Stories from the Tropics #5

Prior to starting my blog I used to send my missives via email to those interested in hearing what I had to say. This is the fifth such installment of the 7 I sent prior to starting the blog.

February 6/09

I can't believe the first month of my new life has already passed me by. After the first few days of self absorbed utter skepticism exposed to this new world where you say to yourself on numerous occasions: "what the hell did I get myself into" I have settled down and got myself into a routine. As a general statement about life: no matter where you happen to be living your life the routine is the same - get up, go to work, do whatever your into in the evening, and wait for the weekends. Unlike my brief five weeks in India in 2001 I am not missing home like I did then. While there is no question I miss family, friends and the comforts of home it is not the same type of longing for home I am experiencing here. Could it be I’m growing up? I attribute this to a few things, first, I am getting more comfortable with my job, expectations, and my role here. Secondly we have a really good MHI team in place here, which are both competent professionally, but have become good friends as well. Plus I have made some new expat friends in the community, primarily at my apartment complex, but also some others as well.

That said I am still looking forward to my first leave in less than two months. I am not travelling back the same way I came; rather I changed my itenary to include some minor travel. I leave for Bali, the self proclaimed spa capital of the world, on March 27 for 3 nights. This will be all about R&R consisting of beach time, reading, dining and of course numerous spa treatments. For the price I would pay at the Ten Spa at home for pedicure/manicure I can have a complete body work over including mud bath etc. On the 30th I leave for another 3 night stint in Hong Kong. This will be more of a “tourist with camera” type break where I will explore and see the sights - maybe even take the ferry to Maucau to throw the dice! Then it’s across the Pacific on April 2nd via Vancouver to Winnipeg. I will get the pleasure of flying Cathay Pacific, which my mates tell me is, like most Asian airlines, a step above the domestic carriers. As I pick up a day coming back I leave Hong Kong at 4:35pm and arrive in Winnipeg at 11:35pm the same day.

Anyway back to life in the tropics. The rains continue, and I’m starting to buy into this whole rainy season business. Thankfully it usually only rains during the night, and through the day we might get a few moments of sun, then clouds roll in and we might get a sprinkle or two. That said last Sunday, as luck may have it, was a miserable day, all day. Other than a trip to the market I spent the day holed up in my room.

Ironically I’m not sure if I will be home for Canada Day in July but as luck may have it I did get an invite to Australia Day celebrations on Jan. 26. Why were we invited? Good question which we can’t really figure out - but our best guess is that since there is no Canadian Embassy here in Dili we register at the Australian Embassy instead (vs. the US Embassy which also has a presence here). One the last remaining reciprocity agreements of the commonwealth I’m sure. In any case it was a fun event held at a local auditorium. After greeting the Ambassador and his wife at the door we proceed into the hall where they are serving various Australian snacks and of course a host bar with 3 types of Aussie beer and some Aussie wine. The timing was right as well as in the yard they had tug of war contests between the Aussies, Kiwi’s and the US Navy which happened to be in town. It was a good event with about 300 or so guests and my crew stayed to the end and had a few brews to battle the evening heat. As we smoozed during the evening we also worked this into an invitation to visit the US Navy’s Lassen, the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in a few days. All is not lost though – I have been told the Canada Day Celebrations in Jakarta (the closest Cdn Embassy from here) is a big event. I have sent a note to the Ambassador soliciting an invite so worst case scenario I can zip over to Jakarta for a taste of home.

As for the US Navy thankfully the purpose of the visit was PR and not military in nature and as a result they had tours for select people and ended off with a reception for dignitaries prior to continuing on its way. Where it was going we can’t say but we do know it is based out of Tokyo.

The tour was very neat on a number of fronts – one, we dispatched from the dilapidated harbour and took a small boat about 4kms out in the harbour to get to the ship. Very impressive – I was commissioned around 2000 and cost $800 million (about the same as the total Timor Leste annual budget!). Some asked if they carried nuclear missiles but the response was “we don’t comment one way or the other in terms of nuclear capability ma’am” and that was the end of it. Overall it was very cool to actual see an actual working vessel vs. the historical ones you might be able to tour in various cities. That said being a flatlander, very far from the sea, I realized several things about life on the seas: I would last for less than a week before dying to get off or prior to taking my own life. There is very little space and even less personnel space – only the 2 highest ranking officers have private quarters, the other officer’s share 2 – 4/room and the enlisted help sleep in one of 5 or 6 bunk areas – with common shower/bathroom facilities. There is a crew of approximately 300 on board. No thanks. I won't start of even start on how much I abhor military hierarchy.

Otherwise things were fairly quiet although we do have a visitor come see us – our project manager from MHI came out for one of his thrice annual visits to see how we are making out. Nice to have the new blood in town but Mark likes to party a little more than we are used to here and we are all relieved that he is here for only one weekend. I was there with Don, Dan and Alisa to meet Mark and Rob and once they cleared customs and get into the terminal amidst security and UN police (who look enviously at the bottle) Alisa pulls out of her purse a bottle of Jose Cuervo Tequila with shot glasses and we all take a burst or two. Only in Dili. In many respects it is the wild west here.