Back in Action

Hooray, back from holiday! No, that's not sarcasm....it's merely expressing happiness over the fact that I can now look forward to my next one!
Being away from Dili can, at times, be like getting over the flu:
Once you have it, you're not sure if you can deal with it any longer and it feels like it's never going to end; then, when it's over, you can hardly recall what the fuss was about at the time and you just look forward to getting on with life...exactly how it feels when I'm on holiday.
All the stuff that had bugged me for weeks, the at times unbearable circumstances here, it all fades into a pleasant cloud of distant memories as soon as that plane takes off and you realize you're actually leaving for a while...

Then, as you arrive back things don't actually seem that bad for a moment or two (ok, for a few days, really); but especially this time I was surprised:

There is a lot more color around, stemming from advertising banners, newly painted shop fronts and restaurants. There are construction projects everywhere and lots previously occupied by rubble and shrubs are slowly being transformed into residences, shops and small businesses.
A lot more students are around now, too, and some of the education projects which started off with not much more than a tent have truly thrived...try walking around Comoro Rd near landmark between 3 and 5 in the afternoon and you'll know what I mean: hundreds if not thousands of students on their way home!!!!

Malaes are more and more walking through the local neighborhoods, chatting to locals, incidents of rock throwings are on the decline and, apart from the odd theft or burglary there isn't much to speak of in terms of offending against foreigners.

IT ALL SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, RIGHT?!

Well, it kind of is:
People "in the KNOW" say that this is what it used to be like in 2005, less than 12 months before ET went up in flames....and guess what:
the signs that history may repeat itself are already there and not much different from the ones which preceded "2006-round-1" either.
Trouble within the Police force over various issues; an increasing East-West divide over who should be the next PNTL commander; Fretilin organized and threatened Peace marches being publically labeled as Coup attempts by parts of the current government if held as planned;
pay quarrels over PNTL wages; pre-existing and ever-lurking tensions between F-FDTL and PNTL over tasking and charter issues....the list goes on and on...

Where will it lead? Only God knows, with Fretilin, PNTL, the current Government and the rest of us to find out in due course.

Let's hope it doesn't indeed play out into "2006-round-2". The country truly doesn't deserve this; but as is so often case: a country's population/government is often it's own worst enemy.

The signs are there and as I see it it's a clear fork in the road; never have the two paths been laid out so obviously: one leads to peace and longterm prosperity, the other to utter distruction of hope and any progress achieved.

I dare anyone to make an accurate prediction!

I, for one, hope we will all at least have another peaceful Christmas this year....

Benz Taxi?

Yesterday I saw something on Beach Road that can only be described as the equivalent of the white elephant of Timorese taxis: a freshly painted, yellow 250 SEL Mercedes Benz cab!
At first when I saw it approaching at the usual breakneck speed of 15km/h I thought it was a joke...like a Mercedes hood ornament on a rotten Jap import....but as it go closer there was no denying it: someone out there in the vast slow moving sea of decrepit, bruised, less-than-roadworthy, crazy glue assembled Timorese taxis is driving a nicely maintained yellow Mercedes with "Taxi" spraypainted on its side.
A sign of wealth? A fluke of nature? Timor's first 'corporate' cab business? Who knows....but if anyone else sees this cab, let me know. I just want to be sure I can actually trust my eyes...

Meat anyone?

Thank goodness for supermarkets like Landmark and Cold Store...

One of many food stalls along beach road. The white stuff in the 1.5l aqua bottles, by the way, is palm wine; an acquired taste they say....

"Corner Store" on the way to the beach...

Pleasant surprises

Good news on the accommodation front: my existing landlord, for fear of losing revenue, has yielded to my demands to lower the rent or lose me as a tenant.
As a result I still have my humble abode and am able to save a few bucks each month. Pleasant surprise number one.

