Sunshine, Sea-spray, and Snorkelling

A few weeks ago, I got out of bed outrageously early on a perfectly nice Saturday morning. Miguel was turning 28, (though he vehemently denied this, declaring that he was born in 86) and to celebrate his quarter century he rented a sailboat to take us over to one of Timor's two islands (the other being Jaco) Atauro. All in all we were 12 birthday-goers.

Sonia and the sailboat

Off we went, and within 15 minutes (at 8 in the morning) it was time to put on some sunscreen as I was already burning. Miguel, Bernardo, David and I hung about in the front part of the boat, me curled up against the front sail to stay in the shade, David snoring on the deck, Bernardo climbing about the ropes like a monkey, and Miguel sitting on a box looking for all the world like a Portuguese godfather, with his fancy hat and sunglasses. The fancy hat was unfortunately swept away by the wind...

Sailing on a beautiful day

Sufficient early planning had secured coolers filled with bottles of wine, and so we drank white wine in the sun, ate cheese crackers, and listened to music and enjoyed the weather for the four hours that the journey lasted. I'm well aware that I live a wonderful life here, and I am very grateful. At some point, closer to the island, but still in waters unfathomably deep, and azure blue, we all dived off the deck. It was very exhilarating to be hovering like that with no idea what was under us. Especially as Timor is known for whales, dolphins, sharks, and crocodiles. The boat sailed on to anchor off the coast where we would be staying and we all got ready to snorkel. There was only one little boat, so those of us less confident in our swimming abilities were sailed to the reef, and the others swam. We must have been swimming around for nearly an hour and a half looking at the fantastic corals, and fish. I learned to dive down with the snorkel for the first time, and to feel the awesomeness of being so deep underwater with the fish. Of course, I'm a sore loser, and once challenged I decided my confidence in my swimming abilities (asthma or not) was sufficient to swim the 500 meters back to the ship. Again, very exhilarating when you're in open water, and can see nothing around you, and are fighting the currents. 500 meters is suddenly a long way to swim.

David underwater

After snorkelling a wonderful vegetarian meal was served aboard the ship, and after drying sufficiently in the sun, we headed to shore for the night. My bungalow was right on to the beach, and had a mattress onto a little veranda a few meters from the beach, where I was happily reading, and making conversation as people dropped by doing the social rounds. Dinner was Timorese style, mung beans, rice, chicken and grilled fish, but accompanied by the immense amount of alcohol that had been brought along. There was much singing, and even some dancing as the photographs would reveal the following day. Someone had had the foresight to buy a birthday cake for Miguel and bring it over and the birthday boy had made sure to bring the appropriate candles '2' and '5'.

 
The next morning I woke to a spectacular sunrise, a calm sea, and an almost empty beach. Waking up at an early hour to an empty beach so often is a luxury of this country has to offer. And it is a luxury that I suppose will not come so often again in my life, so I'm trying to enjoy it as much as possible. Camera in hand, it was time to explore the the beach. After many fascinating pictures of scuttling crabs and worm poo, I joined Bernardo for a rather combative game of scrabble over coffee.

After breakfast the whole group decided to excursion out on a walk around the island. We walked along the only road that there was, through the villages, past kids walking with huge chunks of meat hanging from a pole extended between them, past corn fields, and groups of young people hanging out in the shade. Quite remarkably, an Italian priest has settled on Atauro. From his house he has created an Italian restaurant! You can't walk in and order from a menu, you inform in advance of your arrival, and a meal is prepared. So after exploring, we strolled back to the restaurant. Food wasn't ready yet, so we went next door to the sewing room of a development project. Aside from the beautiful old 'singer's lined against the wall, the room was filled with patterns, and cool stuffed toys.

The Italian restaurant

Things you would never see back home

Lunch was probably the best Italian meal I have had in my life. Vegetarian Pizza, that was so exceptionally delicious, and then vegetarian pasta. Also delicious. However after eating, my exhaustion started hitting, and I headed home for a nap. That afternoon, five of us decided we wanted to return Sunday instead of Monday since we wanted to be fresh for work. The others were planning to leave with the shuttle service at 3 in the morning, to be back in time for work. Our little delegation negotiated with a fisherman, and secured a boat for the afternoon voyage.

The cover came off within minutes of departure, and once loaded, the boat sat rather deeply in the water.

Now, this part was probably the most exciting yet nerve-wrecking part of the trip. The boat was tiny. Literally only 30 cm from the railing to the ocean, and we were about to cross approx. 30 km's of open sea. But, not wanting to be the chicken, I was pretty nonchalant and off we went. The boat had no covering roof, and there was water in the bottom. Bernardo and I were the smallest and asked to sit in the back of the boat in a slightly lower part, and it turned out, more wet part, with the captain. The others sat on a bench just above us. The waves were enormous, and while I don't get seasick, it was certainly an impressive sight to see waves that for sure were taller than our boat, and just gamble on the captains ability to manoeuvre. We were getting very soaked fast, as you would sea a wave growing, and then watch it ramble in over the side of the boat, a wall of water in your face. My task was to try and keep bags and possessions dry, someone else was scooping water. As The mainland grew close, it became apparent that our captain had no idea where we were; was the capital to the left or the right? We had taken a huge detour... However awful the voyage, (which we were told would only take two hours but lasted 4½ hours, and caused our arrival to be after dark in a boat with no lights), it was amazing to be so close to the sea. At one point dolphins appeared and jumped around us, not more than 2 meters away. I've never really thought about the immensity of the ocean in that way, to think about where all that water has been before, and where it will be going. And to think you have no idea what the dolphins are doing now, swimming about under water, and not caring that the sea is churning above them.

The last bit of Atauro before the open sea

Smiles broke out all around once we hit the shore. It was a wonderful sense of relief to feel the shore become so close that it would be possible to swim. The captain, a shivering Timorese fisherman, was smiling more than I have ever seen anyone smile to be safely ashore. We were all soaked and cold, and while I have no desire for a repeat any time soon, I have to admit that it was an experience I would not like to be without.

Be cool. Don't let the sea smell your fear.

Other than these excursions, life is going well. Working hard, but enjoying the challenge and interesting topics. I'm currently working to organise a seminar for the civil society here regarding gender equity and land. The objective being to develop some policy options on how to more successfully implement the existing legislation that protects women's rights. While some people are advertising for more legislation I have to admit I'm sceptical. Timor-Leste is after all a country with relatively low capacity, and what is the point of legislating if there is no one to implement? And, do we even want to create a country embroiled in laws? I think the more appropriate approach is the social one. I think this type of change must be driven internally, by creating the framework and the support for those women who have already started assuming leading roles. Each village has a female representative, and each village has a female youth representative. Many places women are also becoming village chiefs, and Chefe do Suco. And compared to many countries in the world Timor has a large number of women in Parliament, with women holding important ministries like the ministry of Justice. I think that is cause of celebration on women's day.