Diary Entries - Day 3

We were all put up in the half burnt houses in the village. We were strictly told not to wonder off anywhere, and we wouldn’t be hurt. The men in black treated us well. They were nice, fun people. They spoke to us in English but conversed with each other in Arabic, so we didn’t really know what they planned. The rest of the people, or hostages I could say, were all expatriates like us. We were 40 hostages and 8 men in blacks.

If it weren’t for the occasional, distant bangs, planes flying above and us having to hide, I would say it was much like a picnic. Yesterday, we spent the day exploring the village and settling in. We were given sufficient food and water. And at night we were given sleeping bags to sleep in. No one had been beaten up, tortured or shot – thankfully!

The men in black didn’t tell us much about who they were or what they wanted from us. And after sometime we just ignored the fact that we were hostages because they were so friendly. And it gave me such a strong feeling of hope; that they were trying to help us out and that secretly we were going to escape and be safe and most importantly – live!