28 November

When I took the pictures of Laclubar off my camera I noticed that I had pictures from Independence Day. A little retroactive posting is in order:

On the 28^th we had the day off to celebrate Independence Day. The holiday commemorates the 1975 unilateral declaration of independence made by the Fretilin movement during the brief gap between Portuguese rule and Indonesian occupation. Timor Leste again will celebrate its independence - this time from Indonesia - in May.

I spent the morning at the stadium, where political leaders awarded medals and President Xanana (Sha-nah-nah) Gusmao spoke. The national military and police stood in the field absolutely melting, while I pretended to have an invitation and took a seat among the ex pat diplomatic corps in the shade. (The Timorese leaders were in an adjacent section, and hoi poloi in a third).

I had come early and I only realized what a big event it was when outside the stadium looked like a white SUV dealership – the car of choice for the UN and other higher-ups.

Note: Almost all the pictures on this blog are high resolution. If you click on them they will open in a new window and you can see more detail!