We got our second package!!! One month and two days after it left Iowa, priority mail, it arrived in Dili. And it was three times as big as the one that got here earlier that went through Portugal. But the best part was that it had LETTERS! There was one from my family, a Christmas card from Aunt Marjorie, and drawings and pictures from my cousins Katelyn, Julia, and Tyler. Stuff is nice, but if we just got a box full of cards and letters from home it would be just as special (if not more). But besides the encouraging notes and pictures, we got some really cool stuff. A battery-powered “candle” for when the electricity goes out, more bugspray, vitamin refills, Purell, another bag of peanut butter M&Ms (yes!) and some other food, and many other practical items. It was a really nice surprise and a great reminder of home.
Oh yes, and then there was the Superbowl! Definitely the most unique Superbowl party I’ve ever attended. Brendan was searching for any place in Dili that would be showing the Superbowl, but there isn’t much of an American presence here so it was difficult. But he found one place – the Dili Beach Hotel. So we made sure we were free, and at 8 am on Monday morning we watched the Superbowl at the same time you did all the way across the world, but probably not with the same atmosphere…
They showed the game on the TVs in the restaurant. So we sat on the couch, overlooking the beach with a nice breeze coming through, just the two of us watching the awesome game. We bought drinks so they wouldn’t get mad at us for sitting there for hours, but they weren’t too busy as it was and we’re nice about it. So it was a little different than usual, but it was relaxing and a great game and it was wonderful to have a chance to see it!
And on a more frustrating note, we don’t have any pictures, but during the past few weeks we have gotten a flat tire…twice. The first time we were visiting a friend after church on Sundays and we when came out of her house the front left tire was very, very flat. Brendan went to get the spare, but the spare didn’t look so good either.
So we took a taxi to one of the street shops where they put air in tires and patch flats. They tried to fill up the spare, but it turned out that the spare tire was flat too! So we left the car by the house and took a taxi home. And Sister Sonia has connections, so as soon as we explained the situation to her it was patched and back on within a day. And she gave Brendan a new spare tire for his birthday : )
That new spare tire came in handy because this past Sunday we drove up to the school to play games with the girls at 4:00 like we usual do, but as soon as we got to school it was clear that the same front left tire had gone flat again. After playing games we went home, and the next day at school Brendan and Bosco changed the tire. A little crazy, but it always seems to work out.
This is a really cool picture that Brendan took the other night that I just had to throw in. Besides doing the church Bible study, the two of us have been working our away through the New Testament together a few chapters a night and it’s been a lot of fun. Anyway, this particular night the electricity had gone off so we had candles for light instead and we were reading the book of Acts while inside our mosquito net. See what I mean when I tell you life is a beautiful adventure here?Another experience without a picture: Lately we’ve been helping three students apply to go to the Canossian Global Youth Conference that is held bi-annually in Hong Kong. These senior high school students were picked because of their English proficiency, but it still very difficult to write a formal application in English. So we have been working with them daily, correcting and doing drafts, but hopefully this Thursday we will be able to send everything in. Not only will we be helping with their application, but we will be supervising their position papers that they have to write and practicing conversation with them a lot between now and July. Like many people, even after studying a language for a long time, it is easier to understand then it is to speak at a high level.
We don’t know if this is possible yet, but we are hoping that we might be able to go with them as chaperones if we pay our own way. We will have helped them for four months and it would be great to see them there. Right now they seem much more nervous than excited – none of them have been on a plane before and none of them have ever been out of East Timor before. For them to go to Hong Kong and meet other students from all over the world would be something they remember forever! In a country where opportunities like this only come to few, we really want to help them make the most of it. We’ll keep you updated on their acceptance and their preparation.
We’ve also had many visitors lately that we’ve invited to our house – some volunteers and some Timorese couples we know. Two of our visitors were Christina and Iver. Christina had volunteered here for a year in 2004, and as a gift for their 30th wedding anniversary, Iver brought her back here. She was so happy and told us many stories! She also said that her and Iver are planning to hold a VOICA Conference for past volunteers at their home in Vermont in a few years and that we’ll have to come.Christina is a police officer and a mother of four and Iver wrote for the New York Times for years. It’s obvious that they’ve been all over the world for both work and volunteering. Christina said that as soon as their youngest child went off to college, she told Iver that they were leaving to go do something! So since then, she volunteered with VOICA in 2004 and her and four other volunteers started the IPDC university at the Canossian school. The five volunteers and the Sisters were the teachers, the administrators, and the coaches when they started up sports teams! It was obvious that volunteering here with VOICA had been one of the best experiences of her life and she was so happy to be back! Part of the reason that she was coming back was to write a proposal for a grant for the university and she needed more details from Sister Teresina.