Pleasant surprise number two was eating out on the weekend:
Went to Bangkok Spice on Saturday night; well worth a visit!
For those that do not know where it is (and its easy to miss):
Coming from Tiger fuel and driving towards Colmera you will notice Wasabi restaurant towards your left just as you hit the big roundabout. Turn left directly at Wasabi and keep an eye out for a smallish green sign on the left, about 50-80meters down that road.
As I said, it's easy to miss, but if you're focused on that little rectangular sign "Bangkok Spice", you're sure to find it.
One of the more pleasant restaurant settings in Dili, it features a courtyard with water features pretty furnishings and a bar, as well as a dining area inside with proper linen & place settings, air conditioning and an allround relaxing ambience.
Its menu is short and to the point, the service reasonably efficient and the food neatly presented and of very good quality. In short, a dining experience well worth repeating.

On Sunday then I went to the Long Beach restaurant, one of many Thai restaurants east of pig bridge along the waterfront. The setting, although neither spectacular nor unique among the 6 or 8 other restaurants along that stretch, is pleasant enough and the sunset certainly looked good from our table. Ordering as it turned out was an adventure and, had we not known that the place had been in existence for quite some time, we would've sworn we were the first ever customers...
Panic ensued with every inquiry and every attempt to place an order, but unlike other restaurants in Dili, where this could easily become so frustrating that it would spoil the evening, here none of the frustrations arose largely thanks to the cheerfulness and friendly smiles of the staff who were truly falling over each other in trying to get it right.
Eventually we actually gave up asking what was available (some things we were told weren't) and abandoned our attempts to create a balanced Thai meal and simply asked the staff to order for us what they thought we would like.
What followed was a truly enjoyable dining experience with plate after plate of coming out of the small kitchen; each one better than the last. There were different soups, fresh seafood, traditional minced pork dishes, fried whole fish and stirfry's... and abundance of fresh herbs, lemongrass and chili...simply delicious.
We couldn't have ordered like this ourselves.
Eventually we had to call the food caravan to a stop as we all struggled to eat another single tasty bite. In full anticipation of having to pay a small fortune we approached the counter only to be pleasantly surprised yet again: we had had a feast for around $20 per person including drinks (of which we downed a few!!).
The kind hostess obviously could see how full we were and promptly offered to book us in for a traditional Thai massage, which, one can endulge in at a separate part of the small venue; alas we couldn't as lying on one's stomach was not the preferred position for the remainder of the evening nor so short after this voluminous dinner.
Maybe next time, aye, as we will most certainly return to Long Beach restaurant!!!

Searching for accommodation

Now that I have been here for 9 months, I am starting to adapt to the living conditions and have moved twice as a result: My first apartment was quite luxurious, almost western and therefore inordinately expensive; so much so that there was just no justification to maintain such a lifestyle in light of the few hours I actually spend at home each day.

My second place was a little simpler, smaller, but still quite western (swimming pool, balinese furnishings etc.).

Now, after another 6 months there I am ready to simplify yet again.

In the last few weeks I have been hunting for a room, apartment or house in and around Dili; well, actually not around Dili as I would still like to live relatively central...

The first thing I noticed was that rents in general have gone up hugely since my first arrival in 2007. To get a one bedroom style unit under $1500 a month can now be considered luck.

Of course there are cheaper ones available, such as local houses which can easily be rented for around $300 a month, but the capital outlay required to bring them up to a reasonable standard defeats the purpose of trying to save money by moving.

Another trend is for people to have houses built: For around $3000 to $5000 one can acquire a brandspanking new domicile. The initial outlay then comes of the rent, so not a bad deal if A) one has that sort of money lying around and B) stays long enough for it to make economic sense and C) the security situation doesn't deteriorate.

I was offered a one bedroom unit for $1000 a month (little compound down a dirt road left hand side of Landmark supermarket): included are electricity, cable tv, internet, laundry and cleaning; the furnishings are fairly modern and the compound is well maintained (even comes with a mini-gym). So that is option 1.

The other option is a hotel room at one of the beachfront hotels: one bedroom, similar conditions (laundry, tv etc.) and $800-$900 a month.

Which one to choose!!!!

One thing is for certain: the longer I am here the less I need in terms of western comforts. Who knows, another 6 months down the track and I am ready for traditional Timorese living...NOT!

