Thursday 30 August 2007

Shattered Dreams

Well, I suppose it finally had to happen. After more than a year of driving around Dili and most of the rest of East Timor, often seeking out the trouble spots and deliberately driving into the middle of them I have joined the club. Last night, returning from a favourite thinking spot with two, yes two tourists my windscreen was hit by what has been described in some Security Tree announcements as a ‘High Velocity Projectile’; otherwise known as a rock.
Now I have been rocked before, about six times I think, but those times the HVP either hit the doors or didn’t smash a window. Last night the buggers finally got me. It was about 10.30ish and I was driving along the Comoro road heading east. Just as I got to a certain political party headquarters, between the new Comoro market and the Aussie embassy there was a loud bang and suddenly my windscreen looked a bit like a spider’s web.
Thankfully no-one was hurt, that would have been ironic eh? Just as tourists are starting to trickle back here, putting real dollars into real Timorese hands and not some glorified consultants back pocket a bloody tourist gets clobbered. I can hear the announcements on Strine TV news now: “In a holiday tragedy in strife torn East Timor……etc. etc.
Still, as I say, no-one was hurt, it could have been a lot worse. And at least Dili has an ample stockpile of Hi-Lux windows at the moment. And why should my car look any different than anyone else’s? I reckon people were starting to think I was a bit stuck-up because I didn’t have any sheets of clear plastic taped somewhere on the car. Now I can blend in.

…….
Oh, and check out the new posts on ETJ.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Pleased that you and your passengers were not hurt...I have been trying to call Dili from Oz this afternoon but have found it frustratingly impossible...
Hope all is not going Pear-shaped!
_Worried Observer