Wednesday, 2 November 2016

Goodbye Bob, Hello Homestay

This morning Bob, Janu and S went to the cemetery before picking me up (it made sense since it would have meant considerable doubling back to take me, and they had limited time). In case you've forgotten, it's All Souls Day -- an important family day. They listened to about 45 minutes of the three-hour service, and collected me.

Bob naturally wanted to be at the airport in plenty of time. None of us knew that the building doesn't physically open until an hour before the first flight (the one to Darwin). The next flight was to Bali on Citilink/Air Timor. That's roughly when the airline Bob was on (he thought he was on Nam Air; turns out it was a code share with Srijawaya. Bob keeps track of the number of airlines he’s flown on and was disappointed not to be able to add another) opened its counter.

On the Air Timor flight, 126 people go off and 32 got on. One was a Cabinet Minister and six were his aides. Travelling on a holiday has its perks.

And how do we know these statistics?  We were watching from our perch at Burger King.  S counted the number who came off since our conversation was in English, a language he doesn't speak. He and I both counted those who got on.

Bob’s plane finally arrived, and we bid him safe travels. I'm so grateful that Bob let me tag along on his holiday, and that he introduced me to so many wonderful people.

Janu and S dropped me off at my hotel. Being the independent so and so that I am, I did NOT tell them of my plans to walk the two kilometres to my Homestay. I know they would not have allowed it. They are opposed to Mad Dogs and Englishmen going out in the midday sun. They are too kind and generous to allow it.

It wasn't far. Less than two kilometres. I texted landlady when I got to the back of the American embassy, only to find a message from her asking if I was still coming. She had things to do at 2:30. It was 2:13, and she told me not to come before 2.

Turns out her house is off the west end of the embassy, and I texted as I reached the east side. I could have enjoyed another block on the waterfront. We’re in a bit of a maze that I'll have trouble explaining to Janu tomorrow when they pick me up for my first day at Ba Faturu. Something like “take the road on the far/west side of the American embassy and continue straight after the pavement stops. Then take the first right. Go until you hit the corrugated steel fence on the left.”  Okay, it could be windier and more confusing. When I came back from the grocery store, I overshot and a kind man (Probably used to foreigners staying at land lady's house) pointed me in the right direction.

There's no wifi here, so I went to Timor Telecom to activate my phone’s hotspot function. I also topped up my phone allocation, since I've enjoyed daily calls with Anita. Then I went to the Legend to pick up some dinner food. Many of you know that I'm hoping to lose some weight, and so far it's helped to avoid snacking. I normally eat my big meal at noon, but today, I only had French fries at Burger King, so I thought some pasta (bow ties) and sauce would be nice.

I think the stove is out of propane. The element went on, partially heated the water, and went off. I haven't been able to get it to reignite, and I'm getting hungry. Good thing I also bought peanuts.

Now, the house description. It's a single storey, with a lovely veranda. I'm currently sitting in the living room, a generously sized room, with Windows on two sides. There's one bedroom off the living room (the lounge, according to Landlady), and an open space/corridor leading to the kitchen.  Landlady's bedroom is off the open space/corridor. There's a hallway behind the living room wall that's opposite the doorway, with the shower, toilet and a third bedroom off that hallway. There's also a pantry off the kitchen, where the fridge resides.

To get to my room, you actually have to go out the kitchen door, along the back walkway to a lovely patio, then my door. It has a second entrance, which makes the padlock on the patio entrance a bit redundant.

The room is large -- about 12 feet by 15 feet, and it has a queen sized bed, air conditioning and a built in shelf. It's very pleasant, and I'm happy to have it.

I have my own bathroom with a cold shower along that back outside walkway. The main shower has hot water.

My meeting with Meg was pleasant enough. She once again brought up her frustration about my inability to wire her a deposit. My attempt failed because she was not able to tell me her branch number. I got all other required coding off the bank’s website, and she couldn't tell me that bit of information. The bank itself told me to send it through American Express, and my bank said I would likely arrive before the wired money did. It was extremely frustrating to us both.

For me, the frustration was compounded by a lack of recognition of details of my length of stay. It took several emails for Meg to catch on that I was staying from November 2 to December 11, and that my stay would be 45 days long. She had trouble with the concept of arriving in Dili before started my Homestay. Then on November first, she asked what time I'd be arriving that day.

I just want to point out that I have been consistent with my dates throughout. Even when my blood boils.

So today, when I wanted to drop stuff off earlier in the day, and she said 1:30, no make that 2, now it's 2:12 and where are you, I was annoyed.

No wifi was an unpleasant surprise that the lady at Timor Telecom fixed with a smile. But it's now 8:10 pm, and I wasn't able to make dinner because the stove is out of propane. Oh woe is me. What a rough life I have. I have peanuts and apples in my room, and despite my delusions, I'm not in any imminent danger of wasting away.

However, it is time to sign off. Tomorrow, I begin my term with Ba Futuru. Janu tells me the nuns nearby sell great cakes for lunch.

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