It will be interesting to see what happens when the gradual pullout of Australian troops and UNPOL begins. No doubt this will have an enormous impact on the accommodation and hospitality industry. I for one will hopefully still be around to go flat-hunting then....

E Timor's wealth: blessing or curse?

This article from BBC news.
Another fairly accurate description of how things are here...

E Timor's wealth: blessing or curse?
By Lucy Williamson BBC News

One day, perhaps, the place where Isabel sits will be a five-star hotel, its private villas looking on the beach, its grand entrance frowning down on the western corner of Dili's beach road.
But for now, six years after independence from Indonesia, there is just Isabel.
Her flimsy bamboo stall shades her from the sun's glare, her tiny piles of tomatoes and garlic are waiting naked in the afternoon heat for a sale.
Six years of independence, and East Timor's capital city is holding its breath.
Two governments, multinational forces numbering thousands, billions of dollars of international money - and yet people like Isabel are still saying life was better under the Indonesians.
"People could afford to buy things then." she said. "Now we just sit here at the stall all day, and perhaps we'll earn a dollar or two."
Economic lifeline
It is ironic, then, that East Timor has been held up in the past few years as an economic role model - ironic, too, that it has done this by sitting on a large and growing pot of oil savings.
Oil and gas - buried under the Timor Sea - are what give East Timor a future.
They underwrote its independence after the Indonesian army left, taking with them the area's economic lifeline and destroying its sparse infrastructure on their way out.

East Timor is beautiful but lacks basic infrastructureSo far East Timor has built up a fund of about $3bn (£1.63bn). It may not sound like a lot but for a population of fewer than a million people, in a country where a budget of $300m has proved hard to spend, it is a fortune.
But this economic blessing also comes with a warning. No country like East Timor has ever managed to use a sudden influx of oil money to create a stable and transparent economy.
The developing world is dotted with examples of what economists called the Resource Curse - too much easy money flooding the system, bringing with it inflation, corruption and the death of any private enterprise.
Can East Timor prove that it can, in fact, be done? That taking oil and gas out of the ground can be good for the host country as well as its customers?
Spending spree
Until now, it has largely avoided the usual tripwires.
East Timor's Petroleum Fund was modelled on Norway's - considered to be perhaps the best in the world - and wrapped in safeguards that prevented governments from frittering away the country's future.
But as the account grows, and the frustration of people like Isabel begins to nag at their leaders' consciences, the money is starting to burn a hole in the government's pocket.

Will a sudden influx of cash actually benefit ordinary people?This year, for the first time, the government dipped into the fund itself. In addition to withdrawing its usual sustainable amount - basically the interest on the savings - it took a slice of the capital to help fund a 122% increase in the annual budget.
Spending some of East Timor's oil money is not necessarily a bad idea.
Oil and gas revenues currently make up more than 95% of the government's income and there is a pressing need to create a more stable mainstream economy for when those resources run out.
But most of the extra money in this year's budget was to enable the government to subsidise rice and fuel prices - not exactly a contribution to Timor's long-term growth.
And the finance minister herself admits this was more about avoiding potential instability than building a future economy.
Budget race
East Timor's beauty is startling. But you do not have to drive that far south of where Isabel sits at her market stall for the road to peter out into a mountain track.
And try paying for that long and bumpy journey by credit card, or even arranging a taxi after dark, and it is obvious why the five-star hotels are not being built.
East Timor needs roads, electricity and education - and the government knows it.
But red tape and lack of capacity have made it difficult to spend here.
So Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao has recently dismantled some of that bureaucracy, issued tight budget deadlines and started a private ministerial spending race - with a bizarre scoring system based on fruit.
Each ministry now lives in fear of this surreal internal ritual. Spend more than 80% of your budget and you are labelled with a durian fruit - the Timorese government equivalent of a gold star.
No-one wants to be a banana - the lowest spenders in the cabinet.

