One year and I can sit again (well mostly)…

So, one year has passed since my nasty run-in with the iron gate in Indonesia. It has been a rough year… There were many days (months) when I could not sit; all I could do was just lay in bed. But after more pain pills, sleeping pills, and steroid injections than I can recall; several physical therapists; and a disc biacuplasty - I am back to my old ways.

I am back out, living in Asia again – in Timor-Leste (East Timor) this time. After the month here at the end of last year, I was offered a full-time position here and decided it was about time to get back to work. So, I went back to DC to try to figure out steps to alleviate the pain I was still having. So, with a supportive group of doctors and despite the challenges of insurance, I was able to take the steps to get better. It was a bit ambitious, but so you expect anything less from me? I had the disc biacuplasy, a non-invasive back procedure (I am not sure why heated needles in the disc is considered non-invasive, but it makes it sound cool), on December 24, 2008. Three weeks later I was on a plane back to Asia. A bit insane considering I was still not allowed to sit for more than 30 minutes at a time or carry more than 10 pounds. But I am resourceful and managed to follow most of my doctor’s orders. I have even be seeing a physical therapist out here in Dili (physiotherapist is Australian) to keep up with my recovery. It is almost 14 weeks since the procedure – whoa, that is so cool – I am feeling so much better. The constant pain that I was in is now only occasional, and even then it is more of a discomfort/irritation. While I am still wearing a back brace, mostly just for sitting, looking at the calendar, I only have two weeks of that left. Plus then I start getting to be a bit more active – I have been limited to walking for the first 16 weeks after the procedure. So, snorkeling, and scuba diving, hiking and all the other amazing things to do in Timor, will soon be on the agenda.

OK, enough about the past. What’s been going on since I got here…

It has been raining. Yes, it is rainy season here in Timor. It rains when it wants to, sometimes for 15 minutes and other times for hours. Sometimes in the morning, other times in the afternoon, or evening, or all night long. But the rain is followed by clear beautiful skies and the hot sun! Rainy season here creates a huge change in the landscape. When I first arrived in Dili in October, I remember thinking how dry this place was – it reminded me of Africa. During the rainy season, everything is green and lush.

A visit by the President. President Jose Ramos Horta spent a Saturday afternoon visiting one of our project sites. He was impressed and even spoke about our project when he was back in the US recently. Plus I got some cool pictures.

Beaches. I take my evening and weekend walks along the beach. My house is three blocks to the ocean. Nice beaches for relaxing are a 30 minute walk (yeah, not driving yet) from my house, and even quicker drive. And, while I was told I could not go into the ocean while my back was healing, I took that advice lightly. There are very few waves here so I was not going to get knocked around too much.

Boss. About a month after my arrival, the Chief of Party (big boss) headed out of town for about a month, which meant I was in charge. I was happy when he came back.

Carnival. Carnival celebrations in Timor! There was a parade and lots of celebrations. Can you believe it rained? But that was not about to stop the Brazilians (and the rest of us) from celebrating.

Settling in. I have moved into a wonderful house. It is more house than I need so I am hoping I

get a few visitors. My air shipment has arrived and I am hoping the sea shipment with the rest of my crap (I mean belongings) will arrive in the next few weeks. Then I can start to decorate.

Where has the time gone?

It feels like I just got to East Timor, but I left DC almost four weeks ago (sure it took 30+ hours to get here...). But now it is time to get ready to head back to the US, leave Dili on Friday - a 35 hour layover in Bali with another 10 hours at Narita. By the time I make it back to DC, I will be good and tired of airplanes and airports.

Not feeling too loquacious today (I am sad to say my back has been bothering me more the last few days), but wanted to share a quick update and a few pictures from my last few weeks here.

Two weeks ago, I took a trip into the mountains to visit some farmers. It was a 2.5 hour drive through narrow and windy roads up to Maubisse, but we managed to go up and back in one day.










The weekend included a very long walk from downtown Dili to the top of the Cristo Rei, a 27 meter high replica of the Rio statue. It was a long day and I am proud to say that I mostly managed not to burn myself.









