Farewell Los Palos; love, loneliness and plastic chairs…

So it’s over. That’s it. 13 months of self imposed isolation from the world in the far east corner of Timor-Leste, in the sleepy little town of Los Palos, District Lautem. I’m not sure how I feel about the past year. It has been an interesting 13 months both with work and the social experiment of what happens to M.Hero when left to his own devices for a year in the mountains. I’m itching to move on. I like Los Palos, Lospala, Lore Pala... but the time has come to leave and I’m ready for it.

So what do I know that I didn’t know before?

View from the top of the Los Palos Water Treatment Plant over the town of Los Palos.

I know heaps more about what animals do to entertain themselves. I have spent a lot of time this year with a guitar on my lap watching chickens, hens, roosters, goats, dogs, cats, pigs, cows, buffalo, ants, ghekos, spiders. I know roosters don’t really make love in the typical sense instead preferring the bash and rape method of fornication; horse fighting is cool to watch and i recommend this to anyone who has a spare 10 minutes; hens in general are good mothers; piglets are cute for about 5 weeks and then they quickly lose their charm and can’t be trusted to make the right choice when crossing the road; baby goats, just kids really, are easily the cutest while their parents have excellent traffic sense.

Everyone needs hobbies.

Road through corn fields on the way to the Don Bosco Selegian College in Fratemaca, Baucau where we had a trial rope pump constructed

I know that I can play the chords A-minor and E-minor really well and have written about 5 complete songs using this solid chord pattern. G-major occasionally makes a sneaky, guest appearance when I really want to spice things up. I have determined that handwashing isn't a fun game. It’s more fun when someone else does it for you. Sitting in a small room with poor ventilation and no AC in the tropics with 25 boys who do their own hand washing is also not fun. 

My bedroom for 10 months. Apparently not romance appropriate.

I know about the ergonomic deficiencies of spending long periods of time slouching in a plastic chair; for 10 months the only piece of furniture that I had to relax on was a faithful, green, plastic chair.

My cozy plastic chair under the watchful eyes of Brittney (pre K-fed; when she had pride). This was the basic form of my home for 10 months. Note; plastic chairs aren't fun when you have dengue.

My final resting place. A step up in the world of luxury living that was only available after the UN Police presence moved out of Los Palos and freed up the housing situation.

I have had the importance of close friendships cemented in my mind as one of the special things in life. Having a friend make phone calls to numerous medicos without my knowledge after I was bitten on the head by a scorpion at the most eastern tip of the island is pretty sweet, making sure that there was an evacuation plan in case I didn't turn out too well. My hard exoskeleton was quickly destroyed as my high pitched squeals echoed around the camp site. Still, she cared. I know getting bitten on the head by a scorpion is also not fun.

The family of my close friend and work colleague Julmiro Isaac Manuel (left) with his son and father. This photo was taken outside their house in Soleresi, District Lautem.

Staff from NGO Fraterna on my last day. We ate BBQ dog as special treat. I'd been promised it all year and they finally delivered! Tastes like goat...

Plan Los Palos staff at Com beach for a BBQ farewell. Thanks to the washed out lighting on the day everyone else looks good while i seem like the albino boy.

Bike gangs are how i roll. L to R; Lidonio, Danis, Julmiro and Lidonio. All members of the NGO Fraterna working on the WASH program with PlanTL. This photo was taken after coming back from a community via a short cut in the form of a 12km buffalo 'race'   track. 

One of the amazing views west along the coast line that you get to see on the road between Manatutu and Dili. 

Big tree; Baucau style.

Looking towards Mt Matibian from the main road in Laga, District Baucau.

Power lines, rice paddies, trees, clouds, reflection. A workable combination.

I know the blood lust that appears at 3am when you hunt Rattus Rattus after he climbs onto your bed for the 3rd time in half an hour, disturbing your fragile sleep. I know that this blood lust cannot easily be quenched but can be slightly sated by hunting naked with a fishing spear. I think I know a little bit more about primal urges now. 

One of the reasons i was not sad to say goodbye to the mechanical animal that provided me with many good times over the past 12 months; torrential downpour on bikes ain't fun!

I know that long distance relationships aren’t much fun when you have to rely on the telecommunication network of a developing nation.

M.Hero and the Lovely at Com wharf. Home of the young Jenny Lopez and Jennifer Lopez. True story.

