Timor Leste 2024 Trip B Blog

Today it rained in Hatolia as we bid our sad farewell to people who in such a short time have become great friends. In the morning, we woke to the bell and went to mass, a lovely way to thank Father Domingos and the community for our stay.

We packed up and cleaned up our rubbish that consisted mainly of water bottles and an embarrassing number of Beng Beng wrappers! We made our way to the school for speeches and a farewell. We presented the exchange students with bags, tops and English tetun books. We thanked Silva, the English teacher who has worked tirelessly to ensure that our stay was amazing, from organising food, the itinerary and classroom activities - she did not stop. One of her many talents is baking and her cakes were delicious, ensuring we will all go back to Australia a few kg heavier.

Lastly, we thanked Father Domingos. He is such a joyful man with an infectious energy and we will all miss his contagious belly laughs. We all appreciated the time he took out of his busy schedule to look after us and show us some of the small villages in his area.

We then began the procession of students shaking our hands as we said goodbye. The tears flowed when it was time for last hugs with our new friends. Gifts were exchanged and then we were ushered out of the school by Eddie to begin our long trip to Palaka.

We took a short cut that had us driving in the river bed, the roads were slow and bumpy and we were lucky to get out of 2nd gear. We were all relieved to hit the bitumen and a smooth ride for the last 30 minutes into Balibo. We relaxed at the fort and enjoyed pizza for lunch and the beautiful views.

We looked through the Balibo Museum then walked down to Balibo House. Eddie gave us a tour and explained some of the history and the dreadful fate of the 5 Australian Journalists who visited Balibo. Back in the troopy, we headed down the hill to the Indonesian border for a brief visit. Everyone was disappointed they didn’t get a stamp in their passports for proof of our visit.

It was only a short drive to the Bakhita Centre 2 where we enjoyed a shower (so good!!!), a sunset, more tais, a delicious meal shared with local seminarians and girls from the school and then dancing. Dili tomorrow to meet with the President. We are all super excited!!