June 12 – From Ermera to Aileu and the Gift of a Scarf

Today we had our first real setbacks in our research, and even they were minor ones.  Grant and I were supposed to interview three people that spoke English and look up some data on the computer.  Unfortunately, two of those people were coming in from Dili today.  Eddie was supposed to be in at 10 AM and Domingos was supposed to be back by 2 PM.  We left around 3PM, AJ didn’t know the road to Alieu so we wanted to make sure we left while there was still plenty of light.  Unfortunately, neither came back before then.  The third person, Betty, was a woman who worked in the health clinic in Era Ulu and spoke pretty good English.  Ironically enough, she had actually been to Colorado a couple of years before, to Boulder.  I’m not really sure why, but she immediately wanted to talk to us and agreed to an interview. 

We went down to the clinic and were able to speak to her for about ten minutes, just our basic questions, before someone came with a hurt leg.  She told us to come back around 2, but wasn’t there when we went back.  Essentially, our planned interviews were a bust.  We got the computer information we were supposed to, but it wasn’t as complete as we would have hoped. 

Any disappointment I had with that was quickly dissipated though.  While in Era Ulu, the staff at the center we were at staying prepared all of our meals, and it was all very good food.  Our last meal was lunch, and after we had wrapped up we went to make sure that we had our final things packed.  John Bano, the translator asked if we could come back, because there was a little surprise. 

We walked in and there were five chairs, one for each of us – PVA, Bear Cub, AJ, Bano, and myself.  There are probably 6 or 7 staff members there, and we all sat in a line with them on the other side.  The woman told us (with Bano translating) that we had come unexpectedly so they were not really prepared for us being there.  They hoped that we enjoyed it there, and she even apologized for the food because they didn’t know we were coming, even though it was delicious.  We all thanked them profusely and told them the food was delicious, that we couldn’t have asked for a better place to stay.  The place was beautiful and they were all so nice. 

After that they had us all stand up and they gave each of us these embroidered scarf-type things, with beautiful colors and Timor Leste in the middle.  They came to each of us in turn and put them around our necks and shook all of our hands.  It was really an incredible experience, unexpected and heart-warming.  I had a huge grin for the rest of the day.  I can’t wait to get home and hang it on my wall. 

After that we departed for Aileu, taking a shortcut that we had been told about through what could best be described as a country-mountain road.  Parts of it had been recently repaired, but it was rough going, with parts that had steep drop-offs on either side.  At times we went over short bridges made from 3-inch logs that no part of me thought was going to hold us.  A couple of times there just wasn’t a bridge, and we had to drive through a couple of streams/rivers.  The drive itself was beautiful, and AJ is a champion (though still a maniac).  I took pictures the whole time, joking at one point that I was just trying to record our last moments for when they found the bodies. 

We made it to Aileu city in Aileu District and got to drive on a road that was actually paved!  It was like driving on air – they really need to change the shocks in our SUV.  Bano knows a guy here who told us about a house that rents rooms to people.  It’s pretty nice and a good deal - $100 for five people for five nights.  The bathroom is kind of funny though; there is just a huge tub with water in it and a little bucket, otherwise it has no water.  The toilet has no back to it, so after you do your business you dump some water in.  There is a drain in the middle for showering, and a sink (also with no water) to wash your hands in.  Bear Cub just used the ‘shower’ and warned me that it is breathtaking.  Literally; when you dump water on your head it is so cold that it takes your breath away.  I figure I’ll ‘shower’ in the morning to wake me up. 

It’s crazy to think that we’ve already been here for almost a week.  In some ways it feels like longer though.  We have fairly long days, usually working around 12 hours, and when the boss (PVA) is always around, it’s kind of hard to ever feel completely restful.  Today was the closest we have come.  Grant and I stayed around the center to wait for the people we were supposed to interview and work on the computer while PVA, AJ, and John went to interview villagers.  Since those people didn’t show up, we were able to get some reading in for a few hours, which was nice. 

I’m having a lot of fun in the districts, but Grant and I have had to share a room, and we have a knack for waking each other up every time we roll over.  Plus last night we stayed up for hours talking and giggling like schoolgirls, which probably doesn’t help.  It will be nice when we get back to Dili, we are staying at least one night in the Hotel Vila Verde on the 15th before we head to Baucau and Manatutu, so we’ll get our own rooms again for at least a night. 

Busy day tomorrow, more computer research on Aileu and we’ll have to figure out where we are going to look at water systems here.  We have some ideas of general areas, but no specific suco or village, so we need to figure that out.