a hard rains a'gonna fall...

while i'm on the topic, i might as wll continue talikng about the weather.

the word from the un is that the early onset of the rains is due to the la nina-phenomenon, which promises to bring more and heavier rainfall this season.

like said, this is not exactly welcome news for the idps, especially since the governmentr and aid agencies are, for a number of reasons, behind schedule with getting new tents to replace the unuseable ones. so as soon as the rain started yesterday, stuff started happening. in the metinaro camp, the idps blocked the country's main road from dili to baucau and started stoning vehicles. the un responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and by arresting the camp manager. meanwhile, at the airport idp camp there was a shooting incident with one man wounded. as the un likes to put it, "the situation remains calm but tense." not that you could really tell that there was any tension if you stay in the better parts of town. all quiet on the beachfront, so to say...