01-21-2015, 08:54 AM
You guys are the sweetest! Thanks so much for all your thoughts and here is what's happening to us.
3 days ago when the shit started it was all a bit frightening for sure. However, they do keep it in a few areas only and the closest place to us is actually the Presidential Palace, but it is still a good distance away, however, we do have a wonderful view across the city from our place, as we are 4 stories high. As I mentioned, that night the girls spend with our neighbours, the German boys who are Special Forces and are well protected. The Hooters, or Houti's as everybody else calls them, have made their "Death to Israel, Death to America" slogan famous, but that's about it. They have yet to harm anybody from either side and actually laugh about their slogan themselves.
When anybody looks at the map of Sana'a with north at the top, where you will find the airport and not far from that the US Embassy as well, our house is at the top bottom in the left corner of the city. Wonderfully safe area and the only problem we have that it constantly smells of Bolognaise as the Italian Embassy is right in front of us.
Today morning Jade had her last exams which was really funny as when I called Jelly that morning of the big fight, as the Dutch and German Embassies send me messages that morning, and I told her "Darling, don't move anywhere as they are fighting around the Palace!", she replied "But Jade has her exams."
I just went silent on the phone until she said "Ok, I guess then we stay home." Well, the whole city did that day.
For the Americans it's far from Bengazi. Why? We took over the Sheraton for that very reason. The former hotel, now called DTF, Diplomatic Transfer Facility, was a dump. I think I mentioned it before, but the day the General Manager Mazen was supposed to close the doors forever due to no business here, the Embassy called and told him they would like to move in. That was about 3 years ago. I was part of the original team to bring it up to standards. It was a hygienic and logistics nightmare as you take over a 30 year old property that nobody gave a fuck about for the last 4 years at least.
No elevator was working, the pool looked like it was starting new life forms, the whole place was stinking and the staff changing rooms and canteen looked and smelled like the Paris sewage system. The US pumped about 15 million US$ into the place, the Kuwaiti owners were and still are, laughing all the way to the bank, and ALL Americans who had large villas in town, including the DC, Deputy of the Ambassador, had to move into it. The Ambassador is the only one, apart from some Seal teams in town who are called Fast Marines, who lives in his original residence at the Embassy.
Now the Embassy itself also got attacked, stormed and ransacked one day by a huge mob. Pictures of it are on my other PC. I was utterly surprised that it could actually be done as the Embassy looked highly secure to me, but the people actually broke down the gates and went wild on the property.
40 armoured cars got smashed, each one with a value of about 200k, some idiots left their keys in them so the people used them like on a go cart track, ramming them into each other. All the US staff got locked down in the main building, the Ambassador got locked down in his residence. Now those buildings are heavy duty and no harm was, or could be, done to the people, who were all down in the cafeteria in the basement where I started my career with the Embassy. I myself, together with Jelly'n Jade, were at the Sheraton, which is a very short distance away and could see everything. And that's when I learned something new.
The Ambassador gave a strict order that no shot will be fired on the Embassy grounds. However, that didn't matter much anyway, as each Embassy only got 7 Marines anyway, and their job is not to protect people but to burn or destroy all papers, which was started after Iran. Once they did that, only then can they start protecting the folks. Now that is very different at the Sheraton.
As I mentioned, the hotel was a dump, and even the teams from the States that came to assess it were wondering why the fuck they are all made to live in something that's a bit of an upgrade from the Manila Slums. There was and still is the brand new Moevenpick. Gorgeous, new, all amenities, and so much less smelly. But it's right on top of a hill overlooking the city, like on top of a silver platter. The Sheraton however is a running distance away from the Embassy and it is 8 stories high, of which 6 are under a mountain. You walk from one side into the lobby and realise that you are actually on the 6th floor. It's a freaking castle!
And that's what they turned it into. On top of it you have a bunch, can't say how many, of Marines and an operation centre that looks like right out of the movies. When the people stormed the Embassy, the Ambassador said no shooting there, that was not the case at the Sheraton so. Their Doctor was also their sniper, cool guy, and I was next to him when he took down 2 poor guys who tried to come over the fence.
Just recently I saw an article in the news about Cody, a good friend who is one of the guys on the picture that has Jade flying thru the air at the pool there, who was a Marine and wanted to join the police force back home, and all of a sudden he is almost strangling a woman to death back home.
So no, I don't think anything like Bengazi can happen here really. They are VERY well protected here.
Now if they evacuate that could be funny as not only the US Embassy staff would have the right to be evacuated but every American citizen here as well. And that would make about 70.000!
They would have to send the Nimitz!
So today Jade finished her exams and has now 3 weeks holiday ahead. My fish man Hussein is bringing fresh fish and prawns to the house, Jelly got enough drinks, and all is well apart from me having to spend another week in this Bedouin Alcatraz out here in the desert as they, my client, don't want me to leave, which is truly pissing me off. They know that, so I shall take full advantage of it!
But otherwise it is quite calm in town now and listening to Super Hooters speech last night I'm just curious what's gonna happen next. They have very valued points, the current President is a joke, and the only problem is that the international community, US, UK and UN mainly, all have to come up and say "But he is the rightful leader, so we have to follow protocol!"
I say fuck that! The Hooters are right, the guy got fuck all done, actually just moved 20.000US$ of new furniture into his house recently, and perhaps one should let them do and maybe let them show if they can do better. Since they are in Sana'a there are no kidnappings or executions of foreigners, and the only think happening is them and Al Qaeda trying to fuck each other, which ain't such a bad thing really.
