Wednesday, December 14, 2005
12/14/2005 07:11:00 PMtimor lorosae
back after 1 week..it's been quite a draining week for me..lotsa struggles and seeking in the mission field..
first day was good...went excitedly to the airport..lots of pple came to send us of..and of course they came with chocs..cookies..hello panda..biscuits...lotsa edibles =)
touched down at dili airport arnd the late afternoon..sun was setting so it wasnt that hot..hotter than s'pore but still bearable..took the bus to our hotel..it was NICE! we had aircon..hot water shower..and a tv with cable tv!! but most of us were tired from all the travelling so slept soon after team devotion.
day 2 was a day tour arnd dili...prayer roaming and also adjusting to the place..visited schools and orphanages..the people were generally very guarded and suspicious of foreigners..questioning our motives for being in timor etc..we were all kinda caught off guard =/
but by His grace things turned out all right..but the kids were super scared? amused? puzzled? when i smiled at them...they kept touching their teeth and giggling..stupid braces...
day 3 was THE DAY...took the bus for 4 hours to the village..which was THE place for our team to stay for the next 4 days..we very reluctantly left our comfy dili hotel and all the COOS teams packed 3 buses and we headed to the villages...first stop was balibo which was richard team's mission field...travelled another 1 hour to maliana which was OUR mission field..and then victor and leonard's team travelled another 1 hour to bobonaro...fyi..bobonaro and balibo were on mountains so it was COOLING and in fact the bobonaro teams had natural air con and played soccer in the CLOUDS!! ..and our team was enduring the swelterin heat in Maliana..which i think was either sea level of some valley..i dunno larh..just know it's really HOT!
and the living conditions were..unexpected...we were puttin up at the sub-district administrator's office place so we had a 'house' to ourselves which had 2 connected rooms.guys took the outer room and girls had the inner one...ie we had nuthing but 4 concrete walls.. ONE window..and a door between us and the guy's room..can u imagine how stuffy it was?!the worst of the worst..we brought standing fans BUT didn't pack the ADAPTORS! gosh! it was really argh..to quote chris,"the fans are MOCKING us!!" haha..she's one funny girl..
and then there was the toilet...i dunno wad to say but i tried as much not to use the toilet..not exactly very appealing..stuffy stinky dark..
already day 1 at the village..most of us were looking forward to going back to dili hotel!! and i missed home on the THIRD day..like how un-mE! missed home alot and thought alot of last year's trip and the company..missed abby like crazy..if she were there..seeing her smile and hearing her say it's all right would have made so much of a difference..this time i felt so alone..dun get me wrong..my team was fine..the people and all are funny and all..but i was just not at that level of familiarity and comfortability to really express my feelings..so i just had to pray and hope things get better..dreamt of home and a few other people..only to wake up feeling slightly cheated =/
the work in Maliana was really not wad we planned..we planned english lessons..guitar lessons..sports and all..BUT the timorese had other agenda for us..we visited schools after schools..telling them about singapore history..how we rebuilt the nation..our education system..and seeing how much they lack..it's really heart-wrenching..but wad we could do felt like only a drop in the ocean...but i didnt particularly enjoy the visits..felt like some meet the mp sessions..
but the highlight was day 3 in the village where we went to a primary school on the top of a hill..and was situated 5km from the border between timor and indonesia! and timor and indonesia were separated by a river which was DRIED UP!!could see the indonesian militia hq and yeah..so we prayed there..prayed for reconciliation etc..
other highlights of village stay include:
1)climbing a hill for 1 hour to attend a catholic mass for 1 hour and then trekking down again for 1hr and a half..(cos the interpretors wanted to take another route to look arnd =/ )..
2)sitting an 'angunna' which is some truck/lorry like vehicle which travelled through ALL TERRAIN..we drove through rivers..up rocky roads..through muddy mucky tracks..it was totally cool..though everyone ended with sore butts!
3)almost being cheated by the firemen for wanting to charge us for replenishing our water supply when they are not suppose to..tessa was TOTALLY pissed when we found out they were trying to cheat us and earn some coffee money for themselves
4)laughing at jennifer for not being able to differentiate a cow from a horse and a goat..lol
5)doing debrief at night in the dark cos our generator ran out of fuel =/
honestly didnt really enjoy my village stay..wasnt prepared for the living conditions..but i was convicted of a number of issues in my stay at the village.still in the midst of processing and journalling..esp about the future..my calling..yadayada..
finally back to dili hotel on monday..shampooed my hair TWICE and body-soaped twice..it was AWESOME..i felt overjoyed..and really appreciative of clean water and lights! and the thought of being one step closer to home was wonderful!
the time in dili just flew and soon it was time to go back to singapore! while waiting to board jetstar asia at the airport..we got to see the wave 2 pple..saw abby..grace..seah..eelyn..jizeng..wanted so desperately to go and hug abby and seah but of course couldnt larh..they had to go to the arrival hall while we were in the departure hall..but silly eelyn found her way to the departure hall and i gave her a tight hug..told her some snippets of life in maliana(her team's going there too) before she had to leave..
so after some nonsense on the plane with my hilarious team and marcus being the joker..we touched down s'pore!!!!