Sunday was a day at the beach. First brunch with some new friends, followed by a nap back at the hotel and then an afternoon of snorkeling and even a glass of wine.











My absentee ballot for the elections was appropriately cast, despite some problems with DC government and the fact that I doubt my ballot was even counted - being that I live in DC. Not the closest of elections. Mid-morning on Wednesday November 5th, all Americans in Timor were invited to the Ambassador's Residence to watch the election returns. It was quite a animated crowd. I was expecting that people would be somewhat shy about their political affiliations, but I was quite wrong! All the democratic paraphernalia went quickly. Anybody want a McCain/Palin button, plenty were left. After the final speeches, had to go back to work, but the party continued later in the evening.








The following day, I headed off on another road trip to Baucau, to the east of Dili. We went to visit a few current partners. It was a long three hours, but a spectacular drive. The day ended with a lovely walk through "old" Baucua, when I was able to take a few more pictures. I love this one of the kids on the bike - they were definitely showing off for me! After a night in the fancy hotel/pousada we headed right back to Dili. Another day with a lot of driving.











But now this trip is coming to an end and I am looking forward to heading back to DC. Although, I am a bit worried about the cold weather, I don't think the air conditioning has prepared me for the cold.

Coconut on the beach...

So, I have been in Timor for a week now. It's been an interesting one. Mostly meeting with the commercial services and business development staff. It's been several months since they have had the support that they have needed, so it has been good just to sit down and listen to them.
Life in Timor, at least from what I have seen, is pretty nice. Is is beautiful, but very different than the lush greenery of Aceh. It is incredibly arid now, everything is so dry and dusty. Although, I believe that rainy season is just around the corner.

I found a lovely place to get a good Balinese massage. I already have my VIP card in hand (ok, so it is not very hard to get a VIP card, they offer them to everyone) which is good for my 10% discount. The $20 for 60 minutes and $25 for 90 minutes is steep by Bali standards, bet well worth it in Dili. I even went twice last week. Do you think I can claim that as a medical expense?

I moved into a much nicer hotel, so am feeling much more comfortable. Place is nice enough that there is even internet access. I am writing from my lovely little room right now. It is amazing how I am - at the same time both used to the challenges of international travel, yet appreciate the luxuries - like regular electricity hot water, air conditioning and something so extravagant as internet access. And Timor even has good food. There is a lovely beachfront Thai restaurant and even several Japanese restaurants. I feel so spoiled to get to eat good food in such a nice location.

I went to Timorese wedding this weekend. The ceremony was on the church on the top of the hill where the new Pope John Paul II statue was recently built. It is quite a jaunt up the hill, luckily we were able to drive up the tretuous road instead of walking up the hill. It was a traditional Catholic wedding in Tutun, or at least I think it was, I didn't understand that much of the ceremony. I did find it a little ironic that I got in a little light reading during the ceremony "Will Storr vs. the Supernatural."

This morning I had a nice brunch at a beachfront restaurant. I then took a nice walk west along the beach road. It was so nice to enjoy the scenery and get in a bit of exercise. I also got to see a little bit of local Sunday life, at the beach.

Who needs clothes when you can sit on the beach eating a coconut?
Do not ask for a reenactment!

Timor-Leste

Ok, so I am no longer in Indonesia after my nasty encounter with a 400 pound iron gate. After two months trying to get better in Banda Aceh - which was a miserable failure, I spent the last four and a half months living with the lovely family in DC ... doctors, physical therapy and lots of really bad TV.

I arrived in Dili, East Timor yesterday about midday. I felt fine for the first several hours, although the back was a bit achy. I was desperately trying to stay awake to get adjusted to the time zone, but only made it to 8:00 pm. I did make a quick trip to the supermarket for a bottle of water and some spicy guacamole pringles. The exhaustion may have been helped on by watching the final presidential debate replay on CNN, but after some 40 hours of travel I probably deserved to be tired.

Today I was up nice and early and decided to take a few pictures. I am staying at a place across from the beach. Not the nicest place in town, but it will do for now.

plasmodium vivax ...

