Friday, February 12, 2010

Paulo's Wedding Day

This photo was snapped at the home of Paulo Amaral's uncle. Today was Paulo's wedding day and his uncle hosted the reception.
The three-tier cake was the centerpiece of the table. Tarps shielded the people and the food from the 90+ degree heat.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Uzbek Government Displays Soviet Mentality

Interesting story out of Uzbekistan -- click on the headline above.

Cats Up the Ladder

Mankala in the Dirt

I love playing Mankala and it looks like these kids enjoy it as much as I do! I had stopped at a fruit stand between the towns of Liquisa and Dili and spotted these youngsters playing Mankala in a palm-roof hut next to their stand.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Long Time, No Write

It's been some time since I blogged here. The problem has been time - or the lack of it. I've been watching and reading the weather stories back in the eastern United States -- and dreaming of snow here -- in Dili! There's lot of precipitation here -- heavy, heavy rain -- so loud on the roof that it's almost deafening. Then, no sooner has it started -- the rain is over -- the humidity returns along with the mosquitoes.

One year ago, the mosquitoes drove me nuts and I fought the good fight -- smacking them out of the air and wearing lots of bug spray.

These days, I've called a truce. Smack downs are rare. They still nab me every now and then, but not so much any more. They usually go for my ankles. I usually don't wear the bug spray -- the chemical smell is just too much.

Dark clouds are moving slowly across the sky just now -- covering the blue -- in the next three or four hours -- there's likely to be rain on the roof -- followed by the humidity and mosquitoes.

A few inches of snow would feel good just about now.