Last Sunday morning, there was a ceremony in front of the Palacio do Governo where (amongst other things) Timor’s leaders promised to be nice to each other and “bury the hatchet”.\u00a0 I watched for about an hour but it was pretty hot and a little slow going.<\/p>\n
It didn’t seem to stop the boys getting stuck in later in the day and one Timorese working as a UN interpreter was killed.\u00a0 At 9:30pm, rocks were thrown at the front doors and windows of the Hotel Timor.\u00a0 Guests were told to turn off lights and keep away from the windows at the front.<\/p>\n
One part of the ceremony involved the symbolic killing of a pig.\u00a0 Probably in deference to the large foreign presence, the actual kill was carried out away from the Palacio but body parts from the pig are presented to various leaders – eyes to those with a vision for the country etc. etc.\u00a0 At the same time, a “matan dook” (witch doctor) reads the pig entrails.\u00a0 I understand the reading was not good – maybe the pig ate a bad prawn or something.\u00a0 Apparently, this means more upheavel.<\/p>\n
Then there is the story of a pig giving birth to an elephant (ie a pig with a birth deformity on its head) which is also bad karma.\u00a0 And stories of the Virgin Mary being seen talking to children.\u00a0 Another bad sign.<\/p>\n
Apparently, this is all bad news.\u00a0 But to be honest, I think I need another gin to catch up with all this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last Sunday morning, there was a ceremony in front of the Palacio do Governo where (amongst other things) Timor’s leaders promised to be nice to each other and “bury the hatchet”.\u00a0 I watched for about an hour but it was … Continue reading