New Year's Eve Ramblings.....

Hilltop view of north end of base

It’s hard to believe how long we’ve been on GTMO -- almost four months for Vince and three for me. I thought would take up some screen space to sum up some of our experiences so far.

When we decided to take on this adventure that was offered to us, we certainly had some mixed feelings -- while Vince had been in the Air Force years ago, I had absolutely no exposure to military life. I have never lived by an ocean, and humidity is not my favorite eight letter word. Having said that, the positives described to us certainly seemed to outweigh any potential negatives -- housing and utilities are provided and paid for, amenities abound on the base, and no worries about driving on ice during the winter.

As so often happens in life, the things you worry about in advance almost never seem to materialize, while the events that you never dreamed of turn into enormous potholes in your personal road.

So, here is my list of surprises in the past few months:

I love the ocean!

This was not on my “expected” list at all. First of all, just the crystal clear, blue beauty and majesty of it is so exhilarating. When waves start breaking in on the shore, the sound is thundering and it makes me feel very small indeed.











Snorkeling is amazing!

I had to get over putting my face under the water and not holding my breath (use the breathing tube, silly!), but after that, it’s magical to be floating on top of the water and view a world that we don’t routinely get to see. Our neighbor, Bob, told me that he and some friends saw four sea turtles today, and he was able to get close enough to pat one!

Not much shopping available, but you can still find tabloids

Shopping, as most of us know it, is non-existent. I have learned to be philosophical about not having what I want or need readily available. Whether it’s grocery shopping (one store only), clothes (only one store), or cosmetic items (still only one store), it’s slim pickin’s, let me tell you.



Communication here on the base is almost never clear or easy and most things happen at a very slow pace.

So many governmental entities operate here and overlap abounds. You may have to phone four different people to ever get confirmation on anything. Even then, you can’t be sure of what you are being told. We have both become proficient at the GTMO shrug. (Photo at left shows the typical conflicting info - restricted area but beach is open.)


Hot weather is not that bad. (I know it may sound cruel to write this as so many of our family and friends are battling cold weather!) We went to our first movie here last night -- there is an outdoor theater with small stadium-style seats and movies are shown every night of the year for free. It was 68 degrees last night, and by golly, that was starting to feel a little chilly to me.

Friendly people here abound but everyone keeps track of you closely. You can’t do much around here without all of your neighborhood knowing and reporting it to someone -- and just like everywhere, you can count on information not being passed on accurately. We’ve been invited to three different New Year’s eve celebrations and we either have to go to all of them, or none of them. Without going into more details, Peyton Place has a new rival due to rumors flying fast and furious.

No one wants to take responsibility for the bathroom repair at the ferry landing.

Working for three different entities at once is insane. When Vince accepted this job, he had no idea of the layers of hierarchy that would be involved. The Navy in its wisdom years ago began contracting out many of the jobs formerly handled by its own personnel. Burns & Roe is just one of these subcontractors with a 40+year presence here at GTMO. Its 1,100 employees handle all sorts of indoor and outdoor maintenance tasks for all of the housing, run the desalinization plant along with electrical lighting, trash pickup and disposal, etc. Then, B&R subcontracts out certain jobs to other companies, such as Midwest ATC, who is Vince’s employer. Consequently, at any time, VInce may need to either get approval or communicate with multiple personnel connected with Midwest....B&R....and/or the Navy. He could write a book himself on some of the nonsensical hoops he has encountered so far.

We miss our family and friends....a lot. I had no idea just how difficult it would be to live so far away. While we have met a bazillion new friendly folks, we so miss all of the dear, familiar faces (this includes you, Reader!) that we took for granted seeing in our daily life.

And, as for 2009 that is just around the corner, I’m not a big fan of resolutions because I usually break them the first week. But, I’ve been trying to learn to be content in all things.....so for now, I need to be content with where we are, what we are doing, and just try to make the most of whatever comes our way.