Page 7 - MIN JUS

A14 LOCAL
Tuesday 29 November 2016

An Aruban in Libya “prepared sheep in a spe- the famous San Michele
Continued on page 14 cial Serbian manner”. This church. Back at sea level,
reminded me of the way we took a relaxing trip on a
After they waited a long my Muslim employees, un- row boat to Grotto Azzurra
time in the “departure hall” beknownst to anyone else, whose splendorous blue
(some of the kids thought used to drink spiked Pepsi colors really lived up to its
it was a snack bar) of at the happy hours at my name.
the base, the evacuees house and how some That night my wife and I
climbed aboard a C-130 would come to my office saw a magnificent produc-
Hercules around midnight to furtively smoke during tion of the opera Gisele at
not knowing their final desti- Ramadan. I suppose that the Teatro di San Marco.
nation. We knew that some by pretending, Mr. Luthai As expected, the Italians
families had gone to Spain, and the others did not suf- dressed to the hilt at the
others to Italy and Greece. fer the pangs of guilt of performance, but this was
The next morning my wife having broken the Sharia the beginning of the “hot
called to let me know that laws. pants” craze and I saw a
they were in Naples where After my family had been in woman enter the Opera
Esso Italia had put them Naples about three weeks I theater wearing an impec-
up in a first class hotel with This six pack became a popular item among expats during the got permission to visit them. cable formal white tuxedo
meals included and that Six Days’ War of 1967. What a pleasant surprise it with white “hotpants” that
she had also received was to see how my “refu- showed much of her but-
several hundred dollars to ligious devotion, dropped friends as never before. gee” family was “surviv- tocks. Two days later I re-
cover local transport and in and shocked me and As none were evacuated, ing”. My children wanted turned to Libya, knowing
small expensesBack in my guests offering me a their lives continued nor- me to see all the things now that I did not have to
Tripoli, we who had stayed six-pack of cold Schlitz. mally and I was fortunate they had seen and insisted worry about my refugee
behind had to change our Apparently, Jim had de- to receive many invita- that I make the sightseeing family in Naples.
lifestyle completely. As we cided that while the war tions to eat at their houses. trips with them that they The political consequences
had to do our own cook- crisis existed, he would join I would find out what the had previously made. This of the Six Days War would
ing, barbecued beef be- his friends in their alcoholic hostess planned to pre- is how I got to see Pompeii reach King Idris two years
came the most popular perdition. He soon be- pare and I would bring the that the volcano Vesuvius later. As he had refused
meal. The butcher shops
could hardly keep up with
the demand for the best
cuts of beef. For reasons
we never understood nor
tried to understand, the
government did not de-
clare a state of emergency
and did not stop the sale of
booze, and beer became
the most popular bever-
age among the expatri-
ate temporary bachelors.
Making the best of the
situation, after work large
groups of friends would Grotto Azzurre lived up to its name with the splendorous blue
gather at one house to A view of the dangerous road leading up to Anacapri on the water.
island of Capri.
prepare the evening BBQ
and down gallons of beer. came known as “Six-pack” main ingredients or plenty had buried in ashes in 79 to join the Arab nations in
I had some very religious Jim for his gift to the host of libation. One day I met AD. On a speedy cata- their war against Israel, the
Southern Baptist friends wherever he went. When the Chief of Police of Tripoli maran we went to Capri people of Lybia did not for-
who had never touched his family returned to Tripoli who had also been invited and after a hair-raising trip give him. On September
alcohol, but started to in- after the crisis, Jim again for dinner at the home of at high speed with a tour 1, 1969 a young and un-
dulge while their families laid off alcohol and never my friend Vladimir Cvek. bus on a winding road known coronel of the Army
were gone. One afternoon again touched the stuff. As a Muslim, Mr. Luthai with steep hairpin turns we staged a coup against the
while some friends were at In the weeks following my was not allowed to eat reached Anacapri, a town King’s government and
my house a fellow worker family’s evacuation, I ap- pork, but he liked it and at the highest point of the the Libyan people eagerly
from Texas, known for his re- preciated my Yugoslav bragged how Mrs. Cvek island where we visited backed him.q

This is the 14th of 22 chapters in English of ate community have expressed an interest
my book originally published in Papiamento. in the English version. Convinced that the
After the last chapter has been published, Aruba Today readers also would be interest-
they will be compiled into a book to be pub- ed in the stories of an Aruban on the shores
lished and sold for the benefit of the Queen of Tripoli and eager to support the Queen
Wilhelmina Cancer Foundation of Aruba. Wilhelmina Cancer Foundation, the edito-
All profits, 100%, will go to that foundation. If rial management of this newspaper has
you want to reserve a copy, you can do so agreed to make space available to have
by contacting the author at the email ad- one chapter published every week. If you
dress below. Because of space constraints, would like to have future (and past) chap-
the material that is published weekly (text ters sent to you in your electronic mailbox
and pictures) might not be as extensive as when you are back home, just send me your
what eventually will appear in the book. email address. I’ll be happy to add you to
Alumni of the Oil Companies School of Trip- my subscribers. I would also welcome your
oli and members of the former Libya expatri- comments. clydeharms@yahoo.com. q