Trip to Laclubar (Updated)

I spent the weekend in the foho - what translates to mountains but really means boondocks.

I drove up to Laclubar with my friend Sally where we visited Judith, who is doing research towards her PhD in anthropology. Judith is a student of of Timor Leste's culture, language and history; since spending time with her I have been making resolutions to improve my Tetun, read more history, and work diligently to learn this place.

The afternoon we arrived we went for a walk around Laclubar. Everyone knows Judith, so were thrice invited to sit in people's home, drink coffee, eat snacks and talk a little. Much of the conversation involved asking where people were - Is your wife's sister in Dili? Has the man who lives in the yellow house gone to Manatutu yet? Laclubar lacks electricity, and at night, when two young men came to return Judith's cellphone, we all drank coffee, ate snacks and talked by candlelight.

I liked being up high and feeling the mountain air, and that night I felt cold for the first time since coming here.

After spending breakfast we walked to the town of Funar, which is where Judith lives. It was the market day and people with tiny rugged horses and lots of packages were winding their way up the steep paths back to their villages - some more than nine hours away.

We left around 2 pm, and as a favor, gave an acquaintance of Judith's a ride to Dili. Laclubar is a center for palm wine production, and the guy put two big containers of the spirit in the back of the SUV. The road is terrible, and after four hours of bumping and jostling, by the time we got back to the big city, the whole car smelled as if we had gone on a weekend bender. Back in Dili, I fumigated the car with bathroom spray.

The next morning I told Elsty (the office manager) that it might smell "not so good" and we went together, opened the car, and sniffed around. She agreed it smelled "not so good." A little embarrassing.

Regardless of the palm wine issue, the most significant thing about the ride back was that it rained. Ten minutes of hard rain - now the second time I have seen rain in three months. The rainy season is almost a month late and in the foho people are worried about their corn; they must have been pleased. I can only hope that dusty Dili gets the same relief soon.

Photos: On the way to Laclubar.