Raj and Lois in Timor

 New Things encountered in the last 2 months since my last proper update: - A deep-end introduction to Human Resource Management - Intense meetings in Tetun (I can follow and contribute but it is like holding a crunch for a long time) - A really interesting consultative workshop on Aimoruk Tradisional (Traditional Medicine) - Realisation (this surprised only Lois) that I avoid conflict and tend towards people-pleasing (All my close friends: Erm... I could have told you that.) - Hence, decision to practice more assertiveness and nurture more indifference to dislike, anger, sarcasm or resentment. - Completed and handed over the text content (non-exhaustive and imperfect as it is) of the Village Worker manual (Aiming for publication in May this year!) - Attended a medical conference online (generously sponsored by A) and was very surprised at the talk that most moved our Clinician Educators by the end of the conference. - Had my first-in-Timor encounter with (most likely) a conman - L...

Lemo Rai, traditional Husi knua, lao to’o vila Oan kiak halerik beibeik  Walking from the village to the city The orphan always walks alone. Husi foho lao to’o tasi  Oan kiak harohan nafatin.  Walking from the mountains to the shore The orphan is always praying. O keta tau todan ba ema seluk  O keta sura O nia kole  Don’t put the burden on someone else Don’t recount your exhaustion. Hametin O nia ain tuban  Lao haksolok hananu nafatin Strengthen your heels Walk happy, sing always. Lemo, lemo rai  Lao lemo rai Sura loron sura kalan  Wandering, wandering, wandering the earth Numbering the days and nights Oinsaa susar nee bele hotu How will these troubles come to an end?   Tan sa O tanis beibeik  Tan sa O halerik beibeik  Why do you weep always? Why do you wail continually? Hamaran O nia matan been  Oinsa susar nee bele hotu. Dry your tears No matter how difficult, these troubles will come to an end.

Today for the first time I slapped myself on the face (to get a mosquito). I failed. Notwithstanding, I believe this graph represents my current progress. Practice makes perfect...

 R and I spent the holiday in Atauro, an island north of Dili. Officially part of Dili district, its geographical isolation has been a mixed blessing-- it separated islanders somewhat from political violence in the past, but also from water, building materials, reliable electricity and an urban economy. It was often pressed into service as a corral for political prisoners and exiles. We came here with JB and their family to spend the holiday (Heroes Day and Feast of the Immaculate Conception).  This was a good decision. The stories I'd heard about crystalline waters, dramatic drop-offs fringed by reefs so shallow you could cruise over coral just inches from your belly; the inky night sky full of sparkling constellations and the odd nebula; the sun rising before your eyes, adding brushstroke upon brushstroke of rose and amber to the swirled cloudbanks... all true.   At the Eco Lodge that we stayed in, the food was delicious, the staff prompt and friendly and the toile...

 If you're jogging along a pavement... and you violently slap a passerby's hand away because you thought  his hand was coming a bit too close to your hip at midswing... and you turn back midstride to see instead a rather decent and shocked-looking gentleman looking astounded at you... In such a situation, do you say " Lisensa!" (Excuse me) or  " Deskulpa!"  (Sorry)? I said both. And jogged away rapidly. 

This is how long it takes to bury your firstborn, your baby. Not included: An hour or so to mound a pile of cement powder, a little further away from the spot, and slosh water into it. Mix it well. Ave Maria, grasa barak liu iha ita boot. Maromak ho ita boot. Ita boot diak liu feto hotu-hotu. Ita boot nia oan Jesus diak liu. Santa Maria, Maromak nia Inan, harohan ba Nai Maromak tanba ami ata salan, oras nee ho oras nebe ami ata besik atu mate. A morning and a night to consider the spot in the family cemetery, the lush green hills framed in boughs heavy with ivory belladonna. To dig the child-sized hole... four feet, not six. To line it with cement, smoothing the edges down like a bedspread. Two days to greet the guests, feed the guests, change the flowers, accept the wreaths. Show them to the little coffin in the hallway. One night, the longest night, of watching the struggle to breathe, struggle to feed, the rosy skin mottling, fingertips chilling, slipping out of reach of a kangaroo ...

We're in the middle of a blissful 4 day holiday (All Soul's Day); the time has been spent moving into a new apartment (new to us; a few doors down in the serviced apartment block that has been our home since leaving quarantine); we have been mostly looking at trays, many trays; trays of trays; shelving units, and cutlery. I have an oven now! We have been visiting various churches and it has been refreshing to experience different communities within a common bond of fellowship. As we sat in a service today running in what we call "Tetun Speed 15" (I find 4-5 comfortable, 7-8 briskly challenging- TV/radio speed- and 10 impossible to follow), I reflected that to the Timorese colleagues we seek to train, we must sound as incomprehensible. I considered that I need to practise speaking slowly and dial my speech speed way down, consistently. We went out today with the few team members who remained in Dili over the long weekend. We talked over live music, black sand drying be...