Tennis at the New Embassy Compound

Since July 2007, tennic courts have been completed at the New Embassy Compound. There are also several outdoor baskball courts, a baseball diamon (need grass), a soccer pitch (same issue), and an indoor pool (i'm guessing that was in the plans as the competition pool for the American Embassy school. yes, a school was planned. (you know the country song: "what was I thinkin'?")
well, the courts are playable, but they are in bad shape already. the seams between the underlying sections of concrete, or maybe it is between the overlay of composite asphalt+ material, are prominent. this is apparently water damage. very typical project - provide somehting useful for morale and welfare, then let it sit unused. sort of like getting computers but not delivering them to users for several months.
so who gets to play on these courts. for operational security reasons, i cannot answer that. but, suffice it to say that all these facilities are sitting there unused. it now appears that only those who move into the New Embassy Compound residential facilities will be able to regularly access the facilities, lest some of us decide to stay in our trailers walking distance from work instead of shuttling from the NEC residences to work. the shuttling is a major dis-incentive for many, but if you deny easy accesss to the morale, welfare, and recreation facilities there unless you reside there, you increase the incentive for people to move there. that sounds very conspiratorial to me. silly, of course the embassy management wants to encourage all embassy personnel to use teh New facility, to build comraderie, and not create two classes of Embassy employees, the NECsters and the Trailer trash. silly of me to think for a nano-second otherwise.
well, given the reports on the building project, i may be back in the u.s. before this really becomes a segregationist issue. for more on the embassy project and its delays and problems, see the hearings help by Congresman Henry Waxman.