Article Translation

Thanks to all the readers who wanted to help out, especially Sjoerd who provided the translation below. Tom and Red at Scared Monkeys are good guys and colleagues - but I'm wondering if someone didn't juiice up the translation on them just a little bit without their knowing, or perhaps just make it at least a little more inflammatory than it was. Either that, or mine was watered down.

Comments later, perhaps. I'm in a rush.

Tieners VS feesten vooral op Aruba

door onze correspondent Nina Jurna

ORANJESTAD - De op Aruba vermiste tiener Natalee Holloway wordt in de media neergezet als een keurig, onschuldig, conservatief meisje van achttien dat op schoolreisje ging. Geen meisje dat zich op Aruba zou uitleven. Maar is dat wel realistisch?

Arubanen weten het: maandelijks komen duizenden Amerikaanse jongeren naar het eiland voor seks, drugs en drank. Op Aruba mag je, in tegenstelling tot thuis in Amerika, al op je zestiende drinken en voor een jointje beland je niet in de gevangenis. ,,Hier doen ze alles wat ze thuis niet mogen en zeker niet kunnen'', vertelt Gijs van 't Hullenaar. Hij is manager van enkele bars en nachtclubs, zoals van Moomba Beach, een populaire strandtent pal naast het hotel Holiday Inn, waar Natalee Holloway logeerde.

Los

Van 't Hullenaar schetst een duidelijk beeld van de Amerikanen zoals hij ze tijdens zijn horecacarrière op het eiland heeft leren kennen. ,,Ze kennen geen grenzen. Ze gaan helemaal los. Ze drinken abnormaal veel, ze blowen en gebruiken vaak ook meer drugs. Ook de meiden. Die zijn misschien nog wel erger dan de jongens. Ze flirten met de barkeepers en komen vragen om gratis drank. 'Als we niets hoeven te betalen, zetten we je tent op stelten en maken we een leuk feestje' zeggen ze dan.''

In Amerika mogen jongeren vanaf hun 21e verjaardag alcohol drinken en tot die tijd komen ze ook geen bar binnen. Op Aruba gelden de veel soepeler Nederlandse regels. ,,De jonge Amerikanen komen niet gewoon gezellig de bar binnen om wat te drinken; nee, ze willen stomdronken worden. Soms leggen ze gewoon een pakketje dollars op de bar en zeggen: 'geef me iets voor dit geld waar ik zo snel mogelijk dronken van word'.''

In de zaak van de vermiste Amerikaanse studente Natalee Holloway werd Van 't Hullenaar ook verhoord. Tegenover de politie en ook in een uitzending van de Amerikaanse televisiezender Fox heeft hij de reputatie van de Amerikaanse jeugd niet onder stoelen of banken gestoken. ,,Heel wat Amerikaanse ouders weten waarschijnlijk niet wat hun kinderen hier op Aruba allemaal uitspoken.''

Hypocriet

Hij vindt het hypocriet nu net te doen alsof het er hier allemaal zo netjes aan toe gaat, hoe vreselijk het ook is dat het meisje wordt vermist. ,,Maar dat ze stomdronken uit de nachtclub kwam, dat hoor je wel hier op het eiland, maar lees je niet terug in de Amerikaanse pers. Natuurlijk zeggen alle ouders: zulke dingen doet mijn dochter niet. Maar dat zeiden mijn ouders vroeger ook over mij.''

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Above all US teenagers party on Aruba

by our correpondent Nina Jurna (Nederlands Dagblad)

ORANJESTAD- The missing teenager Natalee Hollway is being described in the media as a tidy, innocent, conservative eighteen year old girl on a graduation trip. Not a girl who would be a party animal on Aruba . But is this surely realistic?

Arubans know this: every month thousands of American juniors bcome to the island for sex, drugs and booze. On Aruba you are allowed, contrary to the situation at home in America , drink when you are sixteen and for (smoking) a joint you will not end up in jail. ”Here they do everything what they are not allowed to do at home and surely can’t do at home”, Gijs van 't Hullenaar says. As a manager he owns several bar and nightclubs, like Moomba Beach , a popular beach club right next to the Hollyday Inn where Natalee Holloway was staying.