I told her that i was Justin Bieber.

I have been reminded as to what it feels like to be the same size as a 12 year old. I topped 65kg by the end of Primary School and have smashed that record again as a bearded and balding 30 year old. Unfortunately it seems to have come mainly from my wrists. I think if I shave my beard I may lose another 500g in sweat and grime but I’m not willing to risk it.

The warrior of foho fashion, M.Hero, in the casual modelling pose demonstrating the sensible styles of green and beige. Note; hiking boots and pen in top pocket.

Leaving Los Palos on a high note; the rainy season had arrived and the whole district had turned a fluorescent green. 

I know what it is like to toast a glass of wine on my own for a 10 year anniversary and again for my 30^th birthday and a glass of scotch for every other day. I then used this to focus on the movement from E-minor to A-minor.

'dethBikes' tropical cousin 'Yellow Phantom'. Do you know dethBike? dB? dB ns/s?? Pity the fool who doesn't.

I have cemented the idea that teenage boys are mainly idiots in any country and degrading porn isn’t cool. The combination of the two is especially bad. The damage that it does to the minds of those who understand the fantasy of it all is bad enough, let alone those with impressionable and uneducated ones.

Los Palos main street... bustling metropolis.

School kids in Raca, Lautem, get chased away from a pump that we were installing by Uncle on the right and side. He did have a stick to start with...

The friendly folk of aldeia Tamaro. Always welcoming, always smiling and enthusiastic. This is a tapstand that was constructed by the community with material supplied by PlanTL and assistance from NGO Fraterna.

I have a deeper appreciation of the complexities of the development of a nation in a post conflict area. I know that rote learning isn't that flash. I know community leaders are amazing and their importance in social cohesion in any community is of paramount importance. Anyone can get involved in community development and should; we all live in communities that can always be better. 

The road down into aldeia Codo, home of the brilliant Xefi Japan. Xefi (Chief/Village leader in Tetun) Japan is one of the gentlest and happiest people that i have met, and always had an open door for coffee and cigarettes for us all. Without warning, he made a 2 hour journey into my farewell BBQ to say goodbye. Japan is his code name from the resistance days...   

Unfortunately i didn't find any fairies here.

Aldeia Codo; I could retire here... 

I know what it’s like to not have solid sleep for around 10 months. Every night I was kept awake by a chorus of 4 roosters that lived in the tree outside my bedroom window. At a distance of around 7m from my bed they seemed to enjoy the acoustics of solid concrete surrounds that reverberated into my ear drum every night. I know that they have names; Spider, D-structor, Virus and Amanda, ruthless fighting cocks and sworn enemies to the sleepless M.Hero.

Los Palos market in town. This is the small daily market for all the local fruit (well, Banana's really) and veg. 

NGO Fraterna Techincal Officer Danis (right) undertaking an inspection of the existing water supply system in sub-aldeia Tutulafai, not far from Julmiro's home in the photo earlier. As there has been extensive NGO activity in Timor-Leste over the past 12 years many communities have water supply systems that are now in a state of non or dis-function. Much of the work undertaken by PlanTL and Fraterna is to develop the community water management groups (GMF) and work towards rehabilitating these systems.

I understand a little more about the detrimental impact of clock watching that happens in countries like Australia. I know that life isn’t purely a unit of time. But I do know that allocating a unit of time to a project task can help with moving things along but it does come at a cost to sit and talk opportunities.

Mateus and the dashing M.Hero. Drinking whiskey, eatin' chicken and shootin the breeze with the good folk of Tamaro.

Rain, children, technical surveys and the community of Tamaro.

Just some of my street art...

I know how to kill a fish with a spear while in 6m of water and scale, gut and clean it before presenting it to someone else to cook for me. I also know how to eat it. I know a lot about dodging potholes and animals on my motorbike and about dancing alone to JUSTICE to the bemusement of my landlords. I know that dengue fever isn’t much fun. I know what it is like to sit on the beach of a tropical island and know that I am the only human on it. I know more about heart ache, love, loneliness, distance, communication, happiness, kindness, confusion and determination then I did before and that it’s rude to throw rocks at crocodiles.

That is all. Maybe some other stuff that I have missed.

M.Hero; exiting Los Palos.

Over.

Honda Megapro 150cc. My miniature pony...