First week in East Tiimor

Hello Everyone!

After 31 hours of travelling (3 hour drive to the airport, 24 hours on 4 different planes and a 4 hour nauseating ride to my mission site) I  have finally made it to Venilale, East Timor! I thought I would begin by answering some pertinent questions I was very interested in knowing the answer to before I arrived in East Timor.

1.       What is the food like?

Breakfast: Rolls with butter or jam, fried rice, tea, fruit (oranges, bananas, apples, papaya)

Lunch: Spaghetti, white rice, kankun (don’t know if that is spelled right. It is a green stalky vegetable), banana tree bark cooked and seasoned, small chicken wings, fruit, cassava, and even fish or tuna

Dinner: leftovers from lunch, ramen noodle soup

2.       Is there electricity?

Here in Venilale there is only electricity from 6 p.m. to midnight. It is challenging bathing and getting ready in the morning without any lights! I also have to make sure I charge all of my electronics (phone, iPod, computer) during that time or I won't be able to use them the following day.

3.       What are the toilets like?

The toilets here in Venilale LOOK the same as those in the U.S., with 1 minor difference-they don’t flush! I asked 2 different sisters how to flush the toilet, and neither one knew what I meant! Now I understand why they didn’t know what I was asking-“flush” is not even in the Tetum dictionary! Thankfully I was able to ask another volunteer from Germany how to flush the toilet and she informed me that you just pour water into the toilet until everything is gone.

I also discovered there are plugs in the sink (as in the U.S.) are there for a very important reason. I unplugged the sink in my bathroom last night and found half a dozen different bugs in there this morning. Lesson learned.

4.     

  How do you bathe?

There is a faucet in the bathroom that is used to fill up large buckets. You then use a smaller pail to scoop water out of the large buckets and subsequently pour over you. It is challenging to wash my thick hair well with the limited water, but I am getting better each day! The water is not heated and can be pretty cold early in the morning.

5. What do people wear?

All sorts of things. I have seen women in long and short skirts, jeans and capris. Men also wear shorts and jeans. Women wear conservative tops of all colors and patterns (I was told people do not wear black unless they are in mourning, but this doesn’t seem to be the case). Tennis shoes and flip-flops are very common. The students have uniforms they wear to school every day.

6.       What is the traffic like?

Driving in East Timor is terrifying! There are no signs, no lanes on the road, no seatbelts, no patience from any of the drivers and NO RULES! Motorcycles dangerously weave in and out of traffic and there are constantly horns blaring as one car is cut off or another car comes within inches of a head on collision because he moved out of his lane to pass a slower car. Some small vans cram 10 people into them, with some people dangerously leaning out of the car to give directions. To cross an intersection you must inch out until eventually the crossing cars stop and let you through.

Here in Venilale there is just one road and very few cars, so there is no such thing as "traffic". It is very peaceful, to say the least. 

7.       Is the language easy to understand?

No. I can definitely pick up some Spanish words that are thrown in, but all in all I am completely lost when I hear people speaking Tetun. I look forward to getting better over time, though.

8.       Does anyone speak English?

Not too many people in the airport, health clinic, or shops I have visited seem to speak English, but the sisters all speak it quite well (a very nice relief)

9.       What’s the weather like?

80 degrees every day! It gets a little cooler at night, but usually not even cool enough to throw on a sweatshirt. It seems to rain every other day here, but usually just for an hour or 2.

10.   Do you have a bed?

Yes! I also have a pillow and a blanket, a mosquito net over my bed and even my own room!

11. What was your “Yep, I am definitely on a mission trip now” moment?

Yesterday morning at 3 a.m. I was waiting at the airport shuttle bus stop to be taken to my final flight on my trip to East Timor. It was pouring down rain, but I was safe under my umbrella with my backpack cover (yes, I’m glad I bought that after all) protecting the valuables in my backpack. The bus pulled up and I ran to the back of it to give my suitcases to the driver. I was on the sidewalk with my bags and he was about 5 feet away from me at the back of the bus. A huge, rushing stream of water separated the two of us. We stared each other down-I was expecting him to come get my luggage and apparently he was expecting me to cross the ravine and hand my luggage to him. I lost the mental battle of wills, sighed and sludged through the big puddle to hand off my bags. Now my tennis shoes, luggage and bottom of my skirt was completely soaked. This was my “Welcome to your Mission Trip” experience! I realized that nothing would be handed to me from now on and if I wanted something done I had to do it myself.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first week in East Timor, but I would be lying if I said everything was going perfectly. I still have my doubts. The first few days I couldn’t help but question myself. Why East Timor? I can’t even speak the language. Wouldn’t I be more useful in a Spanish speaking country? I could help others, communicate with them and learn the language all in one. Was I doing this missionary thing right? Shouldn’t I be doing more and making a greater difference already? I suddenly remembered a quote I had heard on an audiotape by Jack Canfield a long time ago. It said: “It is how it is. It cannot be otherwise and I rejoice because of it.” This reminded me that God is in control, not me. I will never be able to understand His plans, so it is no use even trying. Instead, I should invest my energy in carrying out His plans and serving Him faithfully, without doubting. I don’t know why I am here in East Timor when I feel like I can possibly be a bigger help in a Spanish speaking country. But God does. He specifically chose me to come here for a reason. I might not know what that reason is right now (or ever), but it doesn’t matter. I am being called to do what God has asked of me.

I don’t know why God has chosen me for this particular task. I am certainly not the most capable. I don’t have medical skills or experience teaching English. I don’t speak Tetum and am often shy. Why not pick someone more qualified? Joel Osteen once said, “God chooses the unqualified and makes them qualified.” I believe that is what he is doing with me. God doesn’t necessarily choose the person who is most capable, but the person who is WILLING to serve him. There are countless examples of people in the Bible who were unskilled and seemingly unqualified to do God’s work. They were ordinary people, but they chose to LISTEN and RESPOND to God’s call. God did great things through them, and I know that if I surrender myself, He can do great things through me, too.

As I laid there thinking, I was again reminded to just “BE”. It is time to stop thinking about how I think things should go and start enjoying how things ARE. Sometimes it is okay to just BE. I took this idea with me to lunch and sat contently as the sisters talked among themselves in Tetum. Yes, I asked them questions and tried to remain involved in the conversation, but I didn’t worry about not being included in the conversation or feel pressure to keep it going if there was a silence. I was content to just BE. BE comfortable with myself and around others. Be content with my trip so far. BE happy. BE me.