Blood lust

Mestra Maria* (aka our Tetun teacher) is one of the most gentle and softly spoken people in East Timor.

It’s true!

In a recent class, we were learning about the word “to’o” (toh-oh). It means “until”. Maria told us that in Timor, when cooking, there is a saying: “Tein to’o tasak” - “cook until it’s cooked” (Good advice, especially when salmonella lurks).

We got the point, but just to drive the message home, she added, with enthusiastic actions to match, “Kill people until dead”, followed by an evil little chuckle.

She wrote the sentence on the board.

OK, yes, we understand.

And then, another example, again with actions, just in case we didn’t get it the first time: “Stab the pig until it dies.”

Another evil laugh as she wrote the sentence on the board.

And then: “Hit the cow until killed” (this one is really disturbing).

They do say it’s the quiet ones, don’t they?

*Name has been changed.