One for me, Tua for you

Sometimes living in Timor feels like one long road trip. In the last six months, I have been in more 4WDs, taxis and motorcycles than I can recall. I can definitively say I have only been in one public bus, but I’m still trying to erase that from my memory. My latest transport venture saw me play a guest role – as token female and malae – on what can only be described as a boy’s road trip.

There was tua (local wine) made by nuns. There were early morning trips (3:45am) into town to watch European football matches. There was even Die Hard 4.

Our destination was Los Palos, a town in the far east known for its Rastafarian artists, beautiful women and supposed status as a ‘high kingdom’ in Timor. Marrying a girl from Los Palos will set you back 77 cows, which even by Australian standards is a hefty mortgage to take on a marriage. To me, Los Palos seems to combine equal parts of Fern Gully and Sister Act. Horses race alongside cars, entire communities (including nuns) fight over rambutan trees and nuns make wine out of everything from raisins to oranges.

The four of us went to Los Palos for various work purposes – to make a short film, to do community consultations, to count buffalo… each to their own, I guess.

Travelling with men is always surprising. Because as well as the football talk, smutty jokes, football talk, did I mention football talk? There’s also watching action movies wrapped in a frilly flower blanket. There’s listening to Celine Dion and Shania Twain ad nauseum in the car. There was also a story about a monkey and a pumpkin that had me crying with laughter.

Being the token female also means that you get the best room. Even though my digs didn’t have a flushing toilet or shower, I found out on our last morning there that Timor’s Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao stayed in the same room recently. It’s good to know the leader of the country gets the same treatment as the token female (if only that was the case more often).

The original token female

Swinging to keep sane

The amigos