When 82 degrees feels cold...

...you know you've been living in the tropics for awhile!  Seriously.  When I go outside in the mornings or go to a movie at night, I need a sweatshirt!  Last week, after the movie, the temp on our car read 82 degrees.  I had a long-sleeved shirt on and had wished that I had a blanket.  I was freezing!  And yes, I realize this is utterly ridiculous.  I sincerely apologize to all my friends and family who are currently experiencing sub-zero weather.  =)

An Outsider's View

Recently, the youngest person to have traveled to every country in the world visited us in Guantanamo Bay.  He has website and wrote a post about his experience here.  It is very accurate, well written, and contains several good pictures.  Check it out!

Click here to read his article

Happy Thanksgiving!

I can scarcely believe that it has been more than a year since we've been here and we are at the start of our second holiday season here.  Time is flying by very quickly for sure.  We celebrated today with a traditional meal and enjoyed several guests.  We had a Jamaican father and son, a Filipino from our church, a young soldier who is like part of our family and a young sailor who we have recently gotten to know more.  The Jamaicans and the Filipino said that this was their first Thanksgiving meal ever.  Since they got seconds and also piled plates full to take home, I think that I can safely say that they enjoyed it!  It always makes me happy when someone enjoys the food that I prepare.

The highlight of my day was when we allowed the young sailor to use our phone to call home.  His Mom asked if she could speak to me and extended her gratitude for taking care of her son.  I am absolutely honored that we get to be a home away from home for a few of these young servicemen and women.  They truly make a huge sacrifice when they sign up to serve our country.

Happy Thanksgiving from Guantanamo Bay!  May we all remember that we have so much to be grateful for not only today, but each and every day!

Where Should We Eat Tonight?

I am sheepishly poking my head back into the blog world.  For those of you who are either considering coming down or who already have orders to come down and have been daily checking the blog for a new post, I apologize for not keeping up lately!  I know when we were in the same position, we eagerly checked a blog every single day for a new post.  It's not that I've run out of things to say!  Quite the contrary.  It's simply the fact that we are incredibly busy.  As I've mentioned before, I homeschool my 6 children, and coupled with that fact is that they all play soccer, several are in Girl Scouts, some work, several play on the worship team, and they all have friends!  Plus, I know this is hard to believe, but they want to eat three meals a day and tend to wear lots of clothing that then needs washed.  So, there you have it.  The busyness of life just got to me and hence I've neglected the blog.  I promise to try and keep up better.

So.....now to the actual post.  =)

I thought it would be fun to list all the restaurant here and next to each give a brief description and then tell what my favorite thing to order is.

The Galley - this is the chow hall and there are four separate galley locations around the base.  Cost for breakfast is $2.50 and lunch and dinner are $4.60.  I have several favorite foods there, but I especially love their homemade yeast rolls.

Bayview - this is our (almost) upscale dining experience.  Tablecloths and cloth napkins grace the tables and the view is beautiful.  It is only open for dinner except on Sundays when it is open for Brunch.  My favorite food there is Mongolian Night which is every Thursday.

Jerk House - Jamaican jerk at it's finest.  Take-out only, although there are picnic tables to sit at and enjoy your meal.  I usually order the combination plate with Jerk chicken, ribs, beans and rice, coleslaw and a johnny cake.  Since I absolutely LOVE the burn of jerk sauce, I request extra.

Caribbean Coffee and Cream - known around GTMO simply as "The Triple C", this place serves Starbucks coffee, smoothies, Breyers ice cream, and some baked goods.  They usually only have between 4-6 flavors of ice cream, but thankfully they always seem to have Mint Chocolate Chip!

Subway - hardly needs an explanation.  The only thing different here is that they make some really yummy pizza!  They serve everything that a stateside Subway serves with the exception of spinach and cucumbers as a sandwich topping choice.  There are three Subways on the base: one at the NEX, on at the Marine Hill Mini Mart and one at the airport on Leeward.

McDonald's - again, not much of an explanation is needed.  This McDonald's doesn't have everything that a stateside McDonald's offers.  I've mentioned before that I'm not much of a McDonald's fan, but I am really loving the new Chicken Wraps!  Since it is the only restaurant with a drive-thru, I find myself there fairly often when a quick dinner is needed.

Pizza Hut Express - serves pizzas, breadsticks and wings.  They don't have the full menu like you would find in the states.  They do offer delivery though and I take advantage of that quite often as well.

The Windjammer - this reminds me of a typical chain restaurant that serves burgers, sandwiches, salads, and then some specialty items like steaks, fajitas, and pasta dishes.  My favorite thing to eat here is their fried zucchini and the sweet potato fries.

Cuban Club - run by a Cuban who was born on the base to Cuban exile parents.  The food is amazing! I have never eaten anything that I don't love there.  One of my favorite dishes is the Pepper Steak.  Since they make everything from scratch when you order, the waiting time can be long, but they do allow call ahead orders.  Worth the wait!

