December 17, 2003 - I'm Dreaming of a White Natal

(For those of you hanging on the end of the previous entry, I simply had a touch of food poisoning that laid me low for a few days. Nothing too serious.)

Christmas is coming! 94% of the Timorese population is Catholic, so the festivities are here in Dili as well. To be honest, Christmas is nothing new here. The ice-cream truck in Dili (yes, Dili has an ice-cream truck) plays 'What Child is This?' year round and my manager's phone has been ringing Jingle Bells since September. But things are actually 'sprucing' up - literally! Plastic trees with ribbons of garland and strings of beads are popping up here and there and shiny banners saying Merry Christmas and Happy New Year have been strung around the city - in supermarkets, banks and the travel agent's. I must say though, that rather than putting me in the mood for the season, these decorations simply amuse me, for being anywhere but snowy Canada at this time of year just doesn't feel like Christmas.

I have to say, Dili must be the quietest capital city in the world. The streets are empty at night and nary a rooster can be heard. However, East Timor has a December tradition that I have a hard time associating with Christmas - from the beginning of the month, from dusk to midnight, people set off little firecrackers all over the city. The constant whhhiiiiiiiiinnnnnnne-POP! has become part and parcel of life here.

Now in case you are wondering how I know there is a Christmas tree in the travel agent's office, I must say it is because I have been spending a bit of time there as of late, arranging for a return to Toronto for Christmas - three weeks earlier than my scheduled return date. Along with the CIDA evaluation of last month came a scaling back of some of the activities in our project. This includes some of the GIS work (that I thought was pretty ambitious in the first place!) that I was to have completed in my last weeks here. As it would have been Christmas holidays here (which are taken very liberally and at length), those last three weeks would have been fairly unproductive and lonely for me, both in and out of the office, so I decided to call it a day. And I really have been dreaming of a white Christmas. Here, with the rains starting in November, everything is just getting greener and greener. So hold your breath and hope for snow, Toronto! Just no blizzards when my plane is scheduled to land at 6am on the 23rd.

I'm looking forward to being home again and as soon as reunitings, Christmas and New Year are through, I'll be looking for a job in Toronto! It will be nice to have a paycheque again after volunteering here in East Timor - though apparently here I am worth 300 cows.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year every one! Talk to you next from home!

> See photos from East Timor.

> See photos from Bali.

> See other East Timor journal entries.



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