The result, critics of the scheme say, is a raft of rushed, badly thought-out projects, many of which seem to have stalled.
The tender processes have often been very short - sometimes a matter of weeks.
Civil society groups - and the opposition - complain they are being kept in the dark, and ministry insiders say corners are being cut, opening the door to corruption.
All of which has landed a few strongly worded letters on the prime minister's desk - some of them from Timor's international partners, worried at the precedents being set.
But this young country still has a shot at getting it right and showing the world the curse can be avoided, and that is really because it has two things going for it.
One is a strong and vocal civil society and a vibrant opposition. The other is its size.
Ironically, East Timor's lack of development and its small, scattered population allow it to look for what some experts term a "21st Century solution" to development - nimble, decentralised programmes that focus on training and mobile services.
So much advice, so much criticism - many ministers sound a little inured to it now.
As the deputy finance minister told me recently: "Sometimes we worry too much. If we worry too much about expenditure, then you also have no result in the end."
True enough. But worry too little, and the result might also be the same.

Interesting Earthnews article

The article below was published today on the Earthnews website. To me it somes up the desolation and poverty that prevail here below all the media hype about Timor and how it is moving on- and upward.
It also highlights the often paradoxical relationship between first world charity & goodwill and inevitable 3rd world realities:

Dili - It's no secret that charity clothes cast off from rich countries end up on the backs of some of the poorest people on earth. Supposedly, that's the whole point. But sometimes the best intentions go awry. The used clothing is often sold for low prices, undercutting local clothing industries. In Asia, used clothes are keeping dozens of vendors impoverished in one of the region's poorest countries while making a single company rich.

Indonesian entrepreneur Suyanto Tan opened Intelligent Yield Trading, a used clothing outlet, in 2000 in East Timor. From its cavernous warehouse in the capital, Dili, bales of used clothes make their way across the island of Timor.

At first, there was some competition, but according to Tan, his last rival closed in 2003. So for five years, a single company has been providing clothes for more than 1 million people. Local tailors are certainly no competition, thanks mostly to First World charity.

Armindo da Silva Soares, 46, is one of a handful of Timorese tailors left in Dili. He learned his craft after Indonesia invaded and took over East Timor in 1975.

"An Indonesian taught me," Soares said. "I paid him 50 dollars and bought a sewing machine."

During the Indonesian occupation, Soares ran a shop with 27 machines and 10 employees. But in the violence that has rocked East Timor since it voted for independence in a 1999 UN-sponsored referendum - first from exiting militias that torched about 70 per cent of the tiny nation's infrastructure and then in riots in 2006 between rival factions within the military and police - he has been burned out four times and has only three machines left.

He said he can no longer afford to pay any employees. The last straw was the 2006 riots, from which he said he has never recovered.

"We had lots of work until then," Soares said, "but after the crisis, all my employees left, and they got jobs somewhere else."

He sits alone in his shop surrounded by his family. Bolts of dark fabric hang on a fly-specked wall. His shop is in the middle of what used to be one of the largest markets in Dili, but it was razed in the riots two years ago. Even today, most of the neighbouring shops are still shuttered.

Outside his front window, he watches dust blow across rows of empty market tables. Skinny dogs lie in the deserted market streets. Yet it's not just the dead market that's driving away his customers. To even find Soares' shop, one must first navigate a tangle of used clothing stalls further up the street.

"The used clothing market is a big worry for us tailors," he said. "Those clothes are so much cheaper. They are all old, but they are cheap."

East Timor has never had a clothing factory, and because of charity clothes, it likely never will. Used clothing stalls have mushroomed around the city since 2006, largely because it's easier to sell used clothes than almost anything else.

"I used to sell vegetables and fried snacks, but in 2006, my stall was burned down," said Felicidade Gusmao, 50. "I lost my home and everything I owned."

Gusmao sits under the shade of shirts and pants while she waits for customers. She said her family scraped together some cash in 2007 and bought its first bale of used clothes from Intelligent Yield.

She doesn't make much money selling clothes - the shirts are a dollar each and the pants only slightly more - and she said she isn't able to save anything but she makes enough to get by.

"I can buy food and pay for what I need," Gusmao said.

She said she also always manages to have enough left over to make her monthly trip to Intelligent Yield for another bale of clothes.

