Being cruised at Hotel Timor
Tia Martha rang us this morning to tell us that we couldn’t meet her in Bebonuk as planned as her house had been attacked and most of her family had fled. She was now living in the IDP camp opposite Hotel Timor. We were due to pay her the remaining fee for creating tais which we had ordered only two days before.
As we sat waiting inside the Hotel Timor, a Timorese man whom we both know from the DVD shop in Kolmera approached us. As we had not seen him since our return last month, Daniel had assumed that he had fled the country but it turns out that he is working as a translator for the Australian military. He asked if he could join us and sat down.
We asked where he had learnt English and he said he had taught himself. His home was similarly burnt down and his sister’s cars and motorbikes were also burnt, all because they are from the east. As with Tia Martha, they are likewise living at the IDP camp opposite the hotel. His parents still live in Los Palos and he has four sisters and three brothers. One brother is in fact the President of a new political party in Timor which intends to contest the national elections next year.
Daniel excused himself to go to the toilet, and within seconds of him leaving, our friend followed him. I was immediately suspicious as Daniel had told me that he believed our friend had been hitting (quite seriously) on him a number of times in the DVD shop, even asking him out 'for some fun' once. We both suspected he was gay but I never thought think he would try hitting on Daniel so blatantly in front of me! Momentarily I worried how I would warn Daniel, before he reappeared. Apparently Daniel had given him a friendly, but apologetic, smile in the toilets and gone on his way.
When our friend returned rather quickly from the toilet, Daniel went to call Tia Martha. She and her family were at the IDP camp across the road. It was the first time Daniel had seen one of the camps from the inside. Tia Martha said that although her house hadn’t been destroyed yet, she fully expected it to be so. She has another house in Becora, a suburb on the eastern outskirts of Dili which bore a disproportionate brunt of the violence in May and June.
In the meantime, I was left to make small conversation with the man who had tried to proposition my partner in the toilets while I sat outside! I wondered if now would be the right time to talk about the television series Queer as Folk as a hint that I knew what he was up to.
As we sat waiting inside the Hotel Timor, a Timorese man whom we both know from the DVD shop in Kolmera approached us. As we had not seen him since our return last month, Daniel had assumed that he had fled the country but it turns out that he is working as a translator for the Australian military. He asked if he could join us and sat down.
We asked where he had learnt English and he said he had taught himself. His home was similarly burnt down and his sister’s cars and motorbikes were also burnt, all because they are from the east. As with Tia Martha, they are likewise living at the IDP camp opposite the hotel. His parents still live in Los Palos and he has four sisters and three brothers. One brother is in fact the President of a new political party in Timor which intends to contest the national elections next year.
Daniel excused himself to go to the toilet, and within seconds of him leaving, our friend followed him. I was immediately suspicious as Daniel had told me that he believed our friend had been hitting (quite seriously) on him a number of times in the DVD shop, even asking him out 'for some fun' once. We both suspected he was gay but I never thought think he would try hitting on Daniel so blatantly in front of me! Momentarily I worried how I would warn Daniel, before he reappeared. Apparently Daniel had given him a friendly, but apologetic, smile in the toilets and gone on his way.
When our friend returned rather quickly from the toilet, Daniel went to call Tia Martha. She and her family were at the IDP camp across the road. It was the first time Daniel had seen one of the camps from the inside. Tia Martha said that although her house hadn’t been destroyed yet, she fully expected it to be so. She has another house in Becora, a suburb on the eastern outskirts of Dili which bore a disproportionate brunt of the violence in May and June.
In the meantime, I was left to make small conversation with the man who had tried to proposition my partner in the toilets while I sat outside! I wondered if now would be the right time to talk about the television series Queer as Folk as a hint that I knew what he was up to.
Category: Timor-Leste (East Timor)
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The season of anin-boot
June 2005
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Kelly Elizabeth