I have been in Timor-Leste for just over two weeks now and have loved every second of it. I can’t determine if the past two weeks have felt like an eternity or a blink of an eye. When it comes to my ability to communicate, I feel like a child who is just learning to speak with every other word being understood. In terms of integrating into my host family (hereinafter called my family) I feel like I am already a sibling.

My first week was spent at a training site where I learned basic language and cultural norms. After leaving the training site I was transported to Railaco, a village just south of the nation’s capital Dili. I have lived here for the past week and will remain in Railaco for 7 more weeks as I receive technical, language, cultural, medical, safety and security training. I have four hours of technical and 4 hours of language training almost every day. While in Railaco I am living with a multi-generational family. I am so thankful for my family as they have shown me only kindness and patients as I integrate into their community.

My family and I are constantly laughing as I am learning to navigate cultural norms and respond to questions in unexpected ways. One instance that sticks in my mind was when my mother asked what my favorite food and drink was. Those of you who know what my diet was back home won’t be surprised by my response of ice-cream and chocolate milk. Everyday since she has brought up that conversation with a big smile on her face and to my surprise the very next day, my younger brother walked up to me with a cup of hot chocolate (which I didn’t know I could get in Timor-Leste). Over the past week I have become my family’s Alaskan child who likes ice cream and chocolate milk.

I have a hard time responding when asked what Timor-Leste is like by friends and family. I have only been here two weeks and have only been to the capital and the village of Railaco. What I have experienced though is a strong community where your neighbors are also your ‘family’. The culture, people, language, and food are all amazing. To the surprise of my family back home I actually ate my first salad here (cheers to eating healthier than I do back home).

In other news we also had a heat wave yesterday, so I broke down and decided to shave my head. I also had the privilege of going to two parties (festas) while here. The first festa was for my sister who got engaged and the second was for my aunt who got engaged. At my aunts festa my mom taught me how to dance and then I danced with my aunt.

I am sorry I couldn’t send any pictures with this blog post my internet was slow tonight. I will be posting pictures on Facebook and Instagram over the next few days as I get internet.

Congrats if you made it all the way down to the end of this newsletter. I am hoping to send newsletter updates every two weeks though I might miss some here or there. Thank you for your interest in my experiences in Timor-Leste but more importantly in the people and future of this beautiful country.

Sincerely,

Noah Tsigonis