Dilly Nilly
Dili is other-worldly. It sits lined by sea, sheltered by sky and untouched by corrupt tourists. Our plane scooped in off the Banda Sea, leaving the blue-green ringed islands behind in R's phone, landed in the single-runway airport and pulled a U-turn to park. The lazy heat enveloped our excitement and deadened the air. An especially tall, blonde lady stooped as she entered the doorway to the visa office and we gave each other knowing nudges, trying not to stare. A young Japanese girl waved her teddy bear at the immigration officer and she smiled back. A Chinese-Australian couple beat down the tranquil air with their chewed up words in elevated voices. Their conversation was less for them, more for our edification.
I hate their accent.
It's not pretty.
Two of the three immigration officers left their post to personally usher lost visitors into the visa office. The lines observed patiently and pulsed in the wait. The tall lady bent her way back out of the room. The officers returned to their booths. The Chinese-Australian couple continued snubbing the hushed hold.
The sole Arrivals duty-free shop, freed of its duty between the five scheduled inbound flights a day, pulled down its shutters before the last of the travelers crossed the line splitting questionable and sovereign territory. Bags were claimed, security checks cleared and taxi fares bargained. A driver in possession of a rattling taxi with a trunk lined with rows of paper air fresheners laid claim to our luggage. As we climbed into the yellow car, somewhere in the background one of his friends hooted with laughter as the statuesque blonde lady towering over the taxi folded herself into his vibrating backseat.
The colour of Dili is blue. The blue sea shades itself till it blends into the brilliant sky that colours upwards from the bend in the horizon, asserting a brightness that burns itself onto retinas. Walls are painted blue, school uniforms sport blue bottoms, gates are blue when they aren’t pink, Microlets are blue when they aren’t green, red, pink, purple, or plastered in Selena Gomez posters.
