Alison and Albertina	Hasai Photo	Old Gentlman	Bottoms Up	Cheers
Down the Hatch	Foo Respetu	Careful Measure	Antony Bot and Albertina Dansa	Albertina Dansa
Alison and Antony Bot	Alison and Carlitu	Alison Dansa	Alison	Antony Bot and Ilda
Antony Bot and Friend	Ilda and Malouise	Labarik Dansa	Ilda and Malouise	Mark and Beatrice
Markus' first dance in Timor	Labarik Dansa	Shelly and Antony Kik	Shelly Dansa	Will Dancing

After the ceremony at the graveyard, people headed back to the traditional house and the temporary structures built for the party. Mark and Will had worked it out for us (the malae in Hera) to make a brief speech and present a gift to the counsel of elders. Will put his Tetun skills to good use, and presented the counsel with a gift they appreciated heartily: a bottle of southern comfort. During the course of the day, the immediate family had served numerous meals and invited the "malae" to each one--we had more than our fill of the well-prepared food! After everyone had enough to eat, the last of the slaughtered carao was served, the dancing commenced. It was my first experience in a village dance, and my colleagues were right: it felt just as if I was back in junior-high. Guys asked the girls to dance, danced stiffly for the duration of the song--both parties taking care to avoid eye contact and seldom breaking into a smile--and then quickly returned to their seats when the music finished. Awkwardness aside, it was a great time, and lots of fun to watch everyone we'd come to know over the last two months having a great time.

mj