wisdom of the ages

Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, and penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.
Maya Angelou                                                                           

english, yes i speak this still

As a non-native Tetum speaker I have found that as I try to communicate with my local colleagues I have started to leave out connector words when using my english with them, attempting to make the translation as easy for them to understand as possible.  I have started to speak to them how they speak to me.  So, instead of saying,  "Good morning!  I hope you are well!"  It comes out as "Hello, yes.  Today morning you good, no?" 


I find this amusing, as this carries over to my expat friends who are completely fluent in not only English but also 6 other languages (Mafalda you know who you are).   I talk to them like I am a non-native English speaker and sound like a foreigner with my diction (which gives me a false sense of coolness, I have to admit).  Sometimes I even throw in a bit of Canadian accent to really shake things up.   It's annoying to me that I only speak 1.75 languages (English-1; Spanish-.5; and Arabic- .25).  Maybe I will get to 100% with Tetum while I am here?


I will keep practicing, even if I do call my taxi driver a 'plastic head' as I did today.  Hey, at least I try.  And at least we all had a good laugh.

lychees make everything better

Today was a really hard stressful day.  Probably the hardest and worst I've had since I've been here.  So much to learn and to do and it was all very overwhelming- it all came to a head today.  Not having a car and relying on taxis doesn't help either.  It is a full moon so I'm not totally surprised.   Luckily, I have a new tiny (apartment) and some lovely new friends who helped me christen it with some crisp chardonnay and some Australian cheeses and these beautiful fruits. 

Lychees have got to be the most fascinating, ugly, mysterious, beautiful fruit I've ever eaten.  The outside appears prickly, but in fact the curls of the fibers that protect the fruit inside are soft to the touch.  Like a thick cornsilk.  The skin breaks open easily to reveal a glistening white, slightly transparent fruit that has the freshest mildest taste that can melt away any bad day.


Today I am grateful for lychees. 

wonderful weekend

I have a thing for taking pictures of these sweet Dili boys.

New Kebab shop just opened- I think it's my new favorite place.  I sincerely hope it's a club.  I want to be a member.

Enjoying a turkish coffee with my new friend Mafalda, who is from Venice. (Yes, I have a friend!)

She also likes vegetables.  We shared this fabulous veggie platter- it was indeed as delicious as it looks.

We also plotted how to set up our respective pads with cool pillows like this.

This place makes beautiful bread.

I call this "study of bread"

This man was cleaning the street from the view at our table.

And of course my weekly door picture.  The lock made this one.

new phone, holla!

So I finally bit the bullet and bought a cell phone here.  My work provided a very basic (as in punch in the number and dial and that's it) phone when I stepped off the plane.  I finally cut the string off of the end and jimmy rigged it so it still works without the tin can.  Anyway, I've been using that to communicate and it's served its purpose.


I have been quite spoiled enjoying the 4G Android phone and all it's glory in the US.  Coming from that to the monopoly of Timor Telecom and their absolutely horrifficly slow, circa 1995 internet and phone service (I may as well have a phone in a shoulder bag), this little toy phone wasn't doing it for me.  Knowing I would never pay the $1,100 for an unlocked iPhone here I decided to shell out $38 and buy a very swanky Chinese-made E-gos cell phone.  Sure, the misspellings of the English keys are a bit annoying, but I'm familiar enough with the alphabet that I can fill in the blanks.  It has a 12.1 megapixel camera (actually around 5 according to the store manager- because those crazy Chinese like to fib) and a color screen.  I'm big time now baby.


Perhaps the best thing about the phone is that even though it appears brand new (and I paid for a "new" phone), it is not.  The previous user left several gems on the phone's memory card for me.  For example, here are the 4 songs that alternate as ringers from my playlist:


1.)  Surrender, Celine Dion
2.)  My Heart Will Go On, Celine Dion
3.)  Don't have a clue but it's amazing
4.)  Hit me Baby (One More Time), Britney Spears

So, you must understand why I am so excited about this new purchase.


I will attempt to understand how to work through all the little bits of weird that come with owning a new phone and continue to add my cool American slang and probably create a whole new 'badass' dictionary (badass is a new addition- hooray!) for the next user.  I like to think of it as passing it forward.


All I can say is, with Britney at my side I'll never walk the streets of Dili alone again.

dimples

is it february already?

Where has the first month of 2012 gone?


Can I just say to all of my friends in the Northern Hemisphere that I really am sorry that you have had to wear heavy coats and sweaters for the majority of the month.  Ok so that was a dig, but hey- you have 24 hour power (without generators!), and faster than 52 kbps download speed costing less than $1,000/month and roads with working traffic lights.  And I have hot weather.  Everyone's a winner.


I have officially been in Dili 2 weeks and am adjusting to life here fairly well.  Though I still get momentarily distracted when I see things like this in front of my office. He is really cute, isn't he?  I've named him Pedro.  He has been there the past few days cleaning up the yard.  

Ah, Dili.  Love ya.


Living here has been a fairly smooth transition. I'm a very independent person.  When I was little it was always "No mom I can do it myself." As a 30 yr. old (adult?), it still holds true. However, being car-less and dependent on others for transportation to and from work during the day and at night (it's not safe for me to be alone around dusk or after) has me going bonkers.  But I'm learning to adjust.  Perhaps this is the time in my life when I am supposed to learn to be patient?


When meeting people here in Dili usually the first question that is asked is "where are you from?"  And because at this point we are speaking to one another I assume its obvious- I have the same accent as all those people on Friends, Baywatch and all the other syndicated shows we watch over here.  Same one.  At this point I like to play the guessing game which usually results in having a much more interesting conversation than just answering the question outright.   My fun little game is quite entertaining because I am continually surprised at the answers I get.  I have been mistaken for the following: Egyptian (three different times), Lebanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Mexican, and Filipino.  Filipino.  People guess everything but American.  Winning!


So yeah- all that happened in January and I was really amused with the goat today.  Happy February, y'all.