The Adventures of Takako the Danger Librarian

25 October 2001:
"Men, Moving and Mosquitoes"

Last Friday, Hiro took me to see the apartment where he lives to 
see whether I liked it or not. The first time we went, the 
landlady wasn't in, and he didn't have his key, so we resolved 
to come back later in the afternoon.

He explained to me that the landlady had been giving him 
"discounts" (so to speak) because he was a long-term resident. 
When we went back, though, the rate the landlady quoted me was
not as low as he had been charged, and she still termed it a 
"discount." It wasn't much of a discount at all, but the location 
was good, and his room was in the rear building away from 
traffic, so I told her that I would like to move into his room 
after he leaves at the end of October. It was agreed, and we left
to go back to the office.

I had 'plans' for Friday night. Adonai, a Colombian from the 
Travel Section, had told me that the bar on the Amos was going 
to have Latin music playing, and that I might enjoy it. There 
isn't much else to do in Dili within walking distance, so I 
thought, sure, I'm game.

I had a leisurely dinner, then lounged about in my room until 
about 10:30 pm, when I headed upstairs to the bar, wearing 
a T-shirt, shorts, and my Bali flipflops. It was still early, 
but my friend was there, he introduced me to a few other friends,
and he tried teaching me a bit of salsa and merengue. The actual 
steps aren't difficult -- for me, the challenge lay in letting 
my partner lead. I kept bumping into him, as well as my next 
partner, and so I sat out for a while, watching some better-
skilled dancers stepping across the dance floor.

Eventually, though, the music got to me, and so I started to wade
through the growing crowd of dancers, just moving to the beat in 
my own free-form way. Around midnight I noticed a large group of
Brazilian peacekeepers (I found that out later) having a lot of 
fun being silly. One of them decided he was going to dance with 
me, and I played along.

He seemed nice enough, and so we danced together most of the 
evening, with breaks in between to drink (Coke for me, beer for 
him). When 2am rolled around, I finally said that I was tired 
and sleepy, and that I would be bidding him good night. He asked 
in a rather concerned way whether I would be fine on my way back 
to my room, and if I would see him again tomorrow night. I 
reassured him that I would be fine, and that I would probably be 
there again tomorrow, since there isn't much else to do around 
town. He kissed my hand and I walked away, down the stairs to my
room.

I thought that was the end of that. I was in fact quite tired, 
and the cigarette smoke that was around me incessantly on the 
dance floor had made it very uncomfortable for me. I got into my 
room and, after locking the door, started to take off my 
clothes... when there was a knock on my door.

As only Yasmeen knew my room number, and it was unlikely it was 
her, I thought it was someone mistaking my room for someone 
else's. Besides, it was past 2am! I just yelled back at the door 
saying so, but the knocking continued. After a few more 
exchanges, I was suddenly very suspicious....

And it turned out it was the boy that I had been dancing with. He 
had managed to follow me down to my floor, and must have seen me 
enter my room. I put my clothes back on and reluctantly opened 
the door, and it was indeed him. While I tried to be friendly, 
inside I was rolling my eyes -- and a bit frightened about 
dealing with a slightly drunk Brazilian soldier who was being 
very persistent about not being able to go to sleep without a 
little kiss.

I was finally able to get rid of him after about 20 minutes, 
having patiently explained to him that I had no desire to be 
unfaithful to my sweetheart back home, and that I would see him
the next evening. He told me a couple of sob stories, but if he 
thought I could be convinced by the "I need a place to crash 
because I missed my army's curfew" line, he had another thing 
coming.

I closed the door with a sigh, and started changing into my 
pajamas again. Just as I was doing my last minute puttering, he 
came knocking on the door again. He kept insisting I open the 
door, but I'd already made that mistake; I wouldn't repeat it.
I was also starting to get really angry. I wanted to sleep, damn 
it! When that didn't work, I threatened to call UNTAET's security
(to ask them to summon CIVPOL, the Cilivian Police), and he 
finally gave up.

(I didn't see him again. The Saturday night, I was so tired, I 
lay down to take a little nap in the early evening, thinking I 
would get up later to go up to the bar again. When I opened my 
eyes, it was 3am -- too late for even that. I was sorta bummed 
I didn't get to go dancing again, but a bit relieved as well, 
knowing I wouldn't have felt comfortable if the guy had been 
there, too.)

On Saturday, I went into work to do email-y things, and spoke 
at some length with Mireya, a District Legal Officer. Among the 
many things we talked about, she mentioned a hotel across from
the "Hello Mister" supermarket, run by a New Zealand couple. Even 
the daily rate she knew about were lower than that on the Amos, 
about which I was surprised (I thought it would be higher), and 
she said they give discounts for longer stays. There were rooms
in the main building, as well as rooms in the 'cabins,' a 
euphemistic term for shipping containers converted into living 
space. I resolved to look into it later that day.

