How long has it been since you ate?

On Thursday Chris and I were invited to attend the USS Pelelui reception (the ship with the marines and sailors that I had been photographing all week). Since I would be taking pictures I got to once again fly out to the ship on a helicopter so I could be there to snap away at the VIP's as they arrived on their helicopters. Chris teased me because he came in on a boat with the majority of guests, and I joked with him that some hobbies just really pay off :) We got to mingle with lots of amazing soldiers and eat a TON of American food. I think the guy in front of the amazing meatballs must have thought I hadn't eaten in months. I think I ate at least a dozen and some where around five macadamia nut cookies. After I took some pictures of a group of Marines they joked that if they didn't receive a copy they would come back here and get me. I told them that would be fabulous, as long as they brought the food with them! The reception took place in the hanger bay so there were beautiful views of Dili and of the ocean

Chris hadn't taken an extensive tour so a chaplain was kind enough to take us all over the ship. It made me think maybe I should spend some time on the stair master because man were my legs killing me from the stairs! After our tour they made a last call for those who had come in on helicopters to head back. We had to book it up to the flight deck and were able to sneak Chris on so he got a ride!

The next day I flew out to a village at the opposite end of the island, but more on that later. I got back covered head to toe in mud (literally to toes, one of my shoes was lost to the mud) and had just enough time to rinse myself off before heading to the MTV Exit concert. Chris has been working with MTV and USAID setting up a concert to raise awareness about Human Trafficking. They do them all over the world (In Cambodia Placebo performed at Angkor Watt, how cool would THAT have been!) and the bands perform for free and the concert is free to locals. We got there at 5:30 so Chris could get everything in order and so I could take some pre performance pics.

When they say all access they really mean it. I got to be up on stage snapping away at the performers. Although eventually I thought my ear drums would burst and decided the three feet in front of the stage that was protected by Portuguese guards was close enough. They estimated that 15, 000 Timorese attended or 2% of the entire population ha! We had fun hanging out with friends and watching the moving video clips they showed in between performances.

But I was sooooo tired that after I got what I deemed enough pictures of the final (and main band, Superman is Dead) we headed home. I had to stay up and get the pics organized since the ship was leaving in the morning and Chris and Jan stayed up to watch the Brasil V Portugal game. I literally fell asleep at the computer and poor chris watched the entire game to have it end in a zero zero tie ughhh. Needless to say this weekend will involve LOTS of napping!