Trip to Ermera

  This last Sunday we went on a trip. The jungle was so beautiful that I decided I would be perfectly happy to live as a full time missionary in a bamboo hut far in the depths of a tropical jungle ...well, maybe. I still don't have anything close to a full idea of what that would actually mean, but I'm getting closer. :) The forest certainly was lovely though. Even Avó said she wanted to buy property in the countryside of Timor, and that's a huge statement coming from her!

The purpose of our trip was to go to a market in the district capital of Ermera. Some of our friends who have gone there have come back with rice sacks full of avocados that they purchased for only 50 cents...so we were hoping to bring back a whole bunch of fresh fruits and veggies.

A little more than halfway to Ermera we came across a little surprise.

There were many cars backed up, so we parked and got out to see what was going on...

We climbed up on these logs to get a better look.

Here's a picture of the Szamko family on the logs. My student, Miguel, is the kid in the blue shirt who is trying to run away from my camera.

The little surprise we had was actually one that we expected: a really muddy road. 

What we weren't expecting was this road block.

This microlet, and several others like it, tried to make it through the mud...

 ...and although you may find this hard to believe, they actually did make it through (with lots of pulling and pushing. The one in this picture was almost carried through)! 

We even drove through the mud and made it all the way to Ermera. 

However, the delay caused by the muddy road and stuck microlets made us late for the market, and all that was left when we got there was bread and garlic. 

(Us at the empty market...you can see a bit of bread in bins in the background)

 We still had fun though, and it was very nice to get out of Dili and see some new places.

(The local cathedral)

See! Just look at William's face! We had loads of fun! ;)