A Long time ago, in another island far far away

Barely a year ago but seems like much more. Not to summarize here what happened in the last year (season 2012-2013) but to cross check between highlights in Timor-Leste during last May and others during May 2013 in Malta.

May 2012

May 2013

Mother's Day in Ocean View

Emma and friend visiting Knigth's tower in Comino

QSI Dili Talent Show 2012

Eloisa, Emma & Nancy at Il-Prajjet Bay

May 2012 was a sweet-bitter month, and very stressful. Already talked about the stress of moving?. This one was a rush. In March/April 2012 Albertina received an offer to join the mission in Libya. And we decided to accept it. Good professional prospect for Albertina's career, new working opportunities, and another year contract with options to renew. Also facing the end of the UNMIT mission, my contracts finishing with Freebalance and the NAO, and the options in Asia looking dim. Our application for Australia immigration was short of 5 points and no where to find them (finally in March 2013 I received the final no from the immigration service, but long before we exhausted all the possibilities and assumed that it was not going to happen).

Looking back to almost 4 years in Timor-Leste it was a no brain decision: the experience was great, new friends, some close as a family, a strong mind and character building for Emma and Eloisa, professionally some of our best years and thousands of pictures that reflect a little bit of all that in our memories. But Timor-Leste living style was done. We needed to change.

A usual but last dinner at our house

Last Thai lunch in Dili for Albertina

Albertina's last day in Timor-Leste

Eloisa plays with Tina that same day

Birthdays Party!

People gets used to almost everything. Sometimes sadly (luckily not our situation). And when they are in the comfort zone it is difficult for them to see outside the box. And change is delayed, why are you going to risk your current situation?

Evaluating options to get out of the comfort zone

After many years in one place you realize which actions can help you to integrate with the local economy. Meaning that you are not economically dependent on something that it is external, like Albertina's contract with the UN. Being in the comfort zone that can be tempting. Quickly dismissed for the Timor-Leste option. Beautiful country but not clearly in our top ranking.

Fishermen in Ocean View - Atauro on the myst

But what would happen when the umbilical cord of the UNSMIL is gone? Back to home base? Just thinking on that caused extreme anguish. But if not other option was on the horizon you have to go back where you are legally entitle to live. That opened another option: Brazil. Why not? That was plan B. Or you can attempt to move to a place that getting a temporary resident permit is doable. And with some creative manoeuvres also you can work. Why not Bali? We love Bali, it was just a little bit outside of the comfort zone, with a Latin American mindset you can be creative with the Indonesian bureaucracy and the potentials economic options can be done from there.
So we sorted our options and we came up with the next list:

Bali! So start evaluating options
Brasil. Leave until clear first option as not doable
Argentina (change the sort order to letters, and Argentina will get Z, so caro reader you can get an idea of how depressing was considering that option for us)

This list is the final element after many nights of the irresponsible parents of this blog discussing the topic "our comfort zone is going Bye Bye, what's next?". Low voice conversations after putting to sleep the unaware 2 other happy and naive characters of this history. And the deliberations started just after jumping off the plane when arriving from the Amazing-Awesome-Wow vacations in New Zealand. Early January 2012!

Leaving New Zealand

From January 2012

The list was issued around end of February 2012. By March 2012 the plan Bali was in full speed ahead:

already contacted other expats with experience in Bali
thanks to that we contacted and gathered information on how to get a resident permit
the school: applied, filled up the registration papers and accepted!
places to live, what to rent (a must: a villa with swimming pool)
cost of life (this last bit finally pushed out of the ABC the plan Z)
already started to view ourselves in the expat life of Bali using our mind eye...
working out options for jobs after the UNSMIL contract was due (December 2012)

Done?

Surprises as in a soap opera

This blog would have continued if not because of the collapse of an infinite pool of probability waves, and pushing to probability = 1 (certainty) of another probability wave that neither have any idea of course. The writer of the script wanted us to start a new blog.

The surprise in Albertina's inbox is well known for the few (but loyal) followers of these adventures: Libya and North Africa was the next destination. Tripoli will be Albertina's next port.

So the clean and tidy list was literally used toilet paper, and discarded as that. We flushed all the other probability waves, and we warily let us swirled in the incoming maelstrom [Note of the Editor: sometimes we let the writer go dramatic]. Now there is a new task list, not any more a wish list!

where are we going to live? UNSMIL is not a family duty station
discard Libya, schools shut down, news report not promising
what about Tunice? Looks better, but French language and education system. The gender situation is going backwards and the religious fundamentalism winning positions. Are you sure? Look again in the map. We will not regret this lack of vision, but now (today June 2013) I cannot smile with irony with this now re interpretation as a sign
The R&R base apparently is a place called Malta. Ugh? Search in the Wiki. Under British protectorate until 1964, joined the EU in 2004, Google Map pictures look promising, only 45 minutes by air from Tripoli, flights every day. QSI Malta? Yes, there is a QSI there. Our darts spot on Malta.

We need to open a new blog: PiterbarginNorthAfrica? The leading work parent will have to endure 6 weeks tours to Libya, followed by 10 days in Malta. Those 6 weeks already looked dreadful. For both parents. And how the 2 little ones will cope with the situation? This is not the entry to dig again in those 10 days of March/April were all the implications of saying yes were evaluated. It was a psychological torture. But remember the comfort zone? Remember the Z no option? We didn't feel like that was going to be a good title. So we changed

Slingshot Again

Click here for the English version

We didn't have much time. Albertina was literally slingshoted into Libya from East-Timor. May 19th 2012 was her last day in the beloved island.

Ready! Check Out from UNMIT done!

Barely we had time to agree on the last list of things-to-do, find a way to stay in Malta legally (!), review the what clothes to pack and what to give away and have farewell events.

Albertina says Good Bye to Timor-Leste

Events around you have a logic on their own though. Timor-Leste was celebrating its first 10 years of incipient, vibrant, challenged but brave of Independence and Democracy, and a new electoral process that was a fantastic and welcomed blow to any intention of the UNMIT or ANZAC as INTERFET staying longer (clarification: no one wanted, the job was done and they were quite happy with the results - time to go)

Timor-Leste 10 years of Proud Independence

Kid's life, school, extra curricular and play dates, tick with an inexorable clock and their own logic. Barely you put some direction but not control upon their lives. A little bit of damage control (we think) was applied and basically daily activities were followed as normal.