a taste of Timor

Now that I'm finally re-settled back into life in Dili, I'm looking through old photos to blog - sorta like filling in the blank spaces left by the illness. This was one taken at Maubara in Liquica District when my parents came to visit me in Timor! This visit was something i had been praying to God for a long time because my dad had been very resistant to the idea of coming to Timor ever since I was posted here. He, like many Singaporeans, have heard and seen only the chaos so well-captured on cable news and have visions of crime, theft, and riots etched into his mind. So when I first asked them to visit me many months ago, the answer had been "you just come home quickly!" So it was indeed God's grace that helped my mom persuade Dad to join a group of Catholics (from Legion of Mary) to see this country. During the first few days of their visit, I was up in a retreat center in Maubara for training so Armando drove them up to see me instead. I think my parents got to see the beauty of this country, especially when they went up to Gleno where it was cool and when I brought them to see the spectacular beaches of Timor.

(RIGHT)This is them up at Cristo Rei overlooking the beaches of Areia Branca.

But it is no doubt a harsh environment for city people. After being pampered by clean tap water, cool air-conditioning, and dust-free air in Singapore, the sizzling heat in Dili and the generally lower standard of living certainly tested my parents. This was not a conventional HOLIDAY for them. Mind you, they are not rich folks who travel in first class or are mollycoddled, but they still found it a challenge.

Nevertheless, I'm still proud of them for even setting foot on the soil of Timor-Leste. I'm glad they took the challenge to step out of their comfort zone although they might have regretted it a little bit! Mom, Dad, Thanks for coming to see me....