The bales come in shipping containers delivered through an agent in Singapore. Intelligent Yield buys one container for about 2,000 dollars. This translates to about 18 dollars per bale, but Intelligent Yield sells the bales for around 150 dollars each.

When the ship comes in, it can sell more than 20 bales in a single day. In a country where the average income is less than 1 dollar per day, that translates to some serious income.

Gusmao said she hopes the bale she buys will contain good clothes. She picks over a pile of clothes that aren't so good. She's stuck with them. Because the bales are packed in the countries of origin, no one, not the clothing agent in Singapore or Intelligent Yield in East Timor, knows the quality of the clothes inside until they are opened by the vendors. There are no returns.

Often clothes are too big to fit on tiny Timorese bodies or they are just too worn. Gusmao puts them in a pile. At the end of a month, her family dumps them in a ditch across the street. When the rains come in a few months, the clothes will wash out to sea. The tides will bear away this unwanted charity.

Another week closer to home leave...

Greetings!
I had a quick flyover and re-read of my recent blogs and decided I would write something halfway positive today...perhaps because it is Friday, perhaps because I have actually had a few good days this week.
First up, I have been feeling well again and whatever bug plagued me for a number of weeks decided to pack up and leave (but NOT without a fight).
I no longer eat local lettuce or water-rich vegetbales unless I know where they come from and that they have been washed and washed and washed and washed...you get the picture.
I have also restricted myself to only frequent eateries that I am 100% sure of in terms of the quality they serve. No more "let's try this new one tonight...what's the worst that can happen?" (well, now I know).
Even the lettuce at times half hiding under food for garnish purposes now doesn't stand a chance anymore and gets removed before the first fork hits the plate.

Here's a fun experiment, next time you're in a Timorese restaurant (whether it serves Asian or Western cuisine, this works for both): Take your paper napkin, moisten it a little and give your table a quick wipe. The results will not only surprise you(the napkin will generally come up BLACK!) but will also from then on respectfully heed your mother's advice not to have your arms on the table while eating. Oh, and if a piece of food drops of your plate: trust me, leave it there. The 10 second rule boils down to miliseconds here in Dili and unless you have superhero-like reflexes, you should leave that piece of food alone!

But enough of that. I have had some great meals in the last couple of days.
One at my favourite indonesian 'rumah makan', about the only one I go to frequently, have tried everything and have NEVER gotten sick!
If you ever want to look it up, here are the directions:
Driving on Comoro road from the airport you eventually pass Landmark supermarket on the right. Approximately 200-300m after that on the left is a small front of shops: An electronic service centre (or something similar), a mini store and two eateries.
The one on the right usually has a small sate grill outside and fills the area with delicious smelling smoke. It's good, but the one on the left is better!!
It has a sign above it that says "Asian Food" and you can easily identify it by the stainless steel containers (opposed to plastic bowls and plates) in which the food stored in the display cabinet is kept. It's run by an indonesian woman who is always delighted to see Westerners appreciate her cooking.
My tip: try their BBQ chicken. You won't find better in all of Timor!

Another good meal I had this week was of course at home as I finally managed to cook something that turned out tasting like it should, despite my limited cooking facilities and different ingredients: Ziti with homemade tomato gravy & parmesan, served with a ribeye that tasted fresh and tender. Yayee!!!

Lastly, I made the effort and drove down to the beach and paid Dili Beach Hotel a visit:
Sundried Tomato & Pesto Pizza was the name of the game; and what a pleasant surprise that was, too! Just about the perfect pizza by any length or any standard.
It won't be the last time I make that trip!!!

All in all not a bad week; I have decided to put the proverbial (not literal) blindfold on and ignore all the stuff that gets under your skin here.

"It's life Jim, but not as we know it!" Where's Scotty when you need him...

This afternoon I will stock up on movies, buy a bottle of good old red wine, close the curtains, lock the door and pretend I am in a holiday resort. Apart from the helicopters, roosters, motorcycles, screaming kids, leaking aircon, cockroaches, the dust and smell, I should almost succeed, too!

Oh, one more trivia question for you: What did they used to call (and still do, I presume) the local lettuce? Sewage Weed!! (lettuce, as we know, grows only in VERY moist soil. Where in a dusty, dry town like Dili do you find that sort of moisture...? You guessed it....)