I wandered over to the other end of the Kobe house, where a 
couple lawyers and the administrative assistant, all women, 
and a translator, a man, were chatting about dating in Dili. 
(Yes, it happens.) They were very sympathetic about my 'boy 
problem' the night before. It was an entertaining and 
educational afternoon.

A bit into suppertime, I walked over to this hotel, the Loro'Sae
Dili Hotel, popularly referred to as the Resende (that's actually
the name of the restaurant attached to it). The man at the front 
desk directed me to find Kaye and Alan outside on the patio,
and when I found them, Kaye took me back in and explained the 
various options I had about rates. She showed me a room in the 
main building (they are all basically identical), which were 
quite large and had two beds with roomy closet space. It also 
came with a small fridge and an electric kettle (BIG bonus 
points) and a TV with 5 satellite channels (seems like that's 
the maximum around here). The bathroom had hot water, heated 
by a small machine on the wall, not unlike what my grandparents 
had in their house in Tokyo.

The "cabins," though... they were tiny! Each container was split 
into two rooms, with a shared bathroom in between. The room 
barely fit the single bed, small fridge, and TV (no satellite).
It had the advantage of being way cheap, but it felt small, even
for me.

So, I decided to move to one of the rooms in the main building
on Monday the 22nd, when I hoped I could 'volunteer' a couple of 
co-workers into helping me move. I wanted a room on the north 
side, away from the street, but there was none available until 
the first full week of November. So, we decided that I would 
take one of the rooms on the south side until one opens up, 
then I would move a north side room. Kaye explained to me the 
rate discount system, and now I have a room there until at least 
the end of November at $34 per day, including the tax and daily 
laundry service. She even knocked off a few dollars for the rest 
of October, charging me for only a week's worth of laundry 
service although there were ten days left in the month.

I spent most of Sunday afternoon packing up my suitcases. I was 
done so early I had to go back into them to get things like my 
Discman and speakers to while the time away. I finally went to 
bed, resolving to wake up earlier than usual the next morning.

Monday morning, I got up and had breakfast, then came back to my 
room for last minute things. I checked out, then headed to work.
Xavier was in, so I asked him whether he would be able to help me
move after work, and he agreed. He even volunteered Hiro in 
absentia. When Hiro came into the office, I told him about my 
change of plans, and he was quite agreeable, both about the 
apartment I wasn't going to take, and to helping me move my 
things.

At lunch time, I went to the bank to collect the exact amount of 
money I was to pay the hotel (there was a discount for paying 
ahead), then to the hotel itself. The room wasn't ready quite 
yet, though, so I told the front desk man I would check in later.

I was busy with boxes and books in the afternoon, so much so that 
I didn't realize it was 5:30 until Xavier came into my office and
reminded me. He held up the keys to the UN car and said, "I have 
the car today!" which totally reminded me of the stereotypical 
American scene with a teenage boy getting access to his father's 
car for the evening. I went to the hotel, picked up the keys, 
then headed for the Amos, where Xavier said he and Hiro would be 
waiting.

I met up with them there, and we got our suitcases out of my 
room. I gave the girl at the reception a box of cookies, for 
the staff, then bid her good day. Xavier had taken one suitcase, 
and Hiro the other two -- and he wouldnn't let me take one of 
them. I meekly followed the two of them across the bridge onto 
shore, and over to the car, and loaded it up.

We drove around for a bit -- none of us were in a hurry -- before 
pulling up to the hotel. We got the suitcases out of the car, 
then through the lobby and corridor into the room. They thought 
the room was quite nice, especially for the rate offered.

Xavier gave both of us lifts back to the office, as I had left 
in a hurry with the intention of going back for some things. I 
hung about there until past 7pm, then walked back to my room.

Then I discovered one disadvantage in my new accomodations -- the 
much feared and (rightly) maligned mosquitoes. The hotel was 
pleasantly surrounded by trees and other vegetation, which meant 
that it was also unpleasantly likely that there were more 
mosquitoes around. I immediately took the mosquito coils that my
mother had packed for me, lighting one, then a few other anti-
mosquito items, including a room spray. I had to spray the bath-
room, too, as well as the room, around the doorway to the private 
patio as well as the door to the hallway. I went to sleep 
smelling the fumes. Ick.

I finally got the hang of the tactics the next day, spraying the 
room before I left in the morning, then again during lunch time, 
so that I wouldn't have to remain there while the spray worked 
its magic. Claudio also told me that I should keep the room cool, 
as mosquitoes didn't like cool temperatures, so I made sure the 
AC was on constantly. That last is still a bit of a challenge, 
as the power occasionally cuts off for a few minutes a few times 
a day. Normally, that wouldn't be bad, as things would simply be 
powered back up again when the generator was switched over. The 
problem was that the AC wouldn't come back on after the power 
went out; it had to be turned back on manually. I was also 
continuing my mosquito-repellent regimen, although I tried not 
to do too many reapplications for the sake of my skin.

