Blue Monday-Windmill Beach

 

Smiling Sally always inspires me to find the beauty in the blues. I often find myself picking out the different shades of blue in the Caribbean waters. This is Windmill Beach located in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The time of day and weather conditions will dictate the colors we see.  At times the clarity is such that you could almost see the bottom of the ocean. It is one of my favorite and most peaceful spots on the island.

Enjoy my blue waters and visit other displays of blue by visiting Smilingsally's Blue Monday!

Peace,

Terie

                                             

Another travel adventure in the U.S.

Since we moved to Guantanamo Bay visiting family has become more of a challenge.  Coming and going is definitely not as easy as one would imagine.  After all we are traveling and in and out of military installation, security is higher and flights are limited.  My plan was to travel Space A after the big holiday rush, therefore guaranteeing seats coming and going.  Cost of my tickets for four of us? Under $200 round trip. Can't beat that.  I, unfortunately, made a big mistake that cost me a lot of money. I was frustrated for a good hour trying to figure out if it would be worth going on the trip, I was not expecting to spend the money on the ticket, instead I planned to splurge a little visiting family and our son Josh.  But I quickly decided it was definitely worth seeing my kid and more so, seeing him and his siblings together again.  That was priceless so we paid and off we went on a 10 day adventure up and down the East Coast.  

My expectations were to hit major traffic jams, get lost a few times, miss seeing friends, and spend too much time just traveling.  Turns out I left my bad luck right at the ticket counter in Guantanamo when I paid the huge price for our four tickets.  After that everything went smoothly.  OK well, maybe not everything, apparently my credit card wouldn't work and Enterprise did not leave a car for me at the airport, but that was easily resolved by going to another rental company who quickly accommodated me with a car, free gas, AND a free GPS unit.  We sat in our newly rented KIA Soul and the song "Party Rock" by LMFAO came on.  Of course, my teen daughter Em and I started dancing and laughing because we remembered the commercial with the chipmunks dancing to this tune in a KIA Soul.  It was a great way to start our vacation--again. I knew it would be fine. 

We traveled from Norfolk to New York and back in 10 days and covered 1100 miles. Visiting family in every state, some friends, a couple of colleges for Em and ate entirely too much.  However, we hit very little traffic and had no problems finding a place to park no matter where we were... yes even in NY.  The only pain I'm experiencing right now is back and neck. The Soul is a nice little car with an incredible amount of space for all our luggage and toys but not the best for driving two to three hours daily, however it was great to park because it fit just about anywhere--loved it, as long as I can get a massage soon.

We are now sitting in a USO in Norfolk waiting to board.  With no delays we should be in Guantanamo Bay by noon today.  I do miss Michael a lot, though I don't think he would have liked all the driving we had to do.  I also miss my routine, my friends, and my exercise... really need to get back to gym, desperately.  Thankfully I have to teach a lot so I wont be lacking physical activity.  I'm ready for GTMO!! 

Christmas in GTMO- Faries on the Tour of Homes

One of the events that take place here in Guantanamo during the holidays is the Tour of Homes, sponsored by the Guantanamo Bay Spouses Club. During this event residents volunteer to have their decked out homes show cased and entered as part of the tour. Their job is simply to decorate as much or as little as they wish and in any style they wish and some choose to provide some light drinks and snacks, others simply show-off the outdoors. The rest is up to the visitors who tour in groups of five or six and make their way from home to home. There's no competition or judging, we simply visit and get ideas or get to see how others decorate during the winter holidays.

One of my favorite homes this year had the prettiest fairies throughout the house. I loved their faces, their poses, and the different personalities. The owner of this home gave me permission to take pictures and post them. They are just so precious. Here are some of her treasures. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as we did and if you have anything to add about these pretty fairies or your own collection of winter decor, please leave a comment.

I have to say, she is my favorite :-)

I have more but have no access to my photos from this location.

Enjoy.

Holidays, GTMO Latino, and life in Guantanamo Bay

I can not believe it is the middle of December already. I feel like November was a mad rush. Even here in GTMO, people prepare themselves for the Holidays in December. You've heard me talk about our store here. It's adequate for size of this base and the population. But when a sale is announced you better believe the store sells out of their merchandise...FAST! Black Friday was Special. There were people lined up for hours before the store opened at 6:00 am. What could be on sale? Most likely video game systems, games, and other electronics. I chose to rest, reflect on all we have to be thankful for, and I went for a run.. The 10K Turkey Trot. That was fun, sort of, I overheated and almost passed out but in the end, I finished the race and glad to have participated.

Here we are already planning the Christmas celebrations. Three days into the month we started celebrating with the tree lighting ceremony and performances by the local children. Then to the outdoor movies to see the Muppet Movie (it was just OK by the way). Exactly one week later we continued the celebration with a float parade. Last year we rode the float for Public Works, this year we chose to just watch the parade...that was way more fun and the kids had a great time visiting Santa, eating cookies and hot cocoa, and again watching the carolers on stage. Yup, another fun evening in GTMO. That wasn't, isn't the end... There's something going on daily it seems. Santa can be seen at the store, at school, the Bayview and at no point are we waiting in ling lines nor do we ever pay anything for pictures with Santa. The kids will be so spoiled when we leave here. My favorite is that in every picture you'll see the kids with shorts and t-shirts and sandals while Santa is probably cooking in his suit. But he is a cool Santa, you never see him sweat.

We've been to a few parties, a coup,e of luncheons, and best of all was experiencing the GTMO Latino's Parranda. They show up when you least expect them and start singing the most lively, fun, Christmas songs. I offer them a little drink and they keep singing. It was a lot of fun! Not your everyday caroling that's for sure.

Speaking of GTMO Latino, if you happen to be Latino and are considering moving to GTMO, trust me, you will not be alone. You will have an instant family upon arrival. It is so nice to have such a welcoming, fun, active community in a place so distant from home. You don't even need to speak Spanish to hang with them. I will miss them when we leave.

Speaking of missing people... I miss all my friends who have left the island before me. It has been hard, every time one leaves because we really don't know when well see each other again. However sad it may be to say goodbye, missing them this much only means that our friendship was real and strong. I have been blessed with some really great friends .

Our time in GTMO is approaching. Six to eight months from what I hear. Not sure where well go next so I won't dwell on that right now. I will just continue to enjoy life in GTMO... Diving, running, teaching, and watching the most amazing skies I have ever seen!

Until next time....

Terie