Fotos

East-Timor is located geographically in Oceania, although it is sometimes assigned to Asia instead. Consists of the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecussi-Ambeno, an exclave of East Timor situated on the northwestern side of the island, surrounded by West Timor.

Since East-Timor became independent, no serious photographic work has been done. At least not an in-depth work, because simply it's not easy. Thus, this image and some more I'll post here are, in a way, unique and are the result of many hours and effort to mingle. Some moments where registered only because, at some point, I started to be seen as one of them and not a mere foreigner.


This young lady was over a rock, watching who had just entered her remote village in the mountains. After this moment of pure happiness, where she recognized that friendly people was arriving, she said loudly "malae, malae!!", which means "foreigner, foreigner"... and quickly lots of children and their parents appeared to welcome us. They know that many "crazy" teachers (like me and my friends that worked at the capital's university) sometimes cruise the mountains and that then spend some time playing and sharing stories (in a mixture of portuguese, tetum and some bahasa indonesia). It can be their happiest moment of the whole week or month.

I miss them so much.

Ah, "Fetu" means "woman/girl".

PS: I appologise for the 500px larger side and watermark in the frame, but some unauthorized use has happened before in other websites (including mine)