East Timor, the first independent state of the 21st century.

by Adrian Damian (Italy)

Making a local connection East Timor

Going to Dili. Everything seemed very rural, the houses were small, the street was narrow, somewhere on the left behind the hostel was the Norwegian Embassy, which made me realize I was probably in the city center. I had the vague impression that the sea is not far from me and to the west the sun seemed to be moving away from us. I said bye to the guy who drove me to the hostel and we changed the phone numbers. We decided that maybe later, we will meet for a drink. The building was a single level house. I knew that I would be living in a kind of bungalow, which was probably in the yard of the house. At the reception I was pleasantly surprised to meet one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. I noticed that Asian women have very gentle moves that gives them a special grace. Later I found out that, she is the wife of the hostel owner, being of Indonesian origin and he is a Portuguese, professor at University of Dili. There were other young women in the house, all working for the hostel, probably cleaning or preparing the food. From the reviews, it seemed like a great place to stay. The bungalow where I had to staying was actually a kind of hut made of wood and covered with palm leaves. I thought it was one of the most romantic places I have ever been. It had 3 beds, all protected by a mosquito net. Simple, clean and very exotic. The toilet and shower were of course outdoors. It made me feel freer than I've ever been before. I went out to visit the city, the streets seemed clean. Very close to the hostel was a church and I found out later, that it had been the first cathedral of the city, after the construction of the new cathedral, becoming only a parish church. I entered the church yard and there, under an amphitheater, a children's choir sang some religious songs that sounded wonderful. I headed to the seafront. A nearly deserted boardwalk with a few passersby made me think that I am still in the central area of the city. I went to a grocery store where I bought food and beer. I continued to stroll around the city center, advancing for the seafront. It was already late, the sun was probably heading to Europe, where the world was still sleeping ... My phone rang and my new friend, the flight attendant asked me if I don't want to accompany him to a terrace. I told him the location where I was, we were very close. He was with a friend and two girls. We introduced ourselves. The young girls were from Indonesia but they were working in Timor. I asked why they moved to East Timor and they told me that in Dili they had the chance to earn $50 more than at home. When they spoke to each other they had a pleasant language, sometimes a word with Portuguese resonance was rarely heard. Luckily they spoke a bit English so we were able to have a conversation. I drank a very good local beer. It was very close to the Equator, it felt warm and good. The air was moving slowly around us, caused by a breeze due to the neighborhood of the sea. The locals in the pub were very young and very friendly. Carol, my new friend, told me that he was named after the former Pope John Paul, whose first name was Carol. Timor, the strictly Catholic country was helped in gaining independence by the pope, who lobbied internationally to the United Nations for their release from the Indonesian occupation. When the pope visited East Timor, Carol's mother was in the last month of pregnancy. She walked ten miles with her husband and other friends from their village, to welcome the Pope at the airport. The Pope was a symbol of freedom. In memory of that visit Carol's mother named her son after the pope. I thought it was a beautiful story.