded by the large Prezepius nearby.  Bigger is not necessarily better....

What better way to use the space in a roundabout in front of the Cathedral other than to build a Prezepiu.  Stuff the traffic sight lines; they must have been listening to Midnight Oil, "no one ever crashes when they move so slow".

The photo does not do the Prezepiu justice, it is really good.  And now the secret’s out, there are two Santas that roam the world delivering presents.  Obviously the skinny one is doing most of the work out of the two.

Note the luminous green bottle brush Christmas tree and camoflage netting, beautiful aesthetic choices that just beat the double Santa Prezepiu above.  Also this was taken at the front entrance of the Hera Army Base, is this a more enlightened approach to R&R that the Australian Armed Forces can take on?

There are many more Prezepius all over the country that I could not see and admire.  Hopefully these have given you a taste of Christmas in TL.