Dives, Goals, and Map Pins; or, A Trifecta of GTMO Firsts

Today's weather in GTMO: high of 85º, partly cloudy, but mostly sunny

Some more GTMO firsts: 

I got to dive two new places this weekend as part of my final two classes for my Advanced Open Water certification. It only took 4 months from beginning to end to get the certification, thanks to sickness (ear infection), bad weather and poor diving conditions, and crazy weekend conflicts. 

The whole point of getting an advanced certification here is it opens up several dive locations that are restricted by the base to divers with a basic open certification. It was actually good to get a refresher on some skills---it was 21 years ago I got my original dive certification, and around 10 years ago that I took a refresher class (complete with a dive in Lake Travis, Austin----DIS-GUS-TING). 

I loved both dives. I did my deep dive (89') at The Slot. From the top is the best views of GTMO, in my opinion (the lighthouse and mountains in the background). You go down some steep stairs and through a little channel, then hang onto a rope for dear life as the current rips you towards an open space. Once there, we went to a wall that is very deep (hundreds---maybe thousands?---of feet deep in spots) and goes all the way to Honduras. It's kind of cool to think that it's part of the same wall that I dove on my honeymoon almost 21 years ago. 

Cable Beach was the first place we swam when we moved here, and I really loved the bright coral and fish during my first dive there. It was shallow---only 30' for most of the dive---and the visibility was much better. I finished my Navigation class there. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I was much more nervous doing the compass work than doing the night dive. I am geographically impaired. I really, honestly have a hard time using a compass. Seriously---what sort of dummy can't figure out a compass? 

That would be me. . . 

And another first. I'm playing soccer, but instead of women's league, it's more like skills practice and pick-up games. Tonight I played co-ed---first time doing that since I was pregnant with boy #2 way back in 2005. Not only did my team win our fun game, but I scored a goal. Gooooool! Yes, I'm bragging. I'm the oldest (or next to oldest) person at every game, so I can brag a little. 

Lastly, the Map of Lost Mail has another pin to add, and the first of 2014. 

We are STILL getting a trickling in of Christmas presents. We got this very sad looking box last week: 

I'm not sure why it was rewrapped and resealed. Was it falling apart? Did someone get curious and decided to open it and take a peek? 

What I didn't realize until I started opening it was the sticker from yet another exciting destination for my Map of Lost Mail. Can you spot it? 

My mail has now been to Catania, Sicily! If you don't know anything about Catania, it is the second largest town in Sicily and sits in the shadows of Mt. Etna. No, I haven't been there---I just looked it up online. It is really gorgeous, if the Internet is to be believed. 

And now, here's my latest version of my mail map: Oman, Italy, Sicily, Spain, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. I haven't been to any of these places and would like to visit most. (I've never talked to anyone about visiting Oman, but if you have been and liked it, convince me to visit so I can say I want to go to all of these places). 

The Latest Version of the Map of Lost Mail

Muchas Gracias; or, Giving Thanks

Today's weather in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba: 83º and cloudy

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and in the season of giving and thanking, I am thankful for many little things here in Gitmo.

There are the obvious things: friends, family, health.

I am thankful that in such a relatively small time frame, we've met people here who I know we will keep in touch with for years to come.

There are stresses of living somewhere so isolated and limited in resources and entertainment, but recently I realized that overall, there is a core set of really amazing people who live here. I'm sure that exists in every community, but being in this small place, you can't help but notice how many people stand out.

Heard everywhere lately: "How is your family?" "How is your home?" When was the last time you went up to a total stranger and asked him or her one of those questions?

For Gitmo, however, it's been the norm the last few weeks since the catastrophic typhoon killed over 5000 (and counting) in the Philippines.

There are over 1500 foreign national Filipinos working at Gitmo---most are male, with contracts stipulating they cannot return home until they have been here at least 2 years, and most with a wife and child(ren) back home.

This entire base has been profoundly affected by the welfare of a group of people who we depend on for so much. They are hard working, friendly, and if you haven't lived somewhere where you have lumpia and pancit at every single social function, I really feel sorry for you.

Like most of our neighbors, I have found myself asking the Filipinos who bag my groceries, both school secretaries, the ladies and men who work at various MWR locations, the Bremcor construction workers who come into the schools almost every day, and the people standing next to me in line at the grocery store about how their lives have been affected by the recent tragedy.

I am thankful that I live amongst people who care for people who aren't quite strangers, but for the most part, not friends, either. Various groups and individuals have worked to get money wired to family members back home. They are still making sure that their families are taken care of for the upcoming holidays. There has been an outpouring of love and support for the Filipinos here, because they are a major part of our community, and we are thankful that they are here to make this place run a little more efficiently.

I am thankful for soccer.

Oh, how I love soccer. I love watching it on television or in person, I love playing it, I love watching my kids as they are getting better and better every game.

The women's league finally winded down a couple of weeks ago, and I really do miss it. Our league consisted of all sorts of women---Jamaican foreign nationals; people associated with NCIS, JTF, the Red Cross; civilian contractors; members of the Army, Marines, and Navy; military spouses; several moms. We had engineers and mechanics, MWR employees and women deployed without their families, and I am so happy to say I was the ONLY school employee in the entire league, because, like most teachers, I really tire of talking about anything work related l when I am away from school.

The season is winding down for the kids, as well.  I am thankful that Boy 1 is laughing and enjoying himself (and he's really good) with a sport he hasn't played since he was 8 years old. I'm am thankful that Boy 2 has ways to run off some of that 8 year old energy that his mama can't keep up with.

