One of the adventures that came with my new position with the Department of Defense is visiting our schools that are located on the United States Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As I am getting ready for my third trip to GTMO in just a week from now, I realized that I haven't posted any of the pictures from my previous trips last fall!
During the months before my first trip, my coworkers tried to explain to me what life was like on the island. After each story or description, they would say, "You will see...” Boy did I ever! From the moment that the plane landed, I got that strange feeling where you hear Dorothy in the back of your mind telling Toto that they are not in Kansas anymore! It is important to note that our base on Guantanamo Bay is the oldest overseas U.S. Navy Base, and the only one in a country with which the United States does not have diplomatic relations. That fact, along with knowing that this small base also houses dozens of the world's most dangerous...American-hating...psycho mass murderers, kept me up at night worrying myself to death before my first trip last October.
One of the coolest perks about traveling to GTMO is the travel itself. Not many people can say that they have flown on a private C12 by uniformed Navy pilots to and from a communist country! Once I arrived on the island (after taking two bus rides and one trip on a ferry) all of the fear that was keeping me up at night quickly disappeared. Before too long, it felt like every other military installation that I visit....except for the insane heat, lack of stop lights, 25 mph hour speed limit, and the 3 foot long iguanas roaming around!
The hardest thing for me aabout visiting the base is the lack of connection available to the outside world. There are only a few spots that have Wi-Fi, and all other internet options consist of the old-fashioned dial up connection (which I didn't even know still existed in 2011). If you know me, you know that this is a huge problem! I use my phone all day every day...calls, email, text, apps, Facebook, news, weather reports, etc. I was literally beginning to break out in hives by the morning of my second day there! I skipped blow drying my hair to get to work earlier so that I could see that oh so important word come across my laptop screen.....Google! Though I hated not having quick access home to Steven and the kids, by the end of the week I had begun to adjust to life off of the grid. It really made me realize how much data and information I process on a daily basis, and just how much time I waste in a day checking my beloved iPhone.
On the bright side, by the end of the first night, Shelman ( a coworker that I was traveling with) and I had discovered the famous O'Kelly's Irish Pub that I had heard so many stories about from my coworkers! Yes, there is an Irish Pub in Cuba, and it happens to be staffed 100% by Jamaicans! Come on, you have to love the irony! It also is one of the few MWR sponsored Wi-Fi hotspots, so I was able to use Tango and Skype to chat with the fam at home each night!
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| Seeing this sign as I get off the plane makes me feel so incredibly proud! I am fortunate to have such a unique opporutnity to serve my country doing a job that means so much to me. |
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| This is the C12 and two of the pilots that fly us to and from GTMO. |
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| This is a seriously small plane! |
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| Lori, Fran, and Dr. Coyle - my travel buddies from the October 2011 trip! |
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