My ten favourite things about living in Dili, at the end of my first month here:

1. Friendly strangers calling hello as you walk down the street
2. Twelve hours of hot bright sunlight every day
3. Cooking dhal on the camptop stove at home
4. Learning to luku (dive)
5. Seeing skinny cats and fat cacti everywhere
6. Stovetop coffee
7. The funny accent malae use when we speak in English to a non-native-speaker
8. The Tetun word “haluha” (forget)
9. Buying pulsar for my phone and for the house’s electricity
10. The tempeh burger at Castaway

My ten least favourite things about living in Dili, at the end of my first month here:

1. Bad internet
2. Mosquitos
3. Missing the family Easter egg hunt (among other things)
4. The smell of DEET
5. Existential crises
6. Not being able to walk outside at night
7. Craving spinach, goji berries, blue cheese and dark chocolate
8. Warm beer
9. Worrying about weight gain
10. Awkward small-talk