July 17, 2005

First night-DONE! I was woken by what seems like 1,000 chickens that won't stop. Now there are lizards on the ceiling. I'm gonna make it!


So Day 2 is over -I am much more together than last night. I think its the coffee (or lack of tonight) I suceeded in explaining that if I drink coffee at night I can't sleep. Hau hemu cafe hau la toba! So today started off with roosters and I was talked about as the lazy one when I didn't wake up till 6:15! We had bread and coffee for b-fast and then I went to mass. It was interesting. The church sits on top of a hill overlooking the ocean. It is a solid building-no gaps; there are only 3 rows of benches so most people stand. There are cheap looking Jesus and Mary pictures up on the wall, you know the tacky ones like at the 99 Cent store. The women stand on one sidemen on the other. All the kids are up front against the wall. There speaker system consists of a wireless mic somehow connected to this tiny boom box. The Timorese can sing- well at least they can sing LOUD! Antonia (my host sister) has quite a powerful voice. I understood nothing from the service except the father specifically thanking us for being there and that God loves us (because he said that in English). So after the service we were all so happy to see each other (most of the volunteers attended) that we all just clumped up and started comparing our stories. We are all going through something so I feel ok. The father had us, our language teachers and the chief's family over for lunch. I just ate rice-all the rest was meat (including dog, cow lung and pig with the skin and hairs still attached). I didn't see it but I get sick thinking about it! So after lunch me TC, Joe and Randy walked home with Alfonso (a language teacher) he has 9 years of English so he is good but he pretends not to be because they tell him to. We bought detergent from a kiosk. They are these stands that are set up along the road. They have flip-flops for 60 cents, candy for 1 cent and detergent for 5 cents. We messed up and bought from the wrong kiosk. You are supposed to buy from the one that your family runs/owns and we bought from one up the street. My family owns the one right above my house. SO-we do our laundry-awkward but now I know how to do it and will never take machines for granted again. They feed me and then Randy and I went to this funeral. It is the ceremony part where women wail and cry with the body in a hot room with a lot of incense. I saw the body and then we sat outside. Some man talked to us but we couldn't understand him. The baby in the family peed all over the grandma and she didn't flinch. See I don't know if the baby belongs to the older woman (Antonia's mother) or Antonia and I don't know where the father is. I am afraid to ask and I don't know how. I'll figure it out. So we sit for 5 minutes. Oh-we also saw a 2 year old smoking a cigarette-I am not kidding!!! We left and walked back home then a bunch of other volunteers were passing by my house so I joined them and went to the President's house to hang out and play basketball. It is so bizarre, it is the President's house and all the locals just go hang out at the courts. I can't imagine just playing basketball at the White House! The gate for his house is a metal bar that can be lifted but you can also just walk around it. I don't know, it is sooo different from home. So almost all the other volunteers were there and it was great to speak English and talk about our confusion. I find it so funny house we talk like we've been here for so long even though it has only been 2 days. We stay till around 5 and I head back. When I get back I successfully take my 2nd bucket shower and when I was done the funeral procession is coming down the hill for the burial. I join Alfonso and go down this steep hill to a cemetery. The way they work is each cemetery is a for a family and then each grave is for an immediate family. They pile the bodies up in one site until it is full. So the men were taking one casket out (I think the husband) and then but the new one in and then put him back on top. They covered it and sealed it (temporarily) with cement. We lit candles and put them on the tomb and then left. I got back and ate and "talked" to my host mom. I showed them pictures from home but couldn't really explain much about them.  I am under my net writing right now. It was a super long day and my legs are sore but I am glad I am getting more used to being here. I am going to sleep now so that I can wake up on time (5 AM) and am not considered lazy!