I am also thankful for the following:

• my kids' teachers: I am so thankful for smart, caring teachers for both of our sons. When my oldest had a difficult time adjusting when we first got here, they didn't give up---they went beyond any teachers he has ever had in order to make sure his academic and emotional needs were met. This is not an easy place to teach---most high school teachers have 5 preps and most of the time, they are the only person who teaches a specific class---but they manage to not only leave that stress at home, but make sure my son transitioned to life on this crazy rock. 

• the author John Green: Thanks to him, my oldest has found his love of reading again. Now, if he could just hurry up and publish another book. . . 

• friends and family who say, "Tell me what you want, and I will send it"---and they MEAN IT:  I have received several wonderful care packages while living here, with everything from Halloween decorations to Zero bars to borracho beans to bacon. 

• work people: I have coworkers who, despite some changes that have brought on many anxieties, still find ways for us to laugh and not take ourselves too seriously. And I am grateful for every one of them.

• BEACHES: I have never lived anywhere where you can go to the beach every single day of the year. Whether it's diving or hunting for sea glass, the sound of the waves and the smell of salt air can make the most jaded person love life a little more.

Yes, that is Boy 1 in action.

• slow traffic and only two main roads: This is the perfect way for a 15 1/2 year old to learn to drive a car. Not so sure how he'll fare---or the rest of us, for that matter---when we are back in the states next summer and the land of crazy Texas drivers. 

And finally, Friday really stood out as a truly Gitmo (early) Thanksgiving. We had a mini Thanksgiving celebration at the Youth Center for parents and kids in the after school program, and there was good food: fried chicken, pancit, callaloo, and festivals. If you don't know what pancit is, make friends with a Filipino and beg them to take you home to their mama. Pancit is at almost every catered and potluck event here. Callaloo is a wonderful salad from Jamaica made from the amaranth plant, and festivals are pieces of fried bread, much like beignets. Good stuff all around. I sat there at the end of a short (but somewhat stressful) work week and thought, this is crazy. I'm in Cuba, surrounded by Jamaican ladies serving Jamaican and Filipino food, and I got invited to celebrate Thanksgiving by two Russian ladies who have decided to celebrate the most American of holidays with their families here.  We chose to stay at home, just the four of us, and eschewed all tradition for pulled pork sandwiches and potato salad (why not?). We didn't stand in line at 6 am for Black Friday sales or put up a Christmas tree, but we did manage to have a very relaxing weekend at home and at the beach, soaking up the sun and counting our blessings for the things we have here in Gitmo. 

Covering lots of ground; or, Feet, feet, and more feet

Been covering lots of ground this week (warning, many feet pictures involved)



With much giddiness (and a little nervousness) I made my return to soccer after exactly a year away from the game. I've been hesitant to play here for fear that I would be playing much younger, faster, and tougher women, and many of them are all of the above. But so what?  I have missed the camaraderie that comes with playing on a women's sports team. I never played organized soccer until I was in my early 30s, and I'm thankful for my soccer-fanatic husband who pushed me into taking up the sport way back when and has been very supportive all along.  We tied our first game last Thursday night, and I'm looking forward to more games with the women's recreational soccer league here.



There was today's holiday. I'm not going to get into the Columbus Day holiday (the good, the bad, and the ugly of CC himself), even though he did, in fact, land here in Guantánamo Bay for a brief day or so before moving on to bigger and better things; or that the entire base was without electricity from 4 am until 4 pm today and it was hotter than 7 hells. Yes, you read that right. Happy holiday to us! After a nice early dive with my oldest, the day just got hotter, as the youngest, my husband, and I joined some of my work people for a photography scavenger hunt.  For a few hours this morning I got to finally get a good look at a few landmarks I pass every day.

There is this shrine: 

There are no markers at this little shrine that I pass at least once a week, but I think she may be a copy of the Virgin of Charity of Cobre. I didn't get a picture of the offerings and candles on the ground underneath, which are as intriguing to me as the statue. Maybe it was seeing the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico, D.F. as a teenager (and my first trip inside a cathedral) that hooked me, or perhaps it was the images of Mary all over Mexico when I lived in Cuernavaca in the early 90s, but I'm intrigued and drawn to any shrines of Mary and always want to stop for a look. Although I am not Catholic, I've spent enough time in Latin American countries that I really do love the reverence for Mary (sometimes mixed with native religions) that I haven't seen as often in the United States. 

You know you are on a Naval base when. . . 

you see anchors every where you go. This was one of 10 or so we had to find. Not as easy as you'd think, considering there are so many of them in many styles at many locations. And yes, the shoe is intentional---we had to have something in the pic to prove we took it today, so I chose my shoe, since my big feet were there and nobody else really wanted to jump in and out of the Jeep 20+ times in the hot weather.  

We also have a few canons here. . .

and this marker I pass all the time when I'm running. I had heard stories about Marines being killed on the fenceline (including Marines killed while trying to deactivate the hundreds of land mines) and I'm sad to say that I never stopped to read the marker. I'm glad now that I did. 

He was only 29, and would have probably retired by now, had he lived and continued to serve in the Marines. 

We are coming up fast on our 1 year GTMO anniversary, and I was pleasantly surprised that we knew  all but a small handful of the 37 landmarks' locations. I think that running (okay, jogging) all over the base, combined with getting out and going to the beaches (and every where else we can go) has really made us feel like we are a part of this place now. Or maybe it's a part of us. All I know is I was surprised at the people who have lived here much longer than I who couldn't identify but a few landmarks. It goes back to getting out of your comfort zone and jumping in with two feet---I am glad my family is with me on this crazy adventure, sometimes leading the way, and other times following me. 

And at the end of the day----I am always happy to kick off my shoes and come back home. The grass is finally growing, the flower bed the hutias plowed through a couple of months back is slowly recovering, and I am always looking for an excuse to get outside, soak up the sun, and kick back in my flip flops.