Signing out until Sunday with the prospect of marking another week of my calendar.

Alrighty then: Not much time to blog this week, but couldn't help but publish the best joke I have heard this month:
Xanana doesn't need ISF-UNPOL any longer – Suara Timor Lorosa'e, 16 September (full article further down)

What gets me is the blind arrogance of this government and its leaders. I am not sure whether it's Ivory Tower syndrome or just sheer ignorance (which we all know can be a true bliss), but this country's leadership continues to insult those that it needs and receives from most.
Have they already forgotten WHY the UN and Australian Forces are here in the first place?
They didn't exactly show up because they had nothing better to do!!! Hellooooo, Anyone remember 2006?
The statement that UNPOL and ISF are hindering the progress and/or daily duties of the country's own forces is nothing but a whole crock full of populist balloney.
It's what some people may like to hear (those that stand to benefit from the potential removal of the only control elements over the often reckless, unmonitored and utterly unprofessional conduct of this country's law enforcement and military forces, as they could once again reign supreme without the "need" to conform to internationally agreed codes of ethics/conduct).

Hey, I have an idea: Let's ALL pack up and go home and then watch from our couches as this country once again implodes.
Why hang around if we're not wanted? I am sure we can think of other things to do with our time and overseas tax payers' money.

I for one whole-heartedly support Xanana in his plight: Let's have ISF & UNPOL pack up and leave....I am sure the aid agencies and people like me won't be far behind.
Last one turn out the lights please? Oh, I forgot...those will probably already be off by the time the last plane is wheels up....

Ok, no more griping, here's the article in full:

East Timor's Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão said Monday (15/9) that he does not need any more the presence of the International Stabilization Forces (ISF) and the United Nations Police (UNPOL) here as these forces often create difficulties for the country's Defense Force and its National Police to carry out their services.
"Timor should not accustom itself of getting into a situation where the people disturb each other the solution has to come from foreign forces and in order to deal with arguments we have to ask for help from foreign police and then after that they start to accuse each other," Xanana explained.
Xanana added, "We see ISF wandering around East Timor though our force only stays in their headquarters; we see the United Nations Police wanted our police to ask permission from them should they want to deal with a problem, only complicating the problem."
CNRT party's bench leader in the National Parliament Eduardo Barreto 'Dusae' said that Timor-Leste does not need the presence of the ISF here as the situation gets back to normal.
However, Fretilin's MP Estanislau Aleixo da Silva said, the works of the PNTL are extremely challenging there it needs continued capacity development and support.
He also suggested the government to choose a particular country to have comparative study for the officials of the PNTL.
Meanwhile, the UNPol's Acting Commissioner Juan Carlos Arevalo believed that the PNTL are capable of taking the security responsibility.
However, he added, UNPOL will keep monitoring the development of the PNTL in maintaining law and order here.

But wait, there's more!

Almost forgot to mention in my previous post: Naturally if you read my last postings you will probably think "look at this spoiled brat complaining about things like DIET COKE for G's sake, while people are STARVING!"
Well, let's not take things out of context...In fact I only mentioned these little annoyances because they ADD to the big stress contributors which are already widely publicized, such as:
threat of spontaneous crowd violence, random assaults, petty crime, rock throwing, the constant siege of street vendors and what can happen when they get angry, clashes between martial arts gangs, fights between the military and law enforcement, constantly being watched wherever you go, being threatened with a view to extort money and so on and so on...then there's the heat, the smell of open sewage, dust, an abundance of animal excrements and seemingly lobotomised cab drivers driving horrendously erratic on a GOOD day.

By now most people will think that I'm a grizzle gut, a complainer, someone who shouldn't be here. I want, no NEED to emphasize that there are some redeeming factors and life here does have its perks and upsides, but what really gets under my skin is the whitewash that is presently occurring in the media, in government speeches and reports by observers who, as it would appear, barely left the comforts of their oversized, air conditioned Landcruisers to arrive at their grand conclusions.
Perfectly in line with the herculean efforts of national spin-doctors even the president, during a recent visit in the Pacific made a statement which I found so absurd and looking around Dili so out of touch with reality that, had it not been said in all seriousness, it could have been one of the better jokes I have heard all year:
He said that Timor would become the destination of choice for the people of [insert name of pacific nation here] over places like Bali!!!! What a knee-slapper that was!

