New Slideshow -->

Check out the new slideshow of our life on a tropical island including such highlights as—Chad’s new attire, Laurie helping the fishermen, playing with the local kids on Mt. Matebian, an industrious salt-making family (it’s an amazing process, we currently have a lifetime supply of salt we bought for a dollar), cows grazing by the ocean (this isn’t Montana…), and Laurie on the ferry with President Ramos Horta looking over the railing behind, he’s wearing the white shirt and has the camera… After taking this sneak photo a plain clothes security guy with a big radio told us that we could just ask the President for a photo. With the security guy's "encouragement" we went up to say hello and ended up having a really nice conversation with the President on topics ranging from East Timor’s history to Obama to the future of the Millennium Development Goals. It was awesome.

Also see photos of Timorese fishing boats and gardens, and our hike up Mt Manu Koko on Atauro Island just north of Dili (and our break on the decent eating coconuts on the side of the road).

I guess what these photos don't show is Chad going to work every day (he really does) and Laurie looking for work every day (she really does and has a few good leads at the moment).

This afternoon we're going to buy our plane tickets for a Christmas honeymoon in Java, wow. It doesn't seem remotely like Christmas here but the local kids have begun setting off fireworks occasionally which apparently is a Christmas tradition in East Timor.

Timor Highlights

Highlights— sitting on the beach under the moon, incredible sunsets, brilliant snorkeling, speaking Tetun when it’s working, lots of local veggies all the time, climbing mountains, learning about the world of international aid/development, meeting interesting people from all over, Timorese coffee, breakfast on the beach with friends...

Tough things— not knowing the language, missing all our amazing friends and families, the oppressive heat from 8am to 6pm, the brutal history of Timor and the current struggles Timorese face...

Funny things— chickens are ENDLESSLY crossing the road here, for no apparent reason, I’m not kidding, it’s really funny (and goats, pigs, and dogs as well), families of 4 on motorbikes everywhere, the city’s tree pruning efforts (climb the tree below the power line and hack branches with a machete until ragged stubs of branches remain, Australian accents (gudonya), the traffic cooperation and noncooperation at the broken stoplights, the lack of any credit card infrastructure so even when buying a plane ticket we have to use cash...

Where We Spent Election “Night”

On November 5th (yup, 5th) we headed down to the US Embassy at 10:30am to see the results come in. Vermont and Kentucky had been called but everything was still on the table. We joined a noisy crowd surrounding a projector and screen that showed the AFN (Armed Forces Network) and CNN depending on which was coming in. Timorese staff served coffee and asked if they could get Obama buttons (they could until they ran out). The mood was high and kept getting higher, at times it might have even felt a bit like the Union Club. Seeing Montana in the yellow for so long had us cheering (we were alone in this) every time the Montana results came up. After Obama’s speech everyone cheered. Then went back to work. We were so elated and also missing election night in contrast to our election mid-day, one of the disadvantages of being 16 hours ahead of Montana time.

The Timorese we’ve talked to are Obama supporters but they also say they are so impressed with McCain’s speech. In this new democracy (since 2002), there is plenty of tension among parties, which permeates everyday life here. The largest party (but one that isn't part of the ruling coalition) is threatening to pull out of parliament and an upcoming "peace march" by the same party has people worried about more violence. Thus McCain’s message of support for Obama really stood out to people. For now I’ve haven't pursued the follow-up discussion with folks, about the reality of US partisanship, and instead let us all enjoy the feeling of this election for awhile. See the story below written about our election night.


2008 Elections Celebrated in Timor-Leste: "The U.S. has shown us all a lesson!"
November 4, 2008

Ambassador Hans Klemm hosted an Election 2008 reception at the residence. It was attended by over 200 guests, including American citizens, representatives from diplomatic missions in Dili, Timorese and international NGO representatives, Deputy Prime Minister Jose Luis Guterres, members of the Cabinet, members of parliament (MP) from all parties, and local media representatives. Campaign memorabilia from the State Department's Global Publishing Systems was in high demand by the guests and ran out by the end of the event.

Americans supporting both parties traveled to the event from throughout Timor-Leste and reacted with hugs, tears of joy, and cheers as the results were announced. The mood was festive and marked by unity and patriotism by the American community, and admiration by Timorese guests. Timorese officials remarked "The Americans (from both parties) fly the American flag, not party flags;" "The U.S. has shown us all a good lesson in the democratic process;" "The candidates demonstrate America's greatness in both victory and defeat."