Rasta Hill- ok, so I'm not even sure if it's officially called Rasta Hill, but it is an open-air style kitchen that is open on the weekends for dinner only.  They serve traditional Jamaican food and their johnny cakes are to-die-for amazing!

O'Kelley's - this is actually a bar that is in the same building as The Windjammer and they serve food from that menu as well.

Rick's Lounge - the officer's club, and again, not actually a restaurant, but it is in the same building as The Bayview and food can be ordered off of that menu and served in the lounge.

Taco Bell - located in the bowling alley and serving all the regular menu items.  I could be wrong, but the tacos and burritos seem to be more generously filled here than at their stateside counterpart.  My favorite thing about the Taco Bell is that they have Cherry Coke in their soda fountain.

House of Yum - fast food style Chinese.  They are located next to Taco Bell at the bowling alley.  I have only eaten there twice and their menu changes so I don't really have a favorite there yet.

As I review this list, I realize that we are quite fortunate to have as many choices available as we do.  Of course, nothing could compare to the plethora of choices that the states have to offer, but as I've mentioned before, I tend to embrace the simplicity of GTMO.  It sure makes it easier to choose where to eat on date night!

The GTMO Freeway

The maximum speed limit on the base is 25 mph, except for one road which leads out to the beaches.  On this one lonely stretch, we can drive 35 mph.  Assuredly, after driving 25 most of the time, it feels quite fast!

Happy Anniversary to Me

Yesterday marked our one year anniversary of living in gtmo.  I'm a day late because, go figure, our phone (and therefore internet) lines got cut by accident on Friday during a construction project.  We couldn't get it fixed until this morning, so we spent the weekend without our phone and internet.  It is just funny because things like that happen often here.  I remind myself that I have two choices: complain or embrace it.  Admittedly, I was tempted to complain first, but then I (with some gentle prompting from my sweet husband) decided to embrace it and we enjoyed a media-free weekend.  You see, living here sometimes equals living the laid-back island life.  As the Jamaicans would say, "No problem mon".

In other news, my mom is here visiting for the next three weeks!  She is loving it already.  Having visitors is relatively easy here.  It isn't cheap, but it is fairly easy.  A round-trip flight is anywhere from $620-$840 (for non-military) to get here and flights only originate in Ft. Lauderdale or Jacksonville.  My mom lives in FL, so it is a quick trip to the airport for her.  If she were to live in another state, she would still have to pay for the cost of a round-trip to FL first.  Now that would get pricey!  Passports are a requirement for traveling here, and there is some paperwork that we have to fill out before our visitor comes, but other than that, it is just a matter of buying a plane ticket.

We are loving life here still.  I certainly don't want to live here forever, but I'm in no hurry to leave either!  One year passed so quickly, so I really want to take every opportunity to enjoy the time we still have.

Farewell, my friends

Prior to taking the job here, we researched everything we could about gtmo.  I read blogs, I looked through photos, I talked to everyone I knew who had been here before.  I knew ahead of time that it would be hot, that it doesn't rain much, that the commissary can sometimes be out of staples.  I knew there wouldn't be ample shopping opportunities, that I would have to give up my cell phone, that I would be confined to a very small piece of land.  I knew the internet would be slower, that iguanas would replace squirrels, and that I could only drive 25 mph.

I had prepared myself mentally and tried to prepare my family as well.  And I think I did a pretty good job.  Weighing the pros and cons, we were all willing to give up some choices and luxuries in order to enjoy a slower pace of life and enjoy the close community.  Shocked and surprised were not words that I used when I arrived.

There is, however, something that I didn't think about or prepare myself for.  The fact is, aside from a few Cuban exiles and some longtime contractors, no one lives here forever.  Everyone leaves.  We lived in a military community for 12 years, so we are very used to the comings and goings that military life inevitably brings.  But, there were also so many people who stayed.  There was a core group that was never going to leave.  We had several of the same neighbors for 7 years.  We went to church with the same people for 12 years.  Sure, some left, but not everyone.

Here, everyone leaves.  Or, we will leave them behind.  No one will be permanent neighbors for us.  We will, at some point, have to say goodbye to every single person that we have met here.  It is a stinky part about being here.  And it's hard.  On Monday, I had to say goodbye to my neighbor, Cindy, and her family.  We became instant friends and I got to enjoy the blessing of her being my neighbor for almost a year.  Next week, we will bid farewell to a couple of young men in our church who have become part of our family.  Then just a few short weeks later, we will bid farewell to another young man who is also very dear to us.

Tears are shed often around here, but what I must remember is that tears mean we have made life-long friends and no matter where our travels take us in life, we will be able to cherish the time we had, and perhaps even see them again!