Living in Dili is like being in the midst of
a constant stream of farewells – if it was a sitcom, you’d think the writers
had some serious plotting issues. And this week it’s my character’s turn. Which
I guess means Dili will be down one sarcastic, slightly neurotic blonde.
My last day of work on Friday finished with speeches,
a horrifically rainbow-coloured cake and of course, karaoke. John Denver’s Leaving on a Jet Plane was up first, followed by Eric Clapton’s Wonderful Tonight,
which did get slightly awkward. But then the refined sugar and food colouring
kicked in and I realised that at some point I reached a Timor milestone – I no
longer laugh at the awkwardness of bad karaoke. It just seems like the most
logical way to spend a Friday afternoon after a busy week at work.
On Saturday we had a no-holds-barred mosaic
session in which we officially relinquished control of our mosaic tree to the
neighbourhood.
We also planned to have a ‘clothes swap’ for us to offload some
of our more ridiculous/unnecessary market purchases (of which there were many) to
unsuspecting friends. It soon became a competition of how many pieces of
clothing two grown men could put on in five minutes (top score being 15 – some
of the dresses got complicated). Soon after the kids got stuck in and somehow the whole lounge room was
cleared of clothing in under five minutes.
After many mosaicing sessions, crazy dinners, dance routines and just moments spent staring at my neighbourhood in wonder, it was lovely to see so many familiar faces. When I got a bit emotional and had to take a time out from the chaos, the kids were concerned – ‘What’s wrong Joey? Why are you sad?’ Then a thoughtful pause… ‘Can I have some more cake?’ They obviously knew they had caught me at a weak moment.
Now I’ve turned to packing up and trying not
to get too sentimental over things like sunsets and riding on motorbikes. I feel like I somehow I managed to live
five years in one, and now I’m about to surface again I’m not sure how it will
feel to take a breath.
Well the last time I get to comment on "The Dili Adventure". What a wonderful trip it's been, have enjoyed every minute of it my Leghorn friend "Joey". From bikes to mice, cars to pigs, from flooding and partying, sightseeing and karaoke and of course beautiful sunsets! Not to mention all the kids and the beautiful mosaic tree. When you surface again I'm sure you wil be blowing bubbles, singing karaoke and dreaming of your next adventure! Family, friends and Australia awaits you! Lots of love xoxoxo safe return, looking forward to sharing a cuppa with you.
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