Yes, 40 countries and years (cumulative) of living in malaria-prone countries and I have finally been diagnosed with my first case of malaria. I took my first malaria test today and as an overachiever, I got a positive result. Go me! I am doing ok, just really freaking exhausted with those typical flu-like symptom (and freaking neurotic about mosquitoes). I have to admit, I am not 100% convinced of my diagnosis - considering it came from a laboratory in Banda Aceh. (I sometimes think that they want to give you at least one positive result so you can take some drugs.) My three day regimen cost me a whopping $0.11. Yes, that is eleven cents. I go back for a follow up blood test on Wednesday. They wanted me to come back on Thursday, but I leave on Thursday for Bangkok. I am going to Thailand for training. So, I am hoping to make it to a doctor there to get another opinion. I'll keep you updated!

Another few months under my belt...

Well, it's been awhile since I've written. Been a busy few months.

Had an amazing vacation with my family. We went for a little beach vacation in Sabang, then I look them to Lamno for the day. Then I left them in Banda Aceh while I went to Jakarta for the day. They did a good job of keeping themselves. We then met in Medan and then headed straight to see the orangutans - one of only two places in the world where they can still be found in the wild. We then went to Bali and had a great time. Mom even got in some furniture shopping.

Other than that, I have been keeping busy. I accepted a full-time job out here. I even got a fancy title - Senior Economic Development Program Advisor - makes me sound all smart and all.

Had a really nice Thanksgiving. We don't get it off here, but at about 11am, I realized that I needed to do something. So I got a chicken and some veggies and cooked up a storm. (I made roast chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, calabaza, tsimmis, green beans and almonds, lemon pepper broccoli and cauliflower, and of course a cheesecake. Additions included: bread, cheese, steamed veggies, cranberry sauce, and a few beers.) It was a small gathering, only 7 - compared to about 50 I had in Barcelona and 25 in Chile a few years back. But it was really nice.

And to top it all off, I was awoken at 6am with a 6.1 magnitude earthquake 55 miles off of Banda Aceh this morning. It felt like a pretty big one. Happy to say that our new house handled the prolonged shaking with no problem. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2007kabq.php

I will, happily, be coming back to the US for about a month in December to clean things up "before" my official move to Indonesia.

Rugby

Yes, I am proud to admit that have played my first match of Rugby in Banda Aceh Indonesia.
I have a friend out here who has told me about these matches on several occasions and I finally got myself out to the stadium today to play. It is one of the few sports that is played co-ed here. (All expats though) It is touch rugby so as to avoid too much injury for those involved. Most of the people there really know what they are doing, but I got a few quick pointers throughout and seemed to hold my own. Like it much of my earlier sporting history, my defense is significantly stronger than my offense (not sure what that means, but anyways...). So, I generally stayed away from trying to run with or catch the ball, but made some nice touches throughout the day.
Towards the last half of the day, I had my first rugby knock out. One guy got the ball and thought he had an open run, apparently he did not see me standing in front of him (I admit I am a short woman, but he was no giant, so not sure what was happening). Anyways, he went full force ahead straight into me and knocked me down to the ground. Not completely sure what happened except that my head hurt quite a bit and things were blurry. I stayed down for a few minutes and when I sat up everything seemed a bit blotchy with yellow spots. I was told I had a big smile on my face, so people weren't too worried.
I got back up and started to play again but was advised it might be best to sit out for a few minutes. The yellow spots thing was kinda cool I must admit, albeit a bit weird. I sat out for about 5 minutes and then until the downpour past and then rejoined the match.
Despite the bruises, a good first rugby experience.
But, as I was doing sports in Aceh... I get home and yes... you guessed it, no electricity (meaning no running water. I don't even want to get into water issues -- we have now been losing water too). Luckily we have the trusty generator so Iwas able to take a nice 'warm' shower to clean the mud out of my hair.
All-in-all, not a bad day. Although my body will likely not be so happy with me for the next few days.

*Sorry no pictures of today's excitement.