Our Family’s Last Days in GTMO

I should be at the pier right about now to attend the USS CARR (FFG 52) Ship Tour, but here I am blogging about my family’s last days in GTMO.  Yes, if you haven’t heard, we are leaving.  Our life in GTMO comes to an end on November 27, 2012, but our GTMO life will remain with us forever in our minds and hearts.  We have almost two years worth of memories of this U.S. Naval Base: some good, some not so good.  We are happy to have them all, even the not so good ones.

My husband learned about our leaving on Tuesday, November 13, the day after Veterans Day was observed, but he didn’t give me the news until Wednesday morning.  I had intended to post my next blog entry for the week on Wednesday, but I was shocked, excited, confused and a little sad when I learned of the news .  So, hopefully, you’ll forgive me for slacking since I had only two weeks to pack, sell our vehicles, decide on schooling options for my daughter, organize a yard sale, etc. to prepare for our family’s stateside life.

My husband was hesitant to tell me of the news because he was unsure of my reaction.  He always tries to protect me from stress because he knows I am a Type A personality.  He knew I would be happy to learn we were returning to my hometown, but he wasn’t sure how I would handle the short notice.  To his surprise, I was thrilled.  I confess… I was a bit stressed when I heard that we only had two weeks to prepare for the overseas relocation; but I insisted that if I can move to GTMO within a month, I should be able to move back stateside within two weeks.  Afterall, when we moved to GTMO, we had a whole house to deal with.  Here, it’s just a 2 bedroom, one bath apartment.  Was I wrong!  How did we accumulate so much stuff in less than two years?  So far, I shipped 26 boxes, and I still have about 4 more to ship on Monday.

So, the next question:  Why are we leaving?  I’ll explain later in another post.  It’s a long story.  Although I have been dreaming and praying for this day for a long time, I still feel a little sad because we are leaving behind some people we’ve met and actually got a chance to know well.  Our family has moved and lived in several places, and with each new place, new house, we were able to make it feel like a new home, except GTMO.  I did everything possible, but I was unsuccessful at making GTMO feel like “Home Sweet Home” even with supportive and encouraging friends in GTMO.

I have to admit, I will miss a few things about this place.  I’ll miss the fact that I don’t have to spend lots of money on clothes since it’s only one season here.  I’ll miss the fact that I don’t have a mortgage, car payments, or utility bills.  I’ll miss the slow life, not having to deal with traffic congestion.  I’ll miss some of the people I have met.  I’ll miss the delicious mouth watering Jamaican jerk chicken, roast fish, goat curry, and all the great food the “Hill” offers.  I’ll miss the $4.55 Surf and Turf buffets at the Goldhill Galley. I’ll miss the opportunity to taste a variety of ethnic cuisine like Filipino lumpia and pancit and authentic Cuban sandwiches.  And I’ll even miss dodging the iguanas.  But, I would trade all of this for stateside life.  For consistency.  For choices.  For convenience.   For comfort.  For organization.  For family. For close friends.  For sanity.  For normalcy or what I consider normalcy.

For the past 12 days, moving preparations weren’t the only activities occupying my time.  We spent Tuesday evening enjoying my daughter’s piano recital.  We celebrated Thanksgiving Day at the beach with some friends and with my husband’s coworkers, saying our goodbyes and sharing good food and company.  It was emotional for me, but with me being Type A personality, I was able to hide my emotions well.  My daughter, on the other hand, immediately teared up when we got into the station wagon and drove away.  She’s so much like one of her aunts.  Even my husband choked up a bit, but he claimed it was dust causing his eyes to water.

Tomorrow night, we’ll get teary eyed again, having to say our good byes to a dear sweet couple who have invited us to have our last dinner with them.  I consider the female friend as a close confidant on island, and she reminds me so much of one of my nieces that I immediately felt comfortable with her upon meeting her for the first time almost two years ago.

Monday, will be a chaotic day for us since we have to run last minute errands like turning off phone service, shipping our last boxes, cleaning the apartment, and tending to other mundane chores.

