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

1. Leaning in to things being difficult
2. Friends in a circle and birthday curry dinner
3. Condom crafts
4. My first Timorese party
5. New toasties and old faces as beachside brunch
6. Stories that take a bottle and a half of red wine at the Italian place in Farol
7. Phonebanking for marriage equality and our first solo Timor Comms presentation
8. Missing Dili before I’ve even left
9. A trip to Jaco Island
10. People who feel like home

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

1. The sixth-month slump
2. Jealousy (still)
3. Anxiety
4. The heat, the heat!
5. Boredom and apathy in work
6. Tetun troubles
7. Making plans but not performing
8. Self-criticism
9. A last-minute travel ban
10. Jealousy (a new type)