Wednesday evening, I was invited to Yasmeen's place for dinner; 
we were celebrating her sister's birthday. Her sister was in 
Islamabad, but she was going to make dinner and get cake in her 
honour. I thought that was a fun idea, and of course I accepted.

After work on Wednesday, I stayed for a while, talking to Hiro 
about different things. All of a sudden, I had to get home and 
jump into the shower and get dressed for dinner so Tahir could 
come collect me at my hotel. I hurried home and got myself 
cleaned up, and decided that I was going to try out this other 
anti-mosquito thing that came in spray form. I sprayed it on my 
feet, legs, arms, then put some on my face by putting it on my 
hands first then spreading it around. T-shirt, jeans, and 
flipflops, and I was ready to go. I sprayed the room again for 
good measure, then waited in the hotel's lobby area for Tahir.

It was taking a long time for him to come, though, and it was 
quite hot. I could also see mosquitoes flying around, which I 
kept shooing away. After exchanging phone calls with Yasmeen, 
Tahir finally came and collected me.

Dinner was a series of delicious Pakistani dishes. I sat next to 
Muttaqi, a Pakistani army major and a Japanese language 
specialist. It was quite fun speaking to him in Japanese; it was 
obvious he had learned quite well, including the use of the 
politeness forms, which even native speakers have problems with 
occasionally. He wasn't compeltely fluent, but he had no problems 
communicating with me. Dinner ended with chocolate cake (yum!), 
and Muttaqi dropped me off at the hotel a little before 11pm.

I puttered around, getting ready for bed, with BBC World on. I 
sat on the bed, about to climb under the sheet, when I noticed 
them. On my feet.

There were two very specific itchy spots marked by bumps, one 
on each foot. There was a tiny red dot in the center of each 
one. They HAD to be bites of some kind.

My brain was at first blank with shock, then awash with panicked 
thoughts. Dengue? No, it couldn't have been during the daytime 
that I was bitten. Which meant it could be malaria mosquito 
bites. I couldn't fall asleep. I read and reread the parts on 
malaria and dengue and mosquitoes from the CDC and WHO as well as
Lonely Planet Guide for Indonesia. I reapplied more mosquito 
repellent, hoping that I wouldn't be bitten more, and glad that 
my body tolerates the anti-malarial tablets well enough. The 
prophylactic use of mefloquine (one 250 mg tablet once a week, 
FYI) was effective for fighting off the worst cases of malaria, 
though it would not be able to prevent it totally. I finally 
fell asleep around 2am with those thoughts of little comfort.

I went to the office the next morning, and waited for Yasmeen to 
arrive. She was not feeling well. However, she took me to the 
UNTAET clinic, and I got an appointment for 11am. When Tahir 
called later in the morning, he tried to reassure me that the 
chances of my contracting malaria were small: first, the mosquito 
had to be infected itself, and second, it had to be a female 
mosquito, as males do not carry the parasite.

After the twice-weekly staff meeting, I turned to Mireya, who had 
sat next to me, and told her of my mosquito dilemma as well. She 
basically told me the same thing as Tahir did, adding that if 
one spends enough time here, it was inevitable that one would be 
bitten eventually, and that I shouldn't worry too much, 
especially since I am able to take the anti-malarial tablets.

I went to see the doctor at the clinic anyway; I had a question 
about my Hepatits B booster shot in any event, as the weekend I 
was to get it was the weekend I was to spend in Darwin with 
Yasmeen and her friends. I went over a bit late, and I was told 
to wait. (Doctor's offices seem to be the same everywhere.)

I eventually saw a female doctor, who directed me to put on 
repellent every four hours on exposed areas -- I had only been 
reapplying after my twice daily showers. She also prescribed me 
some cream for the itching, with the customary warning that I 
should come in immediately if I should feel feverish -- a sign 
that could indicate malaria or dengue. At least I had noticed 
I'd been bitten, so have been warned of the potential.

She also gave me some multi-vitamins for my sniffling. My regular 
eating habits aren't exactly regular, which might be fine in the 
U.S. but probably not very good here, so I welcomed that 
prescription; I normally avoid taking vitamin pills, preferring 
to get my Vitamin C, for example, from drinking, orange juice. As 
for the HepB shot, she said it would be better for me to get it 
after I returned from Darwin; at least, there was one good news 
out of the whole visit.

I admit I'm still a bit uneasy. I hate the idea of getting sick, 
even though I knew it was a risk I was taking coming here, even 
though I know I would be MedEvac'ed to Darwin if things got bad, 
and that my parents would come to be with me if it got worse 
(probably before then). But neither of those insect-borne 
diseases are things that I ever dreamed of contracting. Now, I 
can only take things one day at a time, hoping that the luck 
that has stayed with me throughout my life would still stand by 
me now.

To be continued....