I believe that it’s a bit easier for us to leave GTMO compared to other places we have lived not because we didn’t really enjoy life here, but more so because we’ve always known that GTMO wasn’t going to be a permanent place for us.  GTMO was only temporary, and we knew this before we relocated to this island of paradoxical features.  GTMO is kind, harsh, supportive, vengeful, beautiful, ugly, normal, insane, and so much more.  GTMO is a place that will never fade from my memory bank.

Well, my husband is staring at the computer, hinting to me that he needs to pack it up for shipping.  I guess this means I need to end my blogging now.  I have more packing to do.  Until next time…happy reading!

It Don’t “GTMO” Better Than This. Or Does It?

In February of 2011, I learned a new popular catch phrase that is now too often used around the base.  There are variations of the phrase from “It don’t ‘GTMO’ better than this” to “Life don’t ‘GTMO’ better than this,” and there’s “Can it ‘GTMO’ better than this?” At first, I thought it was catchy and cute.  Now, every time I hear someone repeating one of these variations of the “GTMO” better phrases, I just want to slap them.  Mainly because I just can’t imagine anyone thinking how life “don’t ‘GTMO’ better” than life in GTMO.

What would make life in GTMO “GTMO” better for me?  

1. Married people, stop cheating on each other!  Your indiscretions make life more difficult for those of us who don’t cheat.

Because infidelity is so rampant on base, everyone (well, almost everyone) becomes suspicious at the slightest kind, polite gesture displayed from a man to a woman or vice versa.  It’s hard for me to give you any stats on how many married people on base are having affairs because no one is going to outright admit to a stranger or even someone he or she knows for only over a year that he or she is cheating.  What I do know is that infidelity among military marriages is rampant.  This I know from what I observe in GTMO, and according to one article entitled “Jody” by Richard Engel, NBC News Correspondent, the anecdotes suggest the same.  The veterans and military personnel who were interviewed for the article said they believe infidelity occurs in about 85% of military marriages!  The majority of military spouses I’ve spoken to on base share the same sentiments.  Even though infidelity among high profile individuals (e.g. former President Bill Clinton, John Edwards, and Arnold Schwarzenegger) have been publicized in the news, and even though I know that it happens in marriages, if I had not live in GTMO and just read this article, I would not have believed this information.  I suppose I’m just naive.  But because I have been living in GTMO for almost two years and have personally witnessed some of the behavior here and have heard stories from credible sources; I know that infidelity not only happens here, but it is also rampant.

And because this is such common behavior in this community, it’s no surprise that people become suspicious of others.  Their suspicions then turn into gossip.  You can barely greet someone of the opposite sex at the grocery store with a friendly hello without people looking at you with suspicions.  This behavior causes you to always be on guard and not allow you to be yourself. This can complicate several areas of your life, like getting dressed.

When living stateside, I never put too much thought into my fashion.  I basically just threw something on and not worry about is it too revealing, or whether or not I look too provocative in this or that.  Here…it’s crazy!  I’m always making sure that I dress modestly enough so that no one suspects I’m trying to attract attention to myself.

Then there’s the question “Should I say hello or not?”  when I run into someone of the opposite sex in the grocery store.  Sometimes, it depends.  If it’s a married man, and I know the man well and he is friends with my husband, I won’t hesitate to say hello.  That’s safe, right?  And if I run into a single man or a married man who is not friends with my husband, but we have actually held a conversation, I will say hello…maybe that depends.  But if we really haven’t held any conversations or if the conversation seemed brief, I will probably just walk past them without a greeting.  But will that seem rude?  I was raised in the south.  My mama and other southern mamas would think that is rude.  How long should I talk to the man before it seems inappropriate?  You get my drift?  Headache!

So, now, I just talk to everybody and anybody at anytime and wear whatever I want.

2.  Quit staring, please.

Another reason why I dislike living in GTMO is because of the constant stares.  I mentioned before in a earlier post titled “GTMO Life is For You If…” that I get alot of stares here.  The stares wouldn’t bother me so much if the people were staring out of curiosity, but they are staring out of lust.  I ain’t used to that.  Someone needs to hold a workshop on base and teach these menfolks here that it’s not polite to stare at women.  And it’s just not me.  Men stare at almost every woman, fat or slim, young or old, good looking and not so good looking.  It’s really eery.  You could be wearing the worst outfit, with no make-up on, hair messy, and they will still stare lustfully at you.

