January 12, 2009 5:42pm, Dili (Bess’ place)
Boatarde!
I think that means “good afternoon”. Wow, what a crazy last two days it has been. Yesterday I flew in and as I looked at the mountains coming up out to the beautiful blue sea I thought to myself “wow, the trip was worth it.” It was a long journey here. But when I arrived Casey was at the airport terminal to meet me and give me a big hug. I had been up since 3:30am because my body hadn’t adjusted to the time change yet. But as soon as I saw her I got a good shot of adrenalin and I was ready to explore my surroundings.

First Casey took me to where I will be living for the next little while. I still have my eyes and ears open for a place and pretty much I’m asking anyone and everyone that I meet (and can communicate with) if they know of any places that are opening up. Right now I’m sharing Bess’ room which I’m actually quite thrilled about. Living with Bess I think will be kind of nice for the first little while as I make friends and get a bit of a routine. Right now Bess’ isn’t here because she went on a camping trip out into the districts with some friends. But she’s coming home this evening. Bess has a room in an apartment right below Casey, but Casey will be moving out on Tuesday as one of her friends is leaving and she’ll moving into her friend’s old place. This sounds rather confusing but it seems to be the way of life here as so many people are coming and going and all transactions are done by word of mouth. Bess’ has one room with a washroom in the apartment. There are two other rooms, a living room area with a TV, and a very small kitchen (pictures coming soon). There are two other people living on the flat and thus far I have only met one of them. He seems very nice and plays good African music in the morning. The other person is a girl who I think is on vacation right now.

Last night after I had bought a cell phone, had a nap and showered, I went with Casey to her friend’s goodbye party. At the party I met a bunch of people who work for Casey’s organization (IOM, it’s a branch of the UN that works with the Internally Displaced Camps). I made sure that I asked anyone that I met at the party if they knew of any places opening up where could stay. The people I met were mostly from England, Australia, USA, Portuagal and even one girl from Vancouver!

After the party I fell asleep so fast I barely made it my bed. I woke up around 10am and Casey and I went to the super market where I bought a SIM card for my phone from a kid who was selling them on the street and some oatmeal and bananas. Afterwards I met my boss, for lunch and I found out what Land O Lakes does here in Timor and what I will be doing for them. I'll explain that part in my next post.