Necessity and invention

My friend, Hope, and her husband, Mike, invited some Filipino co-workers to join them for dinner recently. The Filipino's consistently seem to be the happiest, most industrious people here at GTMO, along with being the most inventive.

The co-workers were cooking some pork on the grill, and they asked Hope if she had a basting brush. She didn't, so one of the men pulled a banana leaf frond off of the tree in their back yard. He pulled off several layers of the stem, and then started fraying the end of it.

Voila! -- he had a basting brush. Very clever!

Noodles Jefferson and the Roller

Noodles Jefferson.....sounds like a character in a Mark Twain book, doesn't it? Or, maybe a gangster from the 1940's. It actually is the name of a food dish served here at the galley.


And the roller....well, that is what the community billboard on the television is called. Channel 4 is devoted to about 50 Powerpoint slides that occasionally get updated.

It is supposed to be a communication device used here on the base to inform residents of events and activities. Unfortunately, most of what is displayed is usually out-of-date. (At least this slide will be current for a while.)



One thing we usually try to look for on the roller are the menus posted for the galleys. When a lunch or dinner is only $4.15, it can be a real bargain for dining. (And, sometimes, it's the ONLY choice for dining.)


It's fun to see what some of the dishes are named -- Noodles Jefferson is my personal favorite.

No, I've never eaten it -- I just like the name. In my opinion, it slightly beats out the following: "Okra Melange" -- "Club Spinach" -- and "Hacienda Green Beans."

In addition to the items listed on the menu, there is always a large salad bar, sandwich and "wrap" bar, all kinds of fresh fruit, desserts, ice cream, toppings, cookies, and quite an assortment of beverages, non-alcoholic, of course.


Here's a slide of the movie offerings for this week. There was a .38 Special concert this week, and since concerts are held next to the stadium seating at the movie theater, there were no movies shown for a couple of nights.

I thought it was pretty funny that a friend of ours, when asked about the .38 Special concert, said it was "nothing special." Maybe the group should change its name.

From Ghosts to Chickens

A few years ago someone wrote a novel about GTMO -- "The Ghosts of Guantanamo Bay" and the local library has several copies of it. It's not really a ghost story -- it just refers to past events in the year 1997 -- but the fun part of reading it is that the book refers to real places here, along with weaving in some supposed fiction about military life here.

We've been trying for weeks to grow some portulaca, or moss rose, since it's a heat-tolerant plant that doesn't require much water, so it should be a natural for this environment. Flower seeds aren't plentiful here, so I ordered some from a website. These expensive, organic seeds ( had over 300 seeds!) so far have produced ONE plant that just flowered today.

Onion bagels were on the baking list this week -- I have yet to exactly duplicate the onion-y flavor Vince experienced in New York at Essa Bagel but I will keep trying.

Fergus is getting away with all kinds of misbehavior at GTMO -- here he is on the couch, snuggled next to the Singapore pillow (given to me by a neighbor -- you can find things here from all over the world that people don't want anymore) and the Cuba throw blanket.

Occasionally one can see fires and smoke on the other side of the bay in Cuba -- here is the morning aftermath of some sugarcane fields being burned after harvest. A smoky haze banded the horizon for much of that morning.

I've been able to add chickens to my birdwatching list -- years ago, some Cubans brought some chickens through the gate onto the base, and since then, there seems to be quite a number of them still around. This one visits our back patio most mornings, scratching for bird seed on the ground, and is quite content until I let Fergus outside. The poor bird screeches and flaps its wings madly to get up over the fence and out of the way.

6th Month Anniversary!

View in our neighborhood of the bay and looking into Communist Cuba

Congratulations to Vince -- he is celebrating his sixth month on the job as of today! It's been quite the experience for both of us. In recognition of the day, we added some Lipton Dried Onion Soup Mix to our grilled hamburgers, and we are going to try to stay up for the 9:00 p.m. showing of the movie "Defiance" at the Lyceum. For your viewing pleasure, here are some photos from our week.

I just thought this was an interesting illustration of one yard that gets watered, and one that doesn't. Lawn watering restrictions do exist, but don't seem to be closely followed.


Windjammer Pool - one of the two swimming pools on the base. Hope and I were here recently after our gym workout, and some new lifeguards were on duty. The pool was just about empty except for us. And when we got into the water, the newly certified Jamaican lifeguard hopped into the lifeguard chair, studiously watched us as we paddled around in the event we needed his assistance, and as soon as we climbed out of the pool, he left his chair.


Vince recently harvested some ripe cactus pears from a clump of cactus in the neighborhood. With his heavy work gloves on, he peeled the fruit and blended to a nice pulp, then added a liberal amount of tequila. After macerating for a couple of days, we enjoyed cactus margaritas, Cuban-style. (We first enjoyed these beverages on a trip to San Antonio years ago.)


We took a walk on the Ridgeline Trail (just like it sounds, it's a trail up on the spine of what we call mountains here) a couple of days ago to enjoy the cool breeezes and beautiful scenery. Additionally, we saw gorgeous wildflowers and then these beautiful little flamingo moths (I am am so naming them due to their coloration). They flit around so quickly it is challenging to get a photo while they are in flight, so here is one at rest.

The other swimming pool on base is at Marine Hill and the dressing rooms and showers are virtually outside -- you walk through a door and there is no roof -- this particular day graced us with an impossibly blue sky to go with the brilliant white concrete walls.