Awhile back we had some pro football cheerleaders (I forgot the name of the football team, but I think they were with the Miami Dolphins) visiting the base, and they were at the NEX grocery shopping.  I swear!  I thought I was going to have to call the store manager to mop up the wet floors from all their salivating over these young, beautiful, talented women.  I felt sorry for the girls because they looked so uncomfortable with all the men staring at them lustfully.  What’s worse is that the men weren’t even trying to be discreet about their desires.  They were staring hard.

I think it’s because so many men on base are here unaccompanied with no wives or girlfriends.  And some of the foreign nationals (the Filipinos and Jamaicans) may not even get to see their wives or girlfriends for awhile.  I heard that the Filipino men only get to visit their home country every two years.  That’s a long time!

3.  Young women, please wear more clothes.  Well, I should say… please wear clothes with more fabric.

I know in my #1 listing, I mentioned that getting dressed for me is a hassle, and it may seem like I was advising people not to worry too much about what people will think of your clothes. So, it may seem ironic that I am now asking some women to pay more attention to what they wear.  If you were here, you would understand.    But…I shall attempt to explain it in words here.

Most people with some common sense fashion know that if you are living in a place where the ratio of men to women is 13 to 1, and where many men lustfully stare at women, you try to dress modestly.  You can look sexy and beautiful and classy without letting all your boobs and butt cheeks hang out.  I have never seen more young women who dress more sluttish than I have on this base.  Yes, I said it.  So there!  I have even seen older women dress this way.  It’s usually the young women (early 20′s or so) who display a false level of self confidence and are a bit on the heavier side that dress this way.  I suppose it’s their way of getting attention and noticed.  I don’t know.  I’m not sure if they actually think they look good or what.  I also don’t think they realize they are on the heavier side.  I think they believe they are physically fit.

The shorts are so short and tight, they cut into their cellulite thighs and ride up on their crotches.  Seriously! It looks rather uncomfortable, actually.

Don’t be these girls!

I can’t blame them totally though.  I mean, we only have one store on base that sells clothes, unless you count the thrift store too.  Lately, the fashion selection has been better; but when we first moved here, it was horrible.  Your selection was either “grandmama shorts” or “hoochie mama shorts.”  But if I were one of those girls, I would make it an effort to do some online shopping.  Even if you are a bigger size woman, you can still dress sexy and look classy.  No need to show off your assets for the entire base’s viewing.

The second blame goes to their friends, especially girlfriends.  I have overheard girls telling their friends, “You look so hot in that!”  Don’t lie to your friends!  Tell them the truth. Your friend will thank you later.  You can be honest in a polite way.  Just say, “I don’t think that’s flattering on you.  It doesn’t show off your best features.” or “I think this dress doesn’t do you justice.”  You don’t have to be specific or down your friend.  Don’t say, “Oh that makes you look fat.” or “Those shorts expose your cottage cheese thighs.”

I have seen larger size women on base who dress very well.  They look beautiful and sexy.  I wish some of them will have the nerve to go up to one of these 20 something year old young women and teach them that you don’t have to be almost naked to look good.

You’re probably wondering how these young women’s choice of fashion affects my life in GTMO. Well, I have a teen daughter who is also a bit on the heavier side.  I don’t want her to see these young women and grow up thinking this is how she needs to dress or behave to attract the attention of men.  And because so many of them do dress this way, it becomes appropriate or acceptable.  And what really irritates me is when these young women dress this way and later ask why they have trouble getting men to respect them.  Answer:  look in the mirror.

4.  I want an indoor swimming pool with a spa and salon that offers manicure, pedicure, and various massage services.  Also, a salon that staffs hairstylists who have the skills, knowledge and ability to work on various hair types.

No need for further explanation here.  I just like being pampered.

5.  A DoD school where all children can enroll tuition free. 

See my explanation on this in my blog post titled “Things You Should Know Before Relocating to GTMO” under the education section.

6. Every once in awhile, I would like MWR or whoever is in charge of entertainment to fly in a group of classical musicians and host a symphony performance for all base residents. 