felt totally good to be back home*beams*
thankew everyone for being faithful in prayer during our stay in timor..continue praying for wave 2!!
first day was good...went excitedly to the airport..lots of pple came to send us of..and of course they came with chocs..cookies..hello panda..biscuits...lotsa edibles =)
touched down at dili airport arnd the late afternoon..sun was setting so it wasnt that hot..hotter than s'pore but still bearable..took the bus to our hotel..it was NICE! we had aircon..hot water shower..and a tv with cable tv!! but most of us were tired from all the travelling so slept soon after team devotion.
day 2 was a day tour arnd dili...prayer roaming and also adjusting to the place..visited schools and orphanages..the people were generally very guarded and suspicious of foreigners..questioning our motives for being in timor etc..we were all kinda caught off guard =/
but by His grace things turned out all right..but the kids were super scared? amused? puzzled? when i smiled at them...they kept touching their teeth and giggling..stupid braces...
day 3 was THE DAY...took the bus for 4 hours to the village..which was THE place for our team to stay for the next 4 days..we very reluctantly left our comfy dili hotel and all the COOS teams packed 3 buses and we headed to the villages...first stop was balibo which was richard team's mission field...travelled another 1 hour to maliana which was OUR mission field..and then victor and leonard's team travelled another 1 hour to bobonaro...fyi..bobonaro and balibo were on mountains so it was COOLING and in fact the bobonaro teams had natural air con and played soccer in the CLOUDS!! ..and our team was enduring the swelterin heat in Maliana..which i think was either sea level of some valley..i dunno larh..just know it's really HOT!
and the living conditions were..unexpected...we were puttin up at the sub-district administrator's office place so we had a 'house' to ourselves which had 2 connected rooms.guys took the outer room and girls had the inner one...ie we had nuthing but 4 concrete walls.. ONE window..and a door between us and the guy's room..can u imagine how stuffy it was?!the worst of the worst..we brought standing fans BUT didn't pack the ADAPTORS! gosh! it was really argh..to quote chris,"the fans are MOCKING us!!" haha..she's one funny girl..
and then there was the toilet...i dunno wad to say but i tried as much not to use the toilet..not exactly very appealing..stuffy stinky dark..
already day 1 at the village..most of us were looking forward to going back to dili hotel!! and i missed home on the THIRD day..like how un-mE! missed home alot and thought alot of last year's trip and the company..missed abby like crazy..if she were there..seeing her smile and hearing her say it's all right would have made so much of a difference..this time i felt so alone..dun get me wrong..my team was fine..the people and all are funny and all..but i was just not at that level of familiarity and comfortability to really express my feelings..so i just had to pray and hope things get better..dreamt of home and a few other people..only to wake up feeling slightly cheated =/
the work in Maliana was really not wad we planned..we planned english lessons..guitar lessons..sports and all..BUT the timorese had other agenda for us..we visited schools after schools..telling them about singapore history..how we rebuilt the nation..our education system..and seeing how much they lack..it's really heart-wrenching..but wad we could do felt like only a drop in the ocean...but i didnt particularly enjoy the visits..felt like some meet the mp sessions..
but the highlight was day 3 in the village where we went to a primary school on the top of a hill..and was situated 5km from the border between timor and indonesia! and timor and indonesia were separated by a river which was DRIED UP!!could see the indonesian militia hq and yeah..so we prayed there..prayed for reconciliation etc..
other highlights of village stay include:
1)climbing a hill for 1 hour to attend a catholic mass for 1 hour and then trekking down again for 1hr and a half..(cos the interpretors wanted to take another route to look arnd =/ )..
2)sitting an 'angunna' which is some truck/lorry like vehicle which travelled through ALL TERRAIN..we drove through rivers..up rocky roads..through muddy mucky tracks..it was totally cool..though everyone ended with sore butts!
3)almost being cheated by the firemen for wanting to charge us for replenishing our water supply when they are not suppose to..tessa was TOTALLY pissed when we found out they were trying to cheat us and earn some coffee money for themselves
4)laughing at jennifer for not being able to differentiate a cow from a horse and a goat..lol
5)doing debrief at night in the dark cos our generator ran out of fuel =/
honestly didnt really enjoy my village stay..wasnt prepared for the living conditions..but i was convicted of a number of issues in my stay at the village.still in the midst of processing and journalling..esp about the future..my calling..yadayada..
finally back to dili hotel on monday..shampooed my hair TWICE and body-soaped twice..it was AWESOME..i felt overjoyed..and really appreciative of clean water and lights! and the thought of being one step closer to home was wonderful!
the time in dili just flew and soon it was time to go back to singapore! while waiting to board jetstar asia at the airport..we got to see the wave 2 pple..saw abby..grace..seah..eelyn..jizeng..wanted so desperately to go and hug abby and seah but of course couldnt larh..they had to go to the arrival hall while we were in the departure hall..but silly eelyn found her way to the departure hall and i gave her a tight hug..told her some snippets of life in maliana(her team's going there too) before she had to leave..
so after some nonsense on the plane with my hilarious team and marcus being the joker..we touched down s'pore!!!!
felt totally good to be back home*beams*
thankew everyone for being faithful in prayer during our stay in timor..continue praying for wave 2!!