This past week we celebrated All Saint’s (November 1) and All Soul’s (November 2) Day. While these days are commemorated all over the world, in East Timor both days are national holidays that begin with mass in the morning. The All Saint’s Day mass was very crowded, but father kept the homily short (under 10 minutes) and I enjoyed it (even though once again I didn’t know what was going on or being said).
There weren’t any other big events planned for the day, so I went down to the orphanage to play with the kids. They were all a little down because Mana Ulla (the volunteer from Germany) was leaving the next day to return to Germany. They were happy to see me and I reassured them I would be staying for another 7 months. This seemed to lift their spirits.
In the afternoon we threw a big party and performance for Mana Ulla complete with plenty of singing and dancing. I was asked to lead the Electric Slide dance with a dozen teenage girls for Mana Ulla. I didn’t know I would be a part of the entertainment until about 10 minutes before we performed. Regardless, it was a lot of fun.
After the party we headed to the dining room for a big meal. I got to sit at the “table of honor” at the front of the room with Ulla and the other sisters. We had our choice of stew, wanton noodles (yum!), rice, gross green veggies, and chips. The chips were brightly colored red, green and purple. They were also salty and sooo good! Even though they weren’t like American potato chips (they were better!), they were the closest thing to American junk food I have had for several weeks and I guess I still miss American food! Why can’t I be addicted to bananas or something healthy? I sat by Sister Ines, who doesn’t really speak any English. I tried my best to strike up and continue conversation with her in Tetum, but she didn’t seem to understand my questions, and I couldn’t really understand what she was saying, either. Despite these difficulties, we still managed to have a decent conversation.
I wasn’t sure how I would react to Ulla leaving. Would I be sad and envious of her returning home? Surprisingly, I didn’t feel envious of her getting to go home. I actually feel content here and believe this is where I am supposed to be right now. I wonder sometimes (ok, often) how I will spend another 6 and a half months here, but the truth is, I’m not ready to go home yet! If I had to leave today I would be very sad! No, I haven’t quite figured out my niche here in East Timor. I DO know I can brighten some girls’ days just by showing up and being present for them. They will need me now especially in the next couple of weeks as they cope with the “loss” of Ulla.
I ended up spending 7 hours with the orphans that day, so I was very exhausted by the end of the party. Thankfully, All Soul’s Day was a little more restful. Mass was again at 8 a.m. I was running a little behind schedule and didn’t arrive until 7:55. Still, when I got to the church, there was only a handful of people inside (including some sisters). I noticed people outside near the back of the church, but I figured they would process in. At 8:05 the church had not filled up much, but I wasn’t really concerned-mass never starts on time. I suddenly heard father speaking outside using a microphone. I peeked out through a window and saw that all the people were congregated around a big “hut” which had been converted to an altar for mass! As I looked around, I saw hundreds and hundreds of people-definitely too many to fit inside the church. The weather was warm and sunny, so it was really a perfect day to hold mass outside.
At lunch I got to try “katapas”, a traditional food eaten on this holiday. Katapas is rice wrapped in coconut leaves and cooked in coconut oil. It was delicious! For dessert we had “jello”, which was pastel purple and in the shape of a flower. It had a very “light”, but fruity taste and was actually very good.
Another tradition here in East Timor on All Soul’s Day is to walk to the cemetery, place flowers on the graves of loved ones and pray the rosary around the tombstone. The sisters here at the school always dread this day because villagers sneak onto the school grounds to steal flowers from the garden to put on their relative’s graves. They have to take turns patrolling the school for flower fiends.
I asked Sr. Alma (Mother Superior at the convent where I am staying) when we would be walking to the cemetery. She said there was a large group going at 4 p.m. The sky at mass this morning was a glorious bright blue. The white billowy clouds looked so close that you could reach out and grab one. This afternoon, however, was a different story. It started raining around lunch time and stopped for an hour before starting up again. It was drizzling as several sisters and I headed out with a dozen or so girls to the cemetery to pray the rosary at the tombstone of a former missionary priest. I was shocked to see that every single tombstone in the cemetery was adorned with flowers (and some had candles as well). You could see remnants of food some families had left from lunch when they came to eat with the souls of the deceased.
As we prayed the rosary (I think we ended up praying 2 full rosaries), it started to rain harder and harder and harder. At one point you couldn’t hear anyone else praying the rosary, so it was hard to stay in unison. I thought it seemed fitting that it would be cold, damp, dark and rainy on All Soul’s Day.
At dinner Sr. Alma asked me if I had gotten wet during the cemetery walk. I responded affirmatively. “Oh, well you should have come earlier with my group when the weather was so nice and sunny!” she said. I had to laugh because I didn’t KNOW different groups were going throughout the day and SHE was the one who had told me to go at 4. Such is life here in East Timor.
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