Currently, we have nothing like this on base.  After five months of living on base, I started to have withdrawal symptoms.  When we were living stateside, my family regularly attends live theatre performances, such as plays, symphony orchestra concerts, and ballets.  We also enjoyed going to the museums.  Unfortunately, our rural town didn’t offer these cultural options, but they were easily accessible since we lived pretty close to Little Rock and Dallas.  On the weekends, we would take the two or three hour drive to Dallas, TX, or Little Rock, AR, to attend a concert or view a special art or science exhibition. Now, we have to fly into Florida to enjoy these favorite past times, which means we can’t afford to do this on a regular or more frequent basis because of the high airfare.

6. Is being on time that challenging in GTMO?

You’d think living on a U.S. military base, time is of great importance.  I have always thought that the military teaches people to be on time.  Promptness is a necessity.  But not here.  Not in GTMO.  Every time we have something on base, you can be sure it won’t start on time.  Sometimes you can be 15 to 20 minutes late, and there’s no issue.  Even when I host events at my home or somewhere, people tend to arrive about 10 minutes or even 30 minutes after the scheduled start time.  This can be a good thing if I need that extra time for preparations.  But I tend to be a planner and am typically always on time with things, so this is a bit frustrating since I plan a start and end time for a reason.  So, now, if I want people to arrive at 10 a.m., I will say 9 a.m.  That will help get people to show up on time more.

Those of you who know me well and have heard of my complaints about GTMO not having enough different restaurants on base may be shocked to see that I didn’t include in my list of requests for more restaurants.  I didn’t do this because I am afraid that if there are good restaurants on base, I would be more tempted to eat out more often.  This will not help my waistline.

Well, there are a few other things that I believe would make my life in GTMO more tolerable.   I think they are worth mentioning, so I’ll just briefly touch on those before I end my post: indoor movie theatre…I want one on base; soldiers… stop cussing in the presence of children (you wouldn’t do it in a public place stateside so don’t do it on base just because it is acceptable and commonplace behavior here); employees on base…if you make a mistake, admit it, correct it and try not to let it happen again; a bigger house…I have no room to cook and entertain guests; a grocery store where I can get all of my ingredients whenever I need them…I like to cook.  So basically, what would allow me to one day be able to say “It don’t ‘GTMO’ better than this”?  If GTMO life was more like my stateside life.

Well, that’s all for now.  I’m sure later on I’ll think of something else that gets under my skin.  Until then…happy reading!

GTMO Life Is For You If…

In my earlier blog entry entitled “Things You Should Know Before Relocating to GTMO,” I promised that I would highlight the “positive” factors about GTMO.  I noticed some of the items on my positive list were also on my negative list and vice versa.  It occurred to me that some positives may be considered negatives to others, depending on the individual.  So, instead of listing all the positive and negative traits, I decided to publish a post about what kind of person would most likely find GTMO a great place to live. This may help you better determine if GTMO life is right for you.

GTMO life is for you if…

1.  You are the type of person who feels that stateside life is too overwhelming or too expensive.

An acquaintance in GTMO described GTMO so perfectly when she posted on her Facebook wall: “GTMO is the poor man’s Hawaii.” Most people I have talked to who say they enjoy GTMO life seem to like it here because if they were to live stateside, they would not have the financial means to enjoy the many activities that they would here.  Or if they did, they would not be able to do them as regularly as they would like because of either cost or time.

Activities in GTMO are rather inexpensive compared to stateside.  You can rent a kayak for just $2 an hour or go to the movies for free.  You can exercise without having to worry about how expensive the gym membership fees are because there is no membership fee.  You can go to the beaches and not have to worry about having enough money for parking or entrance fees because there are none.  You can go out to dinner and spend less than $15 to feed three people at a buffet style restaurant.  That is if you go to the galley to eat.  And the big part is that if you live in GTMO, you don’t have to worry about whether or not you have enough money to pay your mortgage/rent (on island) or electric bill on time because housing and utilities, which are usually two of the highest expenses for stateside residents, are free.  If you can save on these items, you’ll have more to save or use somewhere else.

