01-23-2015, 01:10 AM
Don't you worry Aussie, you just go on girl and I will sure be right behind you with my pom pom's and keep cheering you on no matter what!
This came actually as a surprise to me too. But then thinking about it, it did make sense. During the first bombings in 2011, when basically the whole shit started to happen, we had every 2 weeks security meetings at our restaurant here with some of the diplomatic and security staff of town.
My neighbour and dear friend that time was Elisabeth, the second in charge of the US Embassy. The Japanese Ambassador told her that he is calling all his citizens on a daily basis to check if they are ok, and if they are doing the same, to which she smiled and said "Well, you have about 50 Japanese in the country at this moment, if we would do the same, we would have to call about 70.000."
Remember those shops I mentioned? In earlier times there was a huge amount of Yemeni's leaving the country. Plenty went to the UK and their shipyards, then you had a large amount of the security forces being trained in East Germany, Saudi Arabia of course, and then you had a large amount going to the States and opening shops there. We have the cities of Ibb and Taiz here, which are famous for being build by American money as they call it. Since about 30 years.
Everything was going well really, as you had this huge diaspora, kind of like Somalia, outside the country, and they had jobs and send money back home. And then it got fucked up.
The former President Saleh went and clapped the shoulders of your good ole buddy Saddam. When he invaded Kuwait. And all shit broke loose!
In a matter of days all Yemeni's had to pack their bags in Saudi and return back home. Visa restrictions all across the globe were put into place, and life as they new it yesterday changed dramatically as about 2 million working people found themselves back in their home country without any jobs and nowhere to go. Except those that had by then already American or European citizenships.
This was one of the factors that took this country deeply down as I experienced it myself.
As I was trying to motivate the guys here, some of them working since 10 years in the same position of peeling potatoes, telling them that thru the gain of knowledge and some ambition, working in a kitchen took me to some wonderful places across the planet and making some excellent money at a young age, they looked at me and said "But where do you think we can go?!"
I couldn't argue with that. Sadly so.
This place got 24 million seriously nice folks and one could actually do the same like the Philippines did, taking them into the service industry all across the globe. The hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, and supermarkets all over, including or especially Dubai and the whole UAE, Oman, Saudi, Qatar and Bharain, are filled with Philippino's. You could use the young people from Yemen to do the same. But you can't!
They are not even allowed anymore in the UAE. The few I met in Oman absolutely love it there. Obviously.
Now the American bunch on the other hand is somewhat of an elite here. They all seem to have large amounts of cash, build massive villas here and speak with wonderfully colourful American accents. The only problem I have with them is their kids as they drive around in their flashy cars and just behave atrociously in a way that says "Hey, I'm back home in my cowboy country, wazzup dude!" throwing garbage around, showing off their Glocks and just acting like mentally disturbed John Waynes. Or Little Waynes.
(01-21-2015, 10:42 AM)HairOfTheDog Wrote: But, I'm curious as to where your figure of 70,000 Americans living in Yemen came from?
This came actually as a surprise to me too. But then thinking about it, it did make sense. During the first bombings in 2011, when basically the whole shit started to happen, we had every 2 weeks security meetings at our restaurant here with some of the diplomatic and security staff of town.
My neighbour and dear friend that time was Elisabeth, the second in charge of the US Embassy. The Japanese Ambassador told her that he is calling all his citizens on a daily basis to check if they are ok, and if they are doing the same, to which she smiled and said "Well, you have about 50 Japanese in the country at this moment, if we would do the same, we would have to call about 70.000."
Remember those shops I mentioned? In earlier times there was a huge amount of Yemeni's leaving the country. Plenty went to the UK and their shipyards, then you had a large amount of the security forces being trained in East Germany, Saudi Arabia of course, and then you had a large amount going to the States and opening shops there. We have the cities of Ibb and Taiz here, which are famous for being build by American money as they call it. Since about 30 years.
Everything was going well really, as you had this huge diaspora, kind of like Somalia, outside the country, and they had jobs and send money back home. And then it got fucked up.
The former President Saleh went and clapped the shoulders of your good ole buddy Saddam. When he invaded Kuwait. And all shit broke loose!
In a matter of days all Yemeni's had to pack their bags in Saudi and return back home. Visa restrictions all across the globe were put into place, and life as they new it yesterday changed dramatically as about 2 million working people found themselves back in their home country without any jobs and nowhere to go. Except those that had by then already American or European citizenships.
This was one of the factors that took this country deeply down as I experienced it myself.
As I was trying to motivate the guys here, some of them working since 10 years in the same position of peeling potatoes, telling them that thru the gain of knowledge and some ambition, working in a kitchen took me to some wonderful places across the planet and making some excellent money at a young age, they looked at me and said "But where do you think we can go?!"
I couldn't argue with that. Sadly so.
This place got 24 million seriously nice folks and one could actually do the same like the Philippines did, taking them into the service industry all across the globe. The hotels, restaurants, cruise ships, and supermarkets all over, including or especially Dubai and the whole UAE, Oman, Saudi, Qatar and Bharain, are filled with Philippino's. You could use the young people from Yemen to do the same. But you can't!
They are not even allowed anymore in the UAE. The few I met in Oman absolutely love it there. Obviously.
Now the American bunch on the other hand is somewhat of an elite here. They all seem to have large amounts of cash, build massive villas here and speak with wonderfully colourful American accents. The only problem I have with them is their kids as they drive around in their flashy cars and just behave atrociously in a way that says "Hey, I'm back home in my cowboy country, wazzup dude!" throwing garbage around, showing off their Glocks and just acting like mentally disturbed John Waynes. Or Little Waynes.