Down and Out in Manatuto

My time in Manatuto

I had a nearly disastrous start to my trip here, which threatened to seriously derail my entire fieldwork trip to Timor-Leste. Catching a cab to the Lecidere bus terminal wasn’t a problem. What happened next, though, was really unsettling and upsetting. There were about five buses stationed around the bus terminal and what I didn’t realise at the time, having never taken public transport here before, was that the operators of the buses vigorously compete for customers. There’s no real line. As such, people from about three different buses fought over me.

I thought that there was a system of sorts (silly me), and that when someone offered to take my backpack to the bus to Manatuto, I thought everything would be organised. WRONG. This guy ran off with my backpack (containing my laptop, camera, e-reader, digital recorder and all the charging equipment, amongst other things) and disappeared into one of the buses. I grabbed my larger bag, which had clothes and other bits and pieces, and began to chase him. When I arrived at the bus at the head of the line, I frantically looked around for this guy and my backpack. Couldn’t see the guy, or my bag. I started to freak out. Then someone else grabbed my larger bag and ran off into one of the buses. Someone else from another bus attempted to take it from him – not to give it to me – but in order to take it to a different bus. Retrieving that bag took a lot of effort and strength to extract it from these guys. Then I had the task of searching for my backpack.

I was beginning to freak out. I had no idea where it was. If I lost it, I would be up shit creek without a paddle. I started using Indonesian, demanding to have my bag, and got angry. I was scared that it was hidden away somewhere, maybe someone was going through it, maybe it was in a bus that was about to leave. I didn’t know. Fortunately, it eventually appeared in a bus and someone picked it up for me. Phew. # Relief!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I retreated to the shade near one of the stalls and called my assistant to check he was on his way. There was no shortage of buses and  began to relax. I happened to run into a Timorese guy who spoke some English. We talked a little; he had a friend from Melbourne visiting and was keen to show me photos of her. He got excited when I told him I was staying in Manatuto for a few days. We exchanged numbers and agreed we could meet up in Manatuto.

The bus ride was okay. I had breakfast, coffee beforehand, and I had water with me. I was facing the front, with just enough leg space that I didn’t get cramps. It’s roughly a two hour trip. The suspension was okay but the winding road eventually got to me and I got a little sick in my stomach. A can of sprite helped settle my stomach.Amanu

Oh my, Manatuto is noticeably hotter than Dili. It really is, at least for me. The next bit of good news was that the home stay was a very nice little place with AC! Had my own bathroom and large bed to myself. They also organise all our meals. Apparently there is very little food options here during the day. I’ve spotted one Warung and one restaurant here so far.

I took a walk around in the evening, the weather is very amenable after 5pm. Took a walk to the ocean and had a wander around. Photos will appear soon.

That was Sunday.

Monday, we started work. We met with my friend from the bus, Amanu, and I did my first interview. We arranged another interview with someone he knew here, which didn’t actually happen as it turns out. Amanu was going to bring him in the afternoon for the interview, but he retuned alone. His friend wasn’t actually here!

Oh well, this happens. And in fieldwork, this is a regular occurrence. I should expect that there are no guarantees about meeting people. Regardless of how hard you work to organise meetings with people, you must accept that sometimes things don’t work out as planned. People disappear to Dili or other places at very short notice. Or they are busy. Or they are coming back later… etc…

Another option was to talk to a person who lived nearby the home stay. A guy who was involved in a political party, which I will not name here. My assistant went over and had a chat with this guy to see if he would be interested. Now, the response from this guy really surprised me, though the English translation I got of what he said isn’t perfect, but the gist of it surprised me. The gist of his response was that he was too good and important to speak to us. Our status and researchers and students did not impress him. He said we knew nothing about political parties, that we had no power. He didn’t have anything to say to us. When I heard this, I was shocked. This struck me as arrogant and very lame. The guys sounds like a wanker, I don’t want to interview people like this. That was my immediate reaction. Now, I don’t care, whatever. Maybe some of it got lost in translation but I was not impressed at all.

I was feeling rather down and out at that point. Not a lot was working out for me here. I had no contacts here and I must admit coming through Manatuto was an exploratory mission. Very hit and miss, maybe we would meet people here, maybe not. In my wanderings I had not seen any visible signs of political offices here and I began to wonder about what party structures existed here at all. We found the office of the national election commission (CNE) here and a colleague of mine knew that guy who worked there. Good news was that he had just arrived from Dili and he has so far been amazingly helpful. Really goes to show the importance of personal contacts here. Thus far, we have a list of the political parties in Manatuto and the relevant contacts for each of them. We’ve called the people we would like to talk to, and paid a visit to the house of one of the district coordinators here. There are no official office for the parties here, but rather, the district coordinators run the affairs of the parties through their homes. Identifying these houses is difficult, there are not necessarily any identifying markers on the houses but the guy from the CNE had helped us find them.

The plan for the rest of our time here is: pay a visit to the district coordinator of CNRT in the afternoon after he finishes work. The coordinartor of FRETILIN was not at his house but we chatted to someone there and he said he would call us if he returned. Better than nothing. We have a plan to visit the CNE office tomorrow afternoon as well to meet someone who is supposed to arrive there in the afternoon. He will be able to supply us with the manuals of the political parties in Manatuto. Hopefully this occurs and will give me something really tangible to analyse.

I also think a second trip will be necessary. Now we have contact details and meet a few people, a second trip may yield more results. Time will tell if I feel if it is necessary, but I’m open to the idea. I’ll have time in December to come back for a few days perhaps. I also plan to make another trip to Baucau, probably at the same time. Los Palos, I’m not sure. It does involve more time travelling, and I’m not sure how expensive it will be in terms of accommodation. Decisions  like this will be made in the fullness of time, in consideration of how my other interview go, particularly in the other districts I plan to visit, Ermera and Liquica.

Okay, that’s it for the moment. Hope you’re all well. Ate logo.