Loose

Van ’t Hullenaar illustrates a clear image of the Americans as he has gotten to know them throughout his career on the island. “They have no limits. They’re going totally loose. They are drinking excessively, they smoke pot and often use other drugs as well. Likewise the girls. May be they are even worse than the boys. Thet flirt with bartenders and ask for free drinks. “We will cheer up this place and make a big party if we don’t have to pay”, they say.

In America juniors are permitted to have alcoholic beverages from age 21 and before that they cannot even visit a bar. On Aruba we have the much more flexible Dutch regulations. “The young Amricans don’t just just enter a bar to socialize and enjoy a drink; no, they want to become blind drunk. Sometimes they just drop a pacjage of dollars on the bar and say: “Give me something for this that makes me drunk fast”.

Van ’t Hullenaar was heard in the case of the missing American graduate Natalee Holloway. In talks with the police and also during a Fox interview he didn’t restrain in describing the reputation of the American youth. “A lot of American parents probably have no idea what their children are messing with here on Aruba ”.

Hypocrisy

He (Van ’t Hullenaar) thinks it is hypocritical to pretend that everything that happens here is going so decent and proper over here, not to mention the dreadful fact of the missing girl. “But that she left the nightclub ‘blind drunk’, yes that’s what we hear on the island, but you never read this in the American press. Ofcourse all parents say: “My daughter doesn’t do these things. But that is what my parents used to say about me too”.

Comments

[arubian]

don't blame us for the systematic rape, murder, and coverup about Natalee Holloway.........we're shit, and we wish all the inconvenient publicity would just go away, so that we could go back to our indigenous industries which include only pimping, mysogeny, drug dealing, and kite flying.

[Concerned]

Lurker_
You said it all. As a matter of fact, I checked the travel advisories for Mexico and found the same info. I then registered our names and vacation dates with the US Embassy in Mexico. I found that verizon has roaming capabilites in Mexico so we could keep in touch from one part of the resort to another.
The education process begins before 18. I teach; I know how lax parenting has become, and to the detriment to our kids.
I can say that my daughter surprised me and was annoyed by the more obnoxious
personalities. She pushed herself to stay out with friends but generally wanted home before the others. Part of that is her personality.

[Concerned]

Lurker-
Also, I discovered that some parents made their kids cancel their reservations to Cancun because of this case. I wish I hadn't been so stupid to say yes. in the end, we were going to cancel or join the group.

[MBHS1980S]

Not attacking at all - I just think there is a tremendous misconception about Mountain Brook from people that live in other areas of Birmingham. That is why I question whether or not Michelle actually lives in Mountain Brook. You have your groups of those who don't understand the dynamics who move here for their children's education and a safe, friendly place to live and there are the "natives". I guess that must be where differing opinions arise.

Michelle has some very good, true and valid points however, from my point of view, I do not find Mountain Brook to be liberal but very conservative. I take issue with the statement of the "movers and shakers that didn't want people to know they were stupid enough to send their kids on . . . hedonistic trip" and that maybe Natalee "deserved better parenting". Knowing Beth Holloway I guess that struck a nerve with me.

If you would like to keep your donations local (Birmingham) additional contributons may be made to: http://www.amsouthbank.com/special/natalee.asp

[Concerned]

As far as Arubans are concerned, we need to work together to get to the truth, whatever it may be. No coverups on either side. For us to learn what happened to Natalee, we need to be respectful and courteous to one another. This sad siuation has exposed attitudes which need to be changed for relations to become improved. Disagreement is good; it will help us to brainstorm and share ideas/viewpoints. BUT, we need to keep the focus on persisting to get to the truth and find this young girl to bring her to rest at home. We would want this for any parent and any family, no matter their nationality.

[pkt]

"steve......life on aruba is cheap.......rape and drugging is a nightly event...ALL women are eyed as prey.....don't you know the handsigns?"

Well Arubian... Aruba seems to be a place where a privileged Dutch 17 year old white boy can do anything with impunity... drink, take drugs, drive cars, gamble, rape and murder.

The fact that the Aruba police arrested those black security guards and searched there houses within 48 hours and ...........then the justice minister says that they didn't JVDS' pad for 10 days because they didn't want to be "cowboys" make it seem like the the place is pretty corrupt,

[grimer11]

pkt scratching an itch.

[JustMe]

MBHS1980S:

I aplogize if you thought I was attacking you. I did not mean to sound like that.