It was amazing to meet both of them. Christina has a ton of energy and connections that she’s putting to good use for the people of East Timor. And I believe all the crazy stories she told! And she has quite a heart for others - even after her year was finished, she didn’t go home. She went to work in Jordan, helping train their police. Iver was very relaxed, but you could tell he felt the same way about things as Christina. He was a good conversationalist and asked a lot of questions – you could tell he was a journalist. And we amazed at his sacrifice when he was ok with his wife going volunteering by herself for one year in East Timor (to us as a newly married couple that seems a little crazy). From our few days with them, they seemed like a wonderful couple with a lot of passion for people and many crazy experiences
We also had two of the volunteers from Nurobo, West Timor, stay two nights with us while they were renewing their Indonesian visas. On the left is Gosia, from Poland, and next is Claudia, from Italy. We were hoping to get to know them more, but they were exhausted and rested most of the day when they weren’t at the Indonesian Embassy. But since they were here for Brendan’s birthday they were able to join in a few of the festivities!Getting to talk with them, was really interesting. They live in Nurobo with Dr. Lucy. Nurobo sounds like it is a very small town. We heard that the Sisters came there when there were many refugees who had fled there from the conflict between now East Timor and Indonesia. But since then the Sisters have set up a school there and a special center for women to learn job skills. So Claudia and Gosia help teach at the school and they also have a really interesting program for street boys. They call it “The Canossian Guys” and if you youtube it there’s a cool video with pictures of the people in the program. We watched it in Rome to see what Timor is like.
But anyway, in their area there are groups of boys that live on the streets and they desperately needed something to do and they love music. So they have started bands with the guys. Claudia said that there were sixty guys at the beginning of the program. Now they come to rehearsals with her or do other productive things. It sounds like her and Gosia meet with different groups daily in addition to their other responsibilities at school. No wonder they were exhausted! So it was great to meet them and we’re actually looking forward to when we need to go to West Timor to renew our visas so we can get to talk with them more and see how their programs are doing.
And more recent news, it’s the beginning of Lent here. On Saturday I went with Sister Aquelina to take Jesus in the Eucharist to people again and at the second house we were given some cards about a parade that afternoon. So after we had finished and we were walking back to the Balide convent, I went to meet Brendan and tell him about the parade. On the card it said the time was 1:00 – 2:00 pm so I thought that the parade would begin at 1:00 and end at 2:00. How wrong I was…
Brendan has understood this better than me, but I always want to show up at the time something says so we make sure we aren’t late. Mr. Holland, my high school band director, always told us that, early = on time, on time = late, and late = evil, wicked, and unforgivable. It’s pretty true in our culture though. But here, it’s almost like there is a half hour to an hour expected delay for every event.
So we ate a quick lunch and headed down to the beach front where it was supposed to start and no one was there. So we walked along the beach and talked. It was a beautiful day and there was a cool wind coming off the water – it was perfect, like being in a movie or something. But around 2:00 we walked back and we had started to see some movement. There were flat bed trucks that were decorated and with space for people to stand on the back and play music and dance. So we sat on the side of the road and waited for people to show up, hoping that we could see before we left for the 4:00 Bible study.
Fast forward to 3:30 – it’s looking like it’s going to be an awesome parade. No one has the money to buy candy to throw, but they do have native dancers, martial arts groups, firefighters, and Timorese music blaring. And the whole thing was going to finish at the Governu Palazzo with a giant concert until 3 in the morning! But sadly, we had to leave before we saw any of the real parade. We had waited almost three hours and Brendan was leading the Bible study this week so we couldn’t be late.
So I learned a hard lesson that day. We’ve been learning it for the past few months, but that was the most dramatic example. It’s very interesting living in a culture where people run time, not time running people. Most events start late here, and if things come up people may come very late or not at all. Obviously this makes for a country that is less efficient, but I’m sure for them it’s less stressful to have a more understanding culture. For us, still trying to transition from living in America to here, it’s still a little stressful trying to learn to play by new rules. But hopefully soon I will have adjusted.
Finally, today is Ash Wednesday. And, because East Timor is awesome, it is a national holiday here!!! We were so surprised on Monday to find out that there would be no school on Wednesday and the clinic (and most businesses) will be shut. It’s a day for church, family, and relaxing as we all start preparing our hearts for Easter.
So today we will rest a lot, Brendan’s going to keep teaching me how to drive a manual, and we’ll work on a few things until we sing in the choir at 6:45 Mass. Yay for Ash Wednesday being a national holiday here and yay God! K, hope you are all well. Thanks for the love, prayers, and continually checking the blog : )
Much love,
Rachel and Brendan
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