For starters, overall Timor must be one of THE most business averse places in all the world.
For a foreign company, even one that could potentially create significant employment opportunities for Timorese, to set up shop here there are unbelievable hoops to jump through and financial burdens to bear, so much so that the business registration process alone is enough of a deterrent, let alone all the other aggravating factors such as lack of infrastructure, abysmal work ethics and deep-rooted corruption.

Oops, did I just mention the "C" word? Here's another one for the Timorese whitewash propaganda machine....When a governenment refuses to investigate itself, rejects petitions to form anti-corruption commissions and instead hides behind statements of grand intentions to curb it you just know what's what.

When half the evidence of your average investigation gets lost along the way up to the PG and then finds its way into the hands of those that benefit the most from it in terms of exercising leverage over others for their own advantage, you just know what kind of animal you're dealing with.

When a government purchases 39 (I think that's the correct number) brand-spanking new BMW 4-wheel drives for its ministers and builds itself a grand new Palace that could rival the Atztec pyramids with the aid from China, instead of buying the first fully functional Ambulance for the country or a new hospital that can actually perform more than the offerings of the current one, which wouldn't even be considered basics in civilized countries and when a government is sitting on oil revenues to "build Timor's future", yet to which it helps itself at the first given opportunity without greater benefit to the population, then you know international aid, goodwill and genuine concern for the people of this truly poor nation is being made a mockery of.

There you have it. My gripe for the end of the week (not my end, but most people's anyway).
I bid you all toodles and shall vent some more in the next few days.

Stress-blog continued...

Alrighty then, as promised a little more on stress in Timor.
Interestingly enough after composing the last entry I got to read a recent risk assessment from a large international organization involved in the overall Timor support mission and it listed Stress not only as one of the highest risk factors but also gave it the highest likelihood of occurrence.
"So", I hear you ask, "What stress are we talking about then?"
For me, personally, one of the biggest stress-contributors here in Timor is how hard at times even seemingly mundane tasks can be and the apathy with which simple requests are routinely met. It is like a fine red thread that weaves itself through all aspects of life here:
You get up in the morning to discover there is no running water (of course you only find out AFTER your morning "business") and end up washing yourself with a 1.5 liter bottle of "Aqua". The accommodation manager assures you upon inquiry that the problem will be fixed shortly.
When you get home, dusty and sweaty you find out nothing has been done...and end up showering with another 1.5 liter bottle of "Aqua".
You go to get fuel at the gas station. You ask for 40 Dollars worth, but despite better knowledge fail to stand there and watch the guy put the right amount in. The "cashier" takes the 40 bucks, but when you drive away you notice the needle of your tank doesn't even go halfway up; you've been ripped off. But do you really want to go back and complain? This could take you all morning and is not likely to produce anything but further frustration...
One of the 3 ATM's in country eats your ATM card and tells you, after you have entered your PIN once AND correctly, that you "have exceeded the maximum number of attempts".
Next day you drive all the way through town to the bank where you wait 45 minutes in line to see someone at the information desk. That someone, after leaving for unknown reasons for another 15 minutes, retrieves your card from a pile at the information desk.
You have your card back, hooray! But guess what: you insert it at the ATM and now it tells you it's invalid...back to the bank, wait in line, explain your problem...and on and on it goes.
You're out of Diet Coke (OK, so I'm a diet coke addict) and think "Oh well, I'll just drive down to Leader Supermarket and get some. When you get there, they don't have any. You drive to Lita, but they have none either. You drive to Landmark and find 3 x 600ml bottles, the rest of their stock. Proud of your find you open one up straight way and take a big gulp; it's stale, flat and out of date. You drink it anyway...
You arrange a training session for staff; it involves a lot of preparation and planning on your part. You talk to each person to make sure they are available, they all confirm.
9am on the day nobody is there. One turns up 15 minutes later, the others are MIA.
Two days later one comes up to you and asks when the training starts. Grrrr. The rest pulled a sickie (and no, here in Timor NOBODY ever lets you know).
You go to your "favourite" restaurant, which is only your favourite because you haven't gotten sick from the food there and they have two dishes that are actually really good.
(Those that live here will agree that often dinner is THE highlight of the day as there isn't much else to look forward to, so it does have a different significance than the average dinner at home)
When you get there you discover either that A) they're closed, B) neither of the dishes are available and/or C) the staff have changed and you couldn't get service if you were the president himself. Usually B) applies and you end up eating something else, which is bound to disappoint. You eat it anyway and spend the rest of the night moving between bed and toilet.
You drive along the road in the usual Dili first-come-first-serve traffic where if there is a way to squeeze in, force you to the side or use a single lane dirt road as a triple lane highway, they will.
A white vehicle of the kind that abounds approaches rapidly in oncoming traffic using the middle of the road at ludicrous speeds to pass Microlets, scooters, street vendors and the usual wildlife like pigs and dogs. It veers to the right and left, hitting the dirt and engulfing everything in a giant cloud of dust. You contemplate abandoning your car as you are stuck next to a Timorese taxi which chose to overtake you on the road's dirt shoulder, effectively blocking your escape.
Before your heart rate has a chance to reach fatal levels the white vehicle passes you within quarter of an inch. At the wheel is a Malai on the cellphone...Welcome to Timor.
The only thing more dangerous to encounter in traffuc here is the national military.
These guys aren't just ignorant drivers. They WILL run you over, driving down the wrong side of the street and head on if necessary. If you complain or try to interfere they WILL pull a gun on you. Between the white vehicles, the Timorese military and some of the Timorese non-government agency drivers, you can be assured of at least two, sometimes three incidents like this a day.

