a little too close...

Well after reading AKH blog regarding the 11th of the November, sacrifices made by the soldiers, granting this freedom we have today and that I've not had to suffer the true horrors of war, but I've been pretty close... and at times so has my dad...

Back when I was younger in the 80's, my father got made redundant and we moved abroad.

It took some time for me to get used to a foreign land, the language (I couldn't understand the TV, but would that bother a kid of 6?), the heat, people and there customs... and the poverty..

But unlike Blighty at the time, danger could just be around the corner, earthquakes were quite regular, dicing with deadly traffic, but slightly more worrying was that the country had a small dangerous faction, they blew up pylons, kidnapped (this was after we left) and killed.

The power cuts became a thing of fun sometimes... mainly because it was barbeque time! My dad had found a grill and we became well prepared. Sometimes we had them while out at the ex-pat cricket club. A familiar BOOM! would be heard in the distance, sometimes it was close enough to see the night light up... then lights out... torches ... and a dark ride home.

My close call came not so long after we'd arrived in the country.

My family had moved into what became our permanent home, in a district not too far from the centre of the city. I'd been enrolled in the school set up by ex-pats and only just started going there. To get to school I was picked up by a woman in a VW camper van, along with about another 10 kids, some older, some the same age... this was my bus, (health and safety would have had a field day).

The start of the day was like many that followed, lessons, break etc etc... but then things took a drastic turn..

GRAB YOUR BAG AND STUFF! and follow the rest of the children onto the playing fields.

Off we rushed to sit in anxious rows, all crossed legged, like a morning meeting...

I had no clue about what to do, I'd only been at the school a short time, barely knew anyone or recognizsed my lift, next thing I knew I was plucked out of the crowd and with our small gang piled onto the VW bus a little earlier than usual... unaware of why.

I did hear later why, but this could have been a rumour, but apparently a bomb had been planted at the school, in the older boys drinking fountain... but like I said I don't know if this was true or not...

But it was a little to close for comfort, I did hear that after we left there was a small spate of European looking people, stuck in a traffic jam hearing a tap on the window, then being taken at gun point from their cars...

So it looks like we came back at the right time...