Today I went with Sr. Menia to 1 of the 3 Venilale oratories to play games with the local children and pray the rosary together. She said it was a 15 minute walk. It wasn’t-it took us 40 minutes, and we were walking briskly. The scenery was beautiful. There were small huts and palm trees lining the rocky, dirt road and in the distance you could see mountains. Sr. Armenia and I talked the whole way there (in English). She told me she is from East Timor, but went to Jakarta to study to become a nun. After she finished her schooling she came back here to Venilale where she has been since July 2008. She says she loves it here and can’t imagine being anywhere else. The way to the oratory was mainly uphill, and it was very rocky and uneven. After last week’s hour long pasear when I got bad blisters on my feet from wearing flip flops, I was better prepared this time and wore sneakers. I am glad I did, although I still managed to trip several times (but never actually fell). Sister was elegant and agile in her flip flops and never tripped or stumbled, not even once. If only I could be that graceful.
The oratory is at the top of a steep incline. When you reach the top, there is a large, open field and an amazing view of a towering mountain beyond that. Sister and I played soccer with a dozen or so boys (1 other girl jumped in, too, which was great!) for half an hour. The ball was flat so it was hard to dribble, but I managed okay for my first time playing soccer in East Timor. None of the boys who played wore shoes. I could never do that with my sensitive feet! I was pretty exhausted because I am so out of shape, but I had a ton of fun and managed to score a goal and assist many others. I wish I had thought to bring water, because I really could have used it! The boys kept playing, but I decided to sit down and talk with all the girls sitting on the sidelines. We had difficulty communicating because they spoke a different dialect from the one in the village I live in (which is only 20 minutes away!), but we were generally able to get our points across to one another. Mostly they seemed content to just sit, stare and smile at me. I am proud to say I am getting used to this-at first it felt very awkward, but now it feels more comfortable. Sometimes it is OK just to sit together in silence. Being present, smilling and showing you care is enough.
Soon all of the kids got in a big circle and put one of their hands in. A girl started singing a song and tapping each person on the hand. The person’s hand she tapped when the song ended removed their hand from the circle. I soon found out it was a GOOD thing to get your hand knocked out, but I didn’t know why. Originally there were 25 hands in the circle, and my hand was still in when just 3 remained! I started to panic a little-I didn’t know what the person with the last hand in the circle had to do, and I didn’t want to find out through experience. Thankfully, I was knocked out in the next round and another little girl was “it”. We were playing tag! Yay, a game I understand how to play! I was tagged pretty early-apparently everyone thinks it’s fun to chase after the malae (foreigner), but I didn’t mind. It gave me a chance to pair up and work with other people who were “it” to tag those who were still remaining. The second time we played, a girl came up and offered me a mango. While I was trying to respond to her, someone came up and tagged me. I think it was all part of their strategy to tag me! I took the mango and went to stand by some other children eating mangoes. They helped me crack it open (with the help of a big rock), but once it was cracked open a girl said it was not a good mango, took it from me and threw it into the forest. Oh well.
Next some girls gathered around me to try to teach me to juggle small stones. I was terrible at it, but they got a kick out of watching me try. Next they showed me how to play “jacks” by throwing a stone in the air, picking up other stones that were on the ground and then catching the stone you threw. I wasn’t very good at that, either.
Soon it was time for prayer. The very rowdy and rambunctious kids suddenly got very quiet and reverent. We prayed the rosary together, and the girls beside me were clearly surprised I was able to say (some of) it in Tetum! After the rosary we headed back to our school.
Along the way, a boy offered to get us mangoes from a tree. He deftly climbed to the very top of it, which was a good 30-40 feet in the air, in just a matter of seconds. He precariously hovered on some wobbly branches, but showed no fear. He threw down about 20 mangoes before descending just as quickly as he had climbed up. The mangoes were green and not ready to eat. All the kids were eating them anyway. Once back in the kitchen at school, sister sliced up one of the mangoes the boy had given us and offered me a piece. She said you had to dip it in salt to get the real effect. I dipped mine in too much salt and got the effect of wanting to vomit. Needless to say I won’t be eating any more unripe mangoes anytime soon.
The walk back to our school was mainly downhill, which was a nice break. The kids all followed us along the way and kept shouting, “Mana Keelan (Sister Keelan) Mana Keelan!” and when I would turn around they would all laugh and say something in Tetum. I asked sister what it meant and she said they were just joking around. Ah, kids.
On the way back to the school we passed a sign that says, “Bemvindo ba Venilale”-Welcome to Venilale. I had been wanting to take my picture in front of it and this seemed like the perfect chance. When we got to the sign, though, there were 3 teenage boys sitting in front of it. I told sister we could wait for another time, but she said it was no big deal, we would just take the picture now. She explained to the boys that I wanted to get a picture in front of the sign, and they smiled in agreement but remained seated. I just jumped in beside one of them and got a picture with 3 strangers! I guess it would only be an authentic picture if I had actual Venilale-ians in it, so I love it! It is much better than if I had just been in the picture!
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