I'm just curious were Saleh and his son Ahmed are gonna pop up in all of this. They sure will, I just don't know how and when.
3 days ago when the shit started it was all a bit frightening for sure. However, they do keep it in a few areas only and the closest place to us is actually the Presidential Palace, but it is still a good distance away, however, we do have a wonderful view across the city from our place, as we are 4 stories high. As I mentioned, that night the girls spend with our neighbours, the German boys who are Special Forces and are well protected. The Hooters, or Houti's as everybody else calls them, have made their "Death to Israel, Death to America" slogan famous, but that's about it. They have yet to harm anybody from either side and actually laugh about their slogan themselves.
When anybody looks at the map of Sana'a with north at the top, where you will find the airport and not far from that the US Embassy as well, our house is at the top bottom in the left corner of the city. Wonderfully safe area and the only problem we have that it constantly smells of Bolognaise as the Italian Embassy is right in front of us.
Today morning Jade had her last exams which was really funny as when I called Jelly that morning of the big fight, as the Dutch and German Embassies send me messages that morning, and I told her "Darling, don't move anywhere as they are fighting around the Palace!", she replied "But Jade has her exams."
I just went silent on the phone until she said "Ok, I guess then we stay home." Well, the whole city did that day.
For the Americans it's far from Bengazi. Why? We took over the Sheraton for that very reason. The former hotel, now called DTF, Diplomatic Transfer Facility, was a dump. I think I mentioned it before, but the day the General Manager Mazen was supposed to close the doors forever due to no business here, the Embassy called and told him they would like to move in. That was about 3 years ago. I was part of the original team to bring it up to standards. It was a hygienic and logistics nightmare as you take over a 30 year old property that nobody gave a fuck about for the last 4 years at least.
No elevator was working, the pool looked like it was starting new life forms, the whole place was stinking and the staff changing rooms and canteen looked and smelled like the Paris sewage system. The US pumped about 15 million US$ into the place, the Kuwaiti owners were and still are, laughing all the way to the bank, and ALL Americans who had large villas in town, including the DC, Deputy of the Ambassador, had to move into it. The Ambassador is the only one, apart from some Seal teams in town who are called Fast Marines, who lives in his original residence at the Embassy.
Now the Embassy itself also got attacked, stormed and ransacked one day by a huge mob. Pictures of it are on my other PC. I was utterly surprised that it could actually be done as the Embassy looked highly secure to me, but the people actually broke down the gates and went wild on the property.
40 armoured cars got smashed, each one with a value of about 200k, some idiots left their keys in them so the people used them like on a go cart track, ramming them into each other. All the US staff got locked down in the main building, the Ambassador got locked down in his residence. Now those buildings are heavy duty and no harm was, or could be, done to the people, who were all down in the cafeteria in the basement where I started my career with the Embassy. I myself, together with Jelly'n Jade, were at the Sheraton, which is a very short distance away and could see everything. And that's when I learned something new.
The Ambassador gave a strict order that no shot will be fired on the Embassy grounds. However, that didn't matter much anyway, as each Embassy only got 7 Marines anyway, and their job is not to protect people but to burn or destroy all papers, which was started after Iran. Once they did that, only then can they start protecting the folks. Now that is very different at the Sheraton.
As I mentioned, the hotel was a dump, and even the teams from the States that came to assess it were wondering why the fuck they are all made to live in something that's a bit of an upgrade from the Manila Slums. There was and still is the brand new Moevenpick. Gorgeous, new, all amenities, and so much less smelly. But it's right on top of a hill overlooking the city, like on top of a silver platter. The Sheraton however is a running distance away from the Embassy and it is 8 stories high, of which 6 are under a mountain. You walk from one side into the lobby and realise that you are actually on the 6th floor. It's a freaking castle!
And that's what they turned it into. On top of it you have a bunch, can't say how many, of Marines and an operation centre that looks like right out of the movies. When the people stormed the Embassy, the Ambassador said no shooting there, that was not the case at the Sheraton so. Their Doctor was also their sniper, cool guy, and I was next to him when he took down 2 poor guys who tried to come over the fence.
Just recently I saw an article in the news about Cody, a good friend who is one of the guys on the picture that has Jade flying thru the air at the pool there, who was a Marine and wanted to join the police force back home, and all of a sudden he is almost strangling a woman to death back home.
So no, I don't think anything like Bengazi can happen here really. They are VERY well protected here.
Now if they evacuate that could be funny as not only the US Embassy staff would have the right to be evacuated but every American citizen here as well. And that would make about 70.000!
They would have to send the Nimitz!
So today Jade finished her exams and has now 3 weeks holiday ahead. My fish man Hussein is bringing fresh fish and prawns to the house, Jelly got enough drinks, and all is well apart from me having to spend another week in this Bedouin Alcatraz out here in the desert as they, my client, don't want me to leave, which is truly pissing me off. They know that, so I shall take full advantage of it!
But otherwise it is quite calm in town now and listening to Super Hooters speech last night I'm just curious what's gonna happen next. They have very valued points, the current President is a joke, and the only problem is that the international community, US, UK and UN mainly, all have to come up and say "But he is the rightful leader, so we have to follow protocol!"
I say fuck that! The Hooters are right, the guy got fuck all done, actually just moved 20.000US$ of new furniture into his house recently, and perhaps one should let them do and maybe let them show if they can do better. Since they are in Sana'a there are no kidnappings or executions of foreigners, and the only think happening is them and Al Qaeda trying to fuck each other, which ain't such a bad thing really.
I'm just curious were Saleh and his son Ahmed are gonna pop up in all of this. They sure will, I just don't know how and when.