For most GTMO residents, it’s usually used somewhere else.  Most people in GTMO live lavish lifestyles compared to what I am used to seeing while living stateside.  Almost everyone here has a big, flat screen t.v. in their home.  Almost everyone here have taken luxury vacations at least once in their lifetime.  Almost everyone here owns more electronic items than the average person living stateside.  It is not uncommon to see people with even the most modest income to have the most up to date state of the art tech gadget.

Most of the people I know living stateside are professionals like doctors, lawyers, business owners, or people with higher paying salaries yet they don’t spend as extravagantly as most GTMO residents.  And this is one main reason why people who leave GTMO tend to return here…to save money or to be able to spend more money.  They find that stateside living costs too much and some people experience alot of mental and emotional stress when they return stateside because now they have to face alot of financial burdens that they didn’t while living in GTMO.  This can be overwhelming to them.  Also, when you are used to spending a certain way, and now you can’t, it can affect your quality of life.

The same things that I listed above as positives can also be negatives to some people, like me.  Although activities are fairly inexpensive, I don’t consider that as a positive because I don’t really enjoy outdoor activities that much to use them.  And, even if I did enjoy kayaking or boating, I wouldn’t like doing those activities here because the equipment aren’t that nice. And if you don’t really know how to kayak, there’s no professional instructor on base to teach you.  You basically just go check out a kayak and from then on, you’re pretty much on your own.  If you don’t mind swatting bugs while watching your favorite movie, you might enjoy the free movies in GTMO.  GTMO has an amphitheatre, which means you may be watching your favorite movie in the rain. Convenience and comfort are important to me so that’s why the positives here don’t outweigh the negatives for me.

And yes, I can spend more freely in GTMO since I have less expenses, but is that really a good thing?  When I first moved here, I continued to pretend that I still have a house payment, two car payments, utility bills and other expenses that I normally would have if I were to live stateside.  My reason for doing this is because I want to make sure that I don’t adopt a spending habit that would cause me to have a difficult time adjusting when returning stateside.

Another observation I made is that life in GTMO seems more relaxed here.  People have more time to enjoy leisure and social activities here.  Some people get too used to this and when they return stateside, they have a difficult time readjusting to life where one has more responsibilities other than attending social events or enjoying a fishing or boating trip.

2. You are a single female who enjoys ALOT of male attention.  Or actually ANY female who enjoys ALOT of male attention.

I was told the ratio of men to women in GTMO is approximately 13 to 1.  With such a high number of men and a low number of women, well, you might have an idea why this place may be a good place for women (according to some women and most men).

When I first relocated to GTMO, I noticed that I received alot of stares.  The stares didn’t bother me because I was used to dealing with stares. The town I lived in before relocating to GTMO was a small, rural town with a population that lacks diversity.  I believe my husband and I were the only Asian and black couple in town and surrounding cities.  Usually when people aren’t used to something, they stare.  Well, I figured it was the same reason why I was receiving stares in GTMO.  Perhaps, people here have never seen an Asian and black couple before.  But no…that’s not why.  I discovered later that we’re not the only black and Asian couple on island and that GTMO is an extremely diverse population with people from dozens of different countries.  You’ll see interracial couples on a daily basis.  Plus, you can go to the grocery store and hear people speaking in Japanese, Russian, Vietnamese, Arabic, French, Spanish and a host of other languages.  So I started to wonder why I was getting so many stares.  Was it because I’m an Asian speaking with a southern twang?  I have been told on several occasions that that was rather unusual.  But that’s not the reason either.  One of my good friends, who’s no longer on island, told me that the stares is because of my gender, not because of my southern twang.  And now I agree.

I noticed that men in GTMO (and not all of them, but most) stare at women constantly.  Some will not even have the decency to hide the fact that they are staring at you.  They will literally turn their heads while driving to look at you and risk an accident than to miss the opportunity.  It’s a bit unnerving to me.  It affects alot of decisions I make that I wouldn’t even have to think twice about if I were to live stateside.  That’s a whole other topic that I’ll be sharing on another post.

One of my nephews who came to visit us also noticed this awkward and rude practice.  We were grocery shopping one day, and he later mentioned to me that he saw several men turn around and stared at me and eyed me up and down.

