A New Adventure

Dear all, As most of you might know I am in Dili, Timor Leste. The coming months I will devote to researching how youths are involved in processes of democratization, nation-building and reconciliation. As you might or might not know Timor Leste has a past of foreign occupation (first Portugal until 1975 and then Indonesia from 1975 to 1999). Since 2002 Timor Leste is an independent country slowly getting to its feet. In the first half of this year it has elected a new president and a new parliament. If you are interested in the background and read German I can advise the following webpage: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parlamentswahlen_in_Osttimor_2012 I hope to write some background myself but before I venture to do so in such a public place I want to know more about what I am actually writing! So that will come in due time. I left the Netherlands on the 27th of July and via Istanbul, Singapore and Jakarta (where I stayed one night) to arrive in Bali on the 29th. In Bali I had planned some days to get over my jet lag and to reset myself before coming in the field. I am very happy I did that. I have not been to many places that are as touristy as Kuta (the village where I stayed) but for my purposes it was good! I had a nice hostel with an even nicer swimming pool, I had long strolls over the beach which gave me time to think, I was abroad yet I was not different from the other people (as most of them were tourists) and most importantly I had time to get out of the goodbye-modus and into the hello-modus. This was a very important shift that I felt happening as the days passed by. I was a bit sorry that I did not see more of Bali than the village of Kuta, but I felt that I just needed the time and the relaxing. Here you can see for yourself how hard life is in Bali:

The beach in Bali

And the pool of my hostel :)

"War and Peace", but most of all peace

Offerings on the beach and Bali sunset

When I stepped into the plane on the 1st of Augustus I could not help a wave of slightly frightened excitement, and that was not only because the plane looked like it could fall apart :) Suddenly it really downed on me that I was going to Timor Leste! For 5 months! So far, Timor Leste had only been something from the books and the news, now I was about to really be there myself! When I walked out of the terminal Endie (from Holland) came to greet me together with our host family. At once I was in the middle of the heat, dust, palm trees, UN-SUVs, scooters and friendly people that will surround me in the coming months. The house where I live is in the neighborhood called Fatuhada at compared to the other houses it is quite big. The family lives on the ground floor and the kitchen is also there. On the first floor are my room and the guest room. Until today Endie lived in the room where I live now and I lived in the guest room. There is another room still in the process of being built on this floor. And on the roof (my favorite place because you can look around 360 degrees) there is a place to hang the washing (and to watch the sunset, and the stars and dream away). I live with a father, three little daughters, a nanny and two cousins. Around me I hear music coming out of a radio, a pig that is crying because it is not happy to be bound to a tree, dogs barking, chicken, peoples voices, scooters and birds, it is never silent here! Here are some pictures of the house and surroundings:

The view from the house

My room

My room, yes, it is a girl's house = pink!

The hall/living room on the first floor Over the past few days Endie has introduced me to many people who can help me with my research: the national team of young electoral observers with whom she worked during the last elections, activists, the Dutch Club in Dili and people who know a lot about the country and the conflict. This meant that, from the moment I got here I have been surrounded by my research population! Plus I had a guide who knows this place since 1999 and so understands both the culture where I come from and the one I am entering, as a consequence having enormous amounts of advice for me. This also meant that the first days were very intensive (while meanwhile I was getting used to the heat, to the reversal of day and night, to listening all day to other languages and to being on the other side of the planet in general). So I am pretty exhausted all day, but also very happy to be granted such an amazing start within a group who has adopted me as a friend and offering to help me to such an extent that I feel I do not have attention enough for all of them. Today we heavy-heartedly brought Endie to the airport because she is going back to Holland. On the way back from the airport I had a feeling of ‘ok Sara, now you are on your own, this is where the adventure really starts!’ And somehow I liked that feeling. On the one hand I want to start with everything at once, just because everybody is offering to be at my disposal all the time. But on the other hand I know that I have 5 months and that I have to grant myself some time to get used to the heat and to this new life in general. So the coming weeks will be weeks of exploration in combination with self-discipline! I send you warm greetings from Dili and hope to provide you with more pictures of the city next time! Hugs Sara PS. This blog was written sunday...due to some internet problems I only managed to publish it now but so when I refer to 'today' I mean sunday :) PS2. Sorry about the weird layout...somehow it is not doing what I want it to do...