Ok, time to take a break again. I'll write more about this subject next time. There is a gazillion more examples of the things that can get under your skin here...

9 Months and counting...

Well longer, technically, but let's not get into that...Funny thing though, when I first arrived in Timor conversations with new acquaintances usually began like I would imagine new prison inmates would greet each other:
Acquaintance: "How long [are] you here for and what do you do?"
Reply: "I am here for a year or two, depending on how well things go. When do you get out next?"
Acquaintance: "I'll get out for a weekend in 12 days. It's been almost 3 months now; a long time here in Dili"

I used to think these people were wussies with a capital "P" and was determined to outrun, outlast & outwit or whatever the motto of that "the tribe has spoken" TV show is.
First time round I lasted 6 months without a break and let me tell you, after that I finally understood what they had meant.
Stress is a funny thing here in Timor for the average Malai (foreigner). Whereas one would think (and it is probably partially true) that in 2006 and 2007 stress levels where naturally higher on account of the unrest, fighting and associated threat levels, the amount of stress, albeit less obvious and almost subliminally encountered these days can not be discounted.
You don't so much notice it yourself but in the people around you...colleagues, friends other expats...somethign changes over time, they become somewhat irritable and short-fused, more attuned to the shortfalls of this new nation and the cultural differences and, at times, its paradoxical quirks.
Most will agree it comes in cycles here, but the worst period - I find - is about 3 weeks out from a forthcoming trip out of country; the breaking point which lasts until about one week out from departure....after a while you can almost tell who is about to leave simply by the topics of their conversations: fresh and safe food to be eaten while abroad usually features highly as do all the other "perks" of so called civilized life we tend to miss here such as customer service, variety of goods and entertainment options.

By now the reader will ask: So if there isn't any unrest or fighting, where does the stress come from then?

Unfortunately I am 3 weeks out from a trip myself, so the picture I would paint right now would reflect a state of mind not too dissimilar from the one described above.
I shall shutdown this machine before the internet once again goes down and will retreat to one of the well-known watering holes for some more inspiration.
Perhaps I will come back with a more balanced view than the one currently screaming to ooze out into this blog...

First blog entry complete! Hooray!
A reason to celebrate...