I know that there is a certain perception of MB. When this thing first broke loose in the media I asked my wife about MB. The first thing she said was about how much money there is there, and the Mrs. is from Mobile and did not exactly grow up eating beans and cornbread wondering where the next meal was going to come from.

I can tell you this about Natalee's parents flying to Aruba on a private jet, etc. I am far from being rich, but if my daughter was missing in a foreign country then I dare say that I could make one telephone call and within an hour a Gulfstream jet would be wheels up with me aboard -I do have friends who are rich. I can also assure you that if I called my Senators and Congressman all three of them would personally accept my calls.

I guess my point is that there may be misconceptions about the families who live in MB. Being well connected does not necessarily translate into having more money than you can burn.

What if the Twittys were filthy rich? Big deal. That would not not change the dynamics of this matter one whit. Natalee is missing and we all want her safely back home.

[grimer11]

NATALEE HOLLOWAY WAS MURDERED....SHE GAVE, AND DESERVES NOTHING LESS THAN PROTECTION AND LOVE........this will not go away.

[Rachel]

Ok enough is enough. This article is ridiculous. All of the pictures I have seen on countless websites, tickle and so forth show Aruban kids partying and drinking. Why is that not brought up? These CHILDREN look like adults and speak like adults. If youread there messages to eachother they openly discuss sex, drinking, and drug use. These are all, some would say rights of passage. To me it seems like the kids ther are spoiled rotten brats who have very little supervision and not much common sense. There is no since blaming Natalee. She did what all kids do in Aruba , she just did it with the wrong people.

[michele in bham]

MBHS1980- Just wanted to let you know that I don't live in MB. I did live in Vestavia for a while, if that makes a difference.

My perspective on MB comes from working there and knowing people there.

Also, my sis worked with Marcia for a while before she left Baptist.

I'm class of 80 also, at a different school in Jeff. County. :-)

[michele in bham]

Moving to discussion thread, the new one.

[REbecca]

For all of you discussing how Joran slipped her something and raped her, yadda yadda...why must that be so?

Personally, I think that she was drunker than he thought, they went down to the beach to make out have sex (I was 18 in the caribbean too) and suddenly she started flipping out cuz she was too hammered, started getting sick, and from there something happened...now what that was, i have no idea? Maybe she freaked and told him to leave her alone and someone else took her. Maybe she freaked and he hit her...but again, where's the body?

Personally, since there isnt a body, I find it very very very hard to believe that this was some quick rape and bury thing. Something else happened.

As for the person who mentioned that the club owner was bad for serving underaged kids drinks: THEY ARENT UNDERAGE IN ARUBA!!! Dumbass

[Lago girl]

"Floor" has stated exactly what I feel and speculate about the events of the missing girl in Aruba.

I was born and grew up in Aruba, in the American oil refinery concession called Lago Colony (Seroe Colorado) and I remember the feelings of immortality of youth and the benign allure of the night sea...bemused by alcohol.

Natalee, and family, had been to Aruba before, and her brother had a similar school trip, before her, according to Jug Twitty. The wild partying of American teens on liberation holidays after high school graduation were well known to the kids from Alabama and their parents.

The van der Sloot boy was just like any American boy, educated in the American school system in Seroe Colorado, where his mother was a teacher and he was an honors student and star athlete, acing AP courses and excelling at tennis and swimming.

Neither had any reason to be any less trusting than they were on the fateful night when both futures looked so full of promise...

Sad, but Life is not what we thought it would be when we were carefree teenagers...

Tsunami devastaton, September 11, 2001 and all the religious terrorism which came before: the USS Cole, the Marine barracks in Lebanon, 441 hostage days in Iran, hundreds of sexual predators living free to menace children in the States, and, today, the return of terror to the people of London and the UK.

Life is never what we expect it to be...and no one walks in the shoes of another...

I am sad for the families and the youthful lives forever changed.

I love Arubians and our island with all of my being.

There is no place on earth I would rather be, than my native island.

Sue Gravendijk
exiled in Chicago until retirement

[GS]

The article sounds acurate. So what? People, of all ages, go on vacation to nice warm places to party, relax, wear little clothing, have fun and let loose. Been that way for a long time. Everyone is happy, no one get hurt.

We have to draw the line at murder!

[Cerulean]

This article is a coverup and is dihonorable. Some people do these things, not every person. Natalee did not look at all like one of those people. She seems to have been drugged.