Today's edition of the Suara Timor Lorosae (Timor's largest newspaper, circulation 3,500) underscored the U.S. tradition of accepting democratically elected results in its headline: "Barack Obama Chosen to Become President of the United States; McCain: 'Obama is my President'"

Timor Leste’s President on Obama’s Election (Excerpts from Statement)

The perspective from Timor’s president who recently sat one table over from ours at a small open air Lebanese/Thai restaurant on the beach.

(President of the Republic and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, José Ramos-Horta, congratulated today the president-elect of the United States, Barack Obama, and the American people for the historical election of an Afro-American from a humble background to hold office as President of the United States.)

"The new American president must realize that the era of American and European supremacy is over and should take steps to build a new and stable international framework by inviting China, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico to join the G8 and by leading the process of reform of the United Nations that would include the expansion of the Security Council with new permanent members such as India, Indonesia and Japan, for Asia, Egypt and South Africa, for Africa, and Brazil and Mexico, for the Americas. These are crucial tests for the new president of the United States."

"To president elect Barack Obama, his wife Michelle, their children and the rest of his family and close friends I extend my warm congratulations. I also congratulate the American people for this historical event."

Laurie's Morning Run East of Dili

We are really lucky to live on the edge of the busy part of town.  After 20 minutes running, or a shorter bike, we can be pretty much alone in the mountains or along the beach on a weekday.  Here are some photos from the morning I took a camera along.  I always say asalaam alekum to the Pakistani peacekeepers at the checkpoint and talked them into having a photo with me this day.  Part of the run often includes herding some goats.  I still think it's funny to see the goats, pigs, chickens, and cows hanging out by the ocean...  Right now it's still really dry and hard to imagine everything being green but apparently soon the rains will come and everything transforms to lush green.

Baucau Frisbee

Last night we made it down the beach in Baucau with Chad's colleague for a few minutes before it got dark.  (We're in Baucau for two days for Chad's work, the second largest city/town in Timor.)  The beach was deserted when we arrived but as soon as we took out the frisbee kids come running towards us.  I'm not sure they had ever even seen a frisbee before but check out this slideshow to see them perfecting the "alligator" catch.  It was an everyone throw to everyone kind of game but next time we're here I hope we can go back and organize a game.

News from Timor Leste #1

1. Although the capital of Timor Leste is reportedly home to nearly 200,000 people, the lack of infrastructure and density makes it feel like a town.  At night there are few lights and we can see the stars.  I can pretty much ride my bike anywhere (with helmet firmly attached) in 20 minutes.  The largest (completed) buildings are the University and Parliament house, about the size of the UM Social Science building.  Until recently a 4 story apartment building downtown (imagine something smaller than Missoula’s antique mall) was the tallest building in town.  Now the Chinese are helping build a new government building which will be the tallest at 6 or so stories.  Dust and burning of vegetation and garbage diminish the air quality at times but the breeze from the ocean clears it out and overall it’s not too bad.  We live on the edge of town with better access to the hills than we had even in Missoula and can run and bike to a few beaches.
   
2. We saw the biggest spider we’ve ever seen, and it was walking in our front door while we sat outside after sunset.  Including its legs it was bigger than my palm but not quite as big as my whole hand.  It had black and brown flecks and would have been beautiful if it wasn’t a spider and/or wasn’t crawling into our house on it’s enormous eight legs.  Chad smashed it with a shoe before it got too far.  We didn’t want to kill it but it was just too gigantic to let go wandering around our house and we just weren’t sure of the safety of any kind of removal method.  We’re such North Americans.  And need to learn lots more about the tropical creatures of Timor.  Steve Siebert?  Alfred Wallace?  Will you come visit us? 
   
3.  The constants in our lives are 1. Ants, 2. Geckos, 3. Tropical heat.  And Chad goes to work while I go running, reading, meeting, householding, and buca hela servisu (looking for work).
   
4. We are certified open water scuba divers!  The snorkeling and diving here are really, really wonderful.  We see an amazing array of coral, sponges, fish, and other things.  I had no idea all of that life would exist just a few meters from the shore.
   
5. Here in Dili, camps for internally displaced people continue to close and people are returning home with the assistance of NGO and government dialogue teams to ensure peace and security.  Reportedly the process is going well with only a small percentage of people unable to return home due to land claims conflicts or continued tension among neighbors.  Within the government, Transparency International's 2008 international Perceived Corruption Index reports Timor-Leste's position fell 22 places from 123rd to 145th behind Kazakhstan and one place ahead of Bangladesh for the period August 2007 to August 2008.  More political news soon for those that are interested. Cheers, L&C