Big beaches, big planes, big flags; or, Dance-off for World Peace

Ahhh. Summer vacation. You know that old joke: "What are the three top reasons to become a teacher? June, July, and August." (or May, June, and July, depending on what part of the country you live in)

Never mind that you don't get paid for those three months, or that it's more like 2 months off work; it's still nice to be able to wind down, spend time with your kids, and do a little traveling before cramming an entire year's worth of work into 180+ contract days. 

I'm in that panicky "Oh no! Vacation's almost over! But I have so much to do!" mode that most teachers go through the week before going back to work. 

In my pursuit for activities that a)we haven't done before; b) don't require too much time in the sun/heat; and c)are preferably FREE lead me to some fun new adventures this week.

First, a friend had the brilliant idea of going to one of the beaches that just opened back up this week (Hurricane Sandy did a number on it). We took 3 of our kids over to the Leeward side of the base on the ferry. A trip to Ferry Landing means searching for sea glass while waiting for the boat, and we spotted a friendly blue heron during our wait. Something as small as a ferry ride across the Bay is a great way to break the summer monotony. I've never be on it in the middle of a weekday, and it was rather deserted. 

We ate lunch at the Galley there (another adventure---we do get tired of the same seven restaurants on this side) and then hiked a small distance to Chapman beach. 

Rounding the corner to the beach was exciting. You'd think we'd get bored of beaches, but no two here are the same. You still need swim shoes---all beaches here are rocky (and this one is full of sea urchins), but there is some sand for the kids to play with, much like Girl Scout Beach. It has a protected rock barrier, much like Cable and Windmill Beaches. It's wide like Windmill, too. 

This means nothing to any of you who haven't been here, so here's the bottom line: if you take some of the best features of our favorite beaches, it's at Chapman Beach.

The beach was COVERED in urchin shells. I took home probably 20, and over half made it. They are very delicate---some are pink/white, others grey and green, and others are every shade in-between. Some still had the spines on them. I don't know what I'm going to do with all of them, but they sure are pretty (and a much needed break from sea glass---it's taking over my house).

Did I mention we were the ONLY people there for most of our afternoon? It was awesome---like coming upon your own secret beach and not having to share it with everyone else. 

Also, as we are swimming/sunning, we hear a loud noise and look up just in time to see an airplane landing on the runway above the beach. You can see the planes from the water---and this was a C5 landing. If you haven't seen a C5 in real life, an 18-wheeler could easily fit in one. They are HUGE.

My favorite shot of the day:

After our Chapman Beach adventure Thursday, H and I went to the Northeast Gate Tour yesterday. It's something everyone who lives here needs to do once (and visitors, too, if you happen to be here the third Friday of the month). Because of that thing I have called a j-o-b, I can't go do fun stuff in the middle of a weekday, so I was excited to catch the last tour opportunity before vacation ends next week (*sniff sniff*).

Back in March, I joined dozens and dozens of kids, colleagues, and parents in the Dr. Seuss Fun Run that takes place for a mile on the fenceline. We got a small version of the tour, but this time, we got the real deal. I can basically sum up the tour---and our entire relationship with Cuba---in a few sentences. First, the gate and fenceline are an archaic symbols of the Cold War of years gone by. Lots of craziness happened between our 2 countries here---including Cubans throwing rocks and shining spotlights on Marine barracks at the fenceline; Americans placing huge patriotic symbols in the way of the Cuban spotlights, causing the Cubans to give up the light idea; Cubans putting coathangers on the fence next to the barracks to make noise; Americans installing a huge flag; Cubans installing a bigger flag; Americans installing an even taller flag; Cubans installing a same size flag but on a higher hill; and Americans cutting a Cuban waterline to prove that Castro lied about the Americans taking his water. 

So that whole "A Few Good Men" speech about eating breakfast 300 yards from 4000 Cubans trained to kill is, well, kind of malarky. I'm sure there's been threats (and when the gate was open, American Marines were even held captive a few weeks in Cuba), but mostly we are all sitting around waiting for the Castros to leave (ie retire or die), and then HOPEFULLY someone will wake up and decide this entire embargo thing is also malarky and the gates will open. 

This was all my inference from the Marine tour guide, by the way. In no way or shape did he actually say these things. But he was very entertaining, and his stories of the war of wills between the Cuban guards and the U.S. Marines were worth the trip.

Our base leaders do a ceremony of sorts when they go to the line between the two countries for monthly meetings and when they work with the Cuban government in granting Cuban refugees asylum. Since we have been here, several Cuban refugees who escaped to our base have been granted asylum in the US and other countries, with the help of the Marines, Coast Guard, and Navy. The Cuban authorities are notified when asylum seekers come over---it's my understanding that it's part of the agreement of us being here---but they are allowed to stay until a decision is made about the reason they are here, the logistics of their leaving Cuba are set, etc. Our tour guide was an active duty Marine. I don't know if he had given the tour before, but he did a great job. I loved how his whole face lit up when he talked about his role in helping asylum seekers. I think that must be a rewarding job.

To give a little levity to the tour, he explained how the Marines are often amused at the antics of their Cuban counterparts.  There is one Cuban guard in particular who is a legend. A truck drives up to one of the Cuban towers and drops him off to report to duty, then he climbs into the tower (theirs are concrete and air conditioned; ours are wooden with no A/C), waits for the truck to get out of sight, and then starts his shift by turning on a radio. They know this because he then dances non-stop for his entire shift, until the truck comes back down the road to pick him up.

Personally, I think that instead of hoisting flags in each other's sight lines, the guards on each side should have a dance-off. Maybe a little Thriller, maybe a little Cuban mambo. Can world diplomacy be found through music and dance? Could we dance until the gate comes down? Who knows.

I don't think, however, our military or government leaders would go for that.  

See the white line? That's the boundary between Us and Them.
Maybe this could be the location for World Peace Dance-Off.