Kefa is near the border between East and West Timor near the Oecussi enclave. The sidewalk is covered with red splotches where the locals arenspitting out betel nut all day long.
They chew a nut, a stalk and some lime and it creates a chemical reaction that makes their mouths and teeth bright red. It is a huge social thing in the mountains of Timor and in Papua. It makes them salivate constantly and they spit out the red mix all day long.
There is a splattering of red by the bus stations, markets, and anywhere else there might be a group of people hanging around.
It is a customary to offer betel nut to guests and to give some to your hosts as well. The 3 items are sold all over the place and it’s usually packaged wrapped up in a piece of paper. In the outback it is a good to give some as a gift when greeting the people.
They are enthusiastic when a westerner chews it, so occasionally, I will partake to break the ice but it doesn’t do anything for me.
If out and about I usually fill up a small backpack with oranges and nescafe and give them as gifts instead.
I was hungry and checking out the warungs along the road and noticed some fresh stew. It didn’t look too bad so I had to step over a dog there for a closer look. He was chewing away at some scrap.
It was one of those RW warungs and it looked like that the dog was chewing on a fish but then there were some white things sticking out that looked like canine teeth. That dog was chewing on the jawbone of another dog.
The RW warungs sell dog meat.
