My 1st Night Under a Mosquito “Mozzie” Net
After we were picked up at the airport by some of the Canossian Sisters in Kupang, we were dropped off at the Salesian Brother’s guesthouse. The convent was small and didn’t have four extra beds, so they set it up so we could spend the night with the Brothers. We had a great afternoon walking around Kupang with some of them and going to Mass celebrated in Bahasa Indonesian. Later, after dinner and some 500 (a fantastic card game) we went to bed.
Each of us had a bed covered by a mosquito net (a “mozzie net” to our Australian roommates) that was held up by two wooden Y’s at the head and foot of the bed. In the box-like mosquito net I felt a little like a princess.
That night Brendan and I didn’t get much sleep, but it wasn’t from maniacal mosquitos. Our biological clocks were still confused so we woke up in the middle of the night and Chris and Sali’s alarm clock was confused so they came to wake us up at 4:30 in the morning thinking it was 5:30 and that we needed to get ready so we could all leave for the bus at 6:00. So we played chess for a half hour and got ready in plenty of time. So from there we headed out on our…
Our 1st East Timor Bus Trip
You may not see the East Timor part of the title as significant, but believe me it is! From 5:30 am - 7:30 pm we rode from the far side of West Timor to Dili, East Timor. The bus wasn’t the best quality by American standards, but it was luxurious by Timorese standards! We crammed twelve travelers and our backage into a small, but clean, van. The back of the van was so stuffed that the door kept flying open while we were driving, but nothing fell out because it was packed so tightly : )
The group we went with was Timor Tour and Travel. The Sisters used the bus frequently when traveling between convents and Sister Sonia (our coordinator in Dili) had made reservations for us. The driver and employees were very nice. They gave each of us a bottle of water and a big package of “rose” cookies. The Indonesian rose cookies are white cookies with a little dab of green frosting that tasted like banana laffy taffy : ) Still, a very nice gesture from a seemingly well run company.And we were off! On the way we were driving on very windy roads through the mountains. Sali usually gets car sick so she tried to sleep the whole time and even I felt a little nauseas with the constant turns at high speeds. Brendan let me lean on his shoulder and when I would start to pray the rosary I was finally able to fall asleep.
We stopped for scheduled breaks every three hours or so. That was for bathroom breaks and a chance for us to buy more food if we wanted. We stopped at a sit down restaurant around 10:30, but the four of us weren’t hungry to we sat outside in chairs made out of used tires.
Not an especially great picture of me, but it’s a great one of the tire chairs : )In their poverty these people are so creative! It’s real recycling. Anything you have can be turned into something else that you need more. Where we just go buy a patented item for a specific purpose, they make it themselves. I hope that they get great satisfaction in their work, because when you solve a problem and successfully make something yourself it’s one of the best feelings in the world!
So the trip was going well. When I was awake I was able to talk with Stefan and Martina from Switzerland who were vacationing in Indonesian, doing a lot of scuba diving. Martina is a physical therapist so I got to talk to her about that and life in general. There were many fun and interesting people to meet. Then we stopped at an agency in Atambua by the West Timor border and they helped us get our exit cards ready. There, Doctor Lucy, another VOICA volunteer, met up with us and picked up the letters we were to deliver to the Sisters there. She was very kind and knew what was going on locally.
From there we made it to the Indonesian border where we exited the bus with all of our luggage and our passports and exit cards were checked. Then we had to walk along the no man’s land between the two countries for about 100 feet before meeting other Timor Tour and Travel buses.
No man’s land between West and East Timor – land of the goats.
Stefan took this picture of us right before we officially entered East Timor. Even though it was cloudy, it was beautiful. They loaded us up and took us to the East Timor entrance and we got visas for one month and continued. Our first view of East Timor was looking down the road at the ocean.
Soon we were driving in a rainstorm, which continued for some time. A few hours later we came to a dead stop behind eight semitrucks, and other buses and cars. Rain higher in the mountains had flooded the area and destroyed the bridge! We all got out of the bus and surveyed the damage, but it was also like a party! The whole village was out sitting on the banks of the river trying to help or waiting to see what would happen.
At first there was talk of all of us spending the night in the van and having to wait a day or two for the water to recede. Chris and Sali started playing Polish Scrabble, Brendan walked around by the river, and I tried talking with some of the women in Tetum. They knew a little English too so we were all able to practice our new languages some. It was a big confidence booster to be able to actually speak (slowly) the language we’ve been learning for two months.
At this point, some of the drivers became impatient to get to Dili and decided to attempt a crossing on the dirt road that went through the river and up the other side. First a white car with four-wheel drive tried it, almost lost it, but made it across! Everyone on both sides of the river was clapping and cheering. Later one of the semitrucks made it. After a few more cars, our driver loaded us up and we drove down to the river. Stefan took a video as we crossed the river – I wish we had it! We made it to the road on the other side and all of us were cheering! It had been a big delay, but we didn’t have to sleep in the van (although it would have been an adventure)!
We wound around on a coastal road with spectacular ocean views. There was more flooding before Dili so we took it slow, but we crossed it easily. It was dark when we finally reached Dili and the bus driver dropped the four of us off at the Canossian Sisters’ Balide convent. They fed us and shipped us off to our new house to spend our first night there and begin getting settled! That was the end of our trip to Dili, but the beginning of time in East Timor! I think our life here will always be exciting!
Don’t worry, when we get a chance we will write about Dili and our set up here. Hope things are well with all of you! God bless you!
Much love,
Rachel and Brendan
Soon we were driving in a rainstorm, which continued for some time. A few hours later we came to a dead stop behind eight semitrucks, and other buses and cars. Rain higher in the mountains had flooded the area and destroyed the bridge! We all got out of the bus and surveyed the damage, but it was also like a party! The whole village was out sitting on the banks of the river trying to help or waiting to see what would happen.
At first there was talk of all of us spending the night in the van and having to wait a day or two for the water to recede. Chris and Sali started playing Polish Scrabble, Brendan walked around by the river, and I tried talking with some of the women in Tetum. They knew a little English too so we were all able to practice our new languages some. It was a big confidence booster to be able to actually speak (slowly) the language we’ve been learning for two months.
At this point, some of the drivers became impatient to get to Dili and decided to attempt a crossing on the dirt road that went through the river and up the other side. First a white car with four-wheel drive tried it, almost lost it, but made it across! Everyone on both sides of the river was clapping and cheering. Later one of the semitrucks made it. After a few more cars, our driver loaded us up and we drove down to the river. Stefan took a video as we crossed the river – I wish we had it! We made it to the road on the other side and all of us were cheering! It had been a big delay, but we didn’t have to sleep in the van (although it would have been an adventure)!
We wound around on a coastal road with spectacular ocean views. There was more flooding before Dili so we took it slow, but we crossed it easily. It was dark when we finally reached Dili and the bus driver dropped the four of us off at the Canossian Sisters’ Balide convent. They fed us and shipped us off to our new house to spend our first night there and begin getting settled! That was the end of our trip to Dili, but the beginning of time in East Timor! I think our life here will always be exciting!
Don’t worry, when we get a chance we will write about Dili and our set up here. Hope things are well with all of you! God bless you!
Much love,
Rachel and Brendan
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