He jokingly teased me and said, “Dang, you are a hot commodity in GTMO!”

My daughter overheard our conversation and commented, “If Mommy gets stared at, just imagine what would happen if a supermodel visits GTMO.  She’ll get raped!”

Yes, even I, a short, chubby, greyed hair plain PTA type of mom receives lusting stares here.  So, if you are an insecure woman, come to GTMO.  It will help boost your self esteem.

3. You are a good looking or financially stable single man who enjoys sex. On second thought, you don’t even have to be single.

Despite my earlier mention about the ratio of men to women, a man in GTMO can easily enjoy GTMO life, if sex is a determining factor on whether or not he will enjoy life here.  I had heard that casual sex and unfaithful marriages are common in GTMO.  Yes, I am sharing my thoughts on a topic that is considered highly controversial in the GTMO community.  Like I said before…I ain’t hiding nothing.  If I’m going to start this blog, I’m sharing the good and the bad.  GTMO readers, read on if you can stomach it.

If you are a man who has the financial means and don’t mind spending money on women, this is your paradise.  You would think the odds are against your favor since I mentioned earlier that the ratio of men to women is about 13 to 1.  But…hey, I guess in GTMO, if you can pay, you can play.  Most women in GTMO aren’t that selective.  If you can spoil her with lavish gifts and material things, you’ll have a chance at enjoying her “company.”  I have heard some single men on island say “It’s easier to get laid in GTMO than to get a real date.”  I’m thinking this type of lifestyle is pretty common among military families that’s why the divorce rate among military families are at its highest level since 1999.  Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying it’s just military families engaging in this lifestyle (although stats show that infidelity among military marriages are higher than the average marriage), AND I’m not saying that ALL military families practice this lifestyle so don’t go typing up an angry email to me just yet.  Wait for my next blog entry to do that.  I’ll be discussing my thoughts on infidelity issues and other “things” in GTMO that concerns me and make my life here less enjoyable.  Back to my thought about #3…if you don’t have the money to spend or don’t want to spend your money on a woman, you need to be a fairly good looking man to attract the attention of most GTMO women.  And because beauty is in the eye of the beholder, don’t go sending me your recent pics and ask if I think you are good looking enough.

4.  You are currently living stateside and are unemployed and have little money.

It is not uncommon to learn that many people who accepted job offers in GTMO did so because they were desperate for jobs.  Because the job market hasn’t been at its best for several years, many people had a hard time securing stateside employment or was laid off in their last position, so GTMO was their last resort or best option.  Either you go to GTMO and work or you remain stateside and risk homelessness.  For those who were lucky enough to land a stateside job, the jobs may not pay as well as the ones in GTMO so this is why they decided to come here.  This wasn’t the case for our family.  Although my husband’s position was cut at his last job with International Paper, he received several offers and even some with a higher salary offers than his previous one at RRAD.  He decided to accept his first contracting position in GTMO mainly to experience “living abroad.”  Little did we know that life in GTMO was not really “living abroad.”

So to sum up my lengthy blog, there are four main types of people that GTMO life may be right for and those are: 1) you are an extravagant spender but really don’t have the financial means to do so and like to pretend that you are living a good life in Hawaii; 2) You are an insecure female with low self esteem who enjoys insincere flattery to help boost your false sense of self confidence; 3) You are a man who doesn’t like being in a committed relationship and just want a fling; (4) You are desperate.

Until next time…happy reading!

A GTMO Life Is A Fit Life…Well, For Most People Anyways.

“Let’s go walking,” I said to my husband early in the wee morning…around 5 a.m.  He stared at me with a confused look, laid his head back down, and pulled his covers over his head.

“Let’s go walking,” I said again, this time with a more commanding tone in my voice.

“Kristen, go back to sleep.  You’re having a bad dream,” he mumbled.

My husband was sure I must have been dreaming since in our 14 years (this happened last year) of togetherness, I had never invited (or in the case of that morning… demanded him) to go walking or do any form of activity that remotely resembles exercising.

I had been residing in GTMO for only three months, and I thought it time for me to conform to GTMO life.  Everyone here exercises.  Well, at least everyone I know and socializes with in GTMO regularly exercises.  When our family lived stateside, we exercised.  It’s not like it was a new thing for us.  We exercised!  We exercised twice a year!  After celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas with huge multicultural meals of southern fried turkey, baked ham, Vietnamese egg rolls, a varied assortment of Mexican casseroles, typical mouth watering side dishes, French desserts, and whatever else my diverse family members bring to the table, I threw on my sweats and walked on the treadmill.  Wasn’t speed walking on the treadmill or mall walking twice a year after consuming big portions of fat and grease enough exercise to keep us healthy?  Apparently, not.

When my daughter first stepped foot on “GTMOland” almost two years ago, she commented on her observation about our family’s physical fitness.

“Mommy, did you notice that we are probably the fattest family on base?” she inquired.

Her question brought it to my attention that our family doesn’t exercise enough.  I looked around and saw all these physically fit women in their mid 30′s to late 40′s and decided that I need to get on the bandwagon. I’m typically not a conformist, but I thought conforming to exercising may not be a bad thing for our family.  I watched people walk, jog, run, bike up and down streets, dirt hills, grassy trails and hard concrete sidewalks in the Cuban heat while fighting off the blood sucking thirsty mini vampires called “mosquitoes.”

It didn’t surprise me to see so many people exercising.  What surprised me was that I could find someone exercising anytime of the day or night.  I have never seen such dedication from so many people when it comes to exercising.  It was not uncommon for me to see people running while pushing their newborn or toddlers in strollers. It didn’t occur to me then that perhaps there were so many people exercising throughout the day and night because we live on a military installation.

One thing I can boast about GTMO is that it has all the resources available to residents to lose weight and live a healthy lifestyle.  GTMO residents can take advantage of a variety of group exercise classes that are free: yoga, pilates, cardio kickboxing, Zumba, step aerobics, and water aerobics.  The base also have two gyms that do not require a fee based membership.  The hours are convenient and the facilities are pretty up-to-date.  The base is currently expanding and updating the base’s main gym.  And since I’ve been here, some of the exercise equipment have also been upgraded.

The main gym has indoor and sand volleyball, basketball courts, a room with boxing equipment, cardio and weight lifting sections, saunas, miniature golf course, skate board park, batting cage, track, and so much more.

Saying goodbye to one of our guest Zumba instructors.

Morale Welfare Recreation (MWR) also staffs well trained and highly qualified Jamaican and American fitness instructors who are certified to teach the classes mentioned above.  There’s also a fitness instructor who will provide you with a physical fitness assessment free of charge and even provide you with an individualized nutrition and workout plan to help you meet your goals.

The base regularly hosts 5K and 10K runs.  Once in awhile, there is a half marathon, and several branches of the military on base host triathlons as fundraisers.  Typically, the runs do not require any registration fee.  I heard this is a great incentive since veteran runners tell me that most stateside races require a registration fee.  Once the base sponsored a race during Cinco de Mayo.  The finishers get to have free nachos and a free margarita.  I’m not sure how healthy that is, but the free food and margarita got my attention so I signed up.  I did finish, but by the time I made it to the alcohol tent, I was too delirious from my fatigue, that I completely forgot about the free food and booze.  I asked for water, and instead of drinking it, I poured it over my face.

Since living in GTMO, I am proud to announce to friends and family that I now exercise regularly.  Funny thing is that I have not lost one pound!  I actually gained.  I still wear the same size clothes, but for some reason, people say I look slimmer in my pictures.  I promise I’m not photoshopping my pics!  I think the main reason why I haven’t lost any weight here is because I love to eat.  I have a weakness for food.  Darn that jerk chicken from the “Hill!”

So…while everyone else is getting fit in GTMO, I’m still stuck on my stateside eating habits.  Perhaps next year, I’ll have more will power to turn my eyes, nose and mouth away from temptation.  Until then…happy reading!

A Message From My 13 Year Old Daughter

If you have been reading my blogs and keeping up with me on Facebook, you’re probably wondering why I have this post today.  I announced on my Facebook page that I would not be posting any new blog entries today since I wanted to set this day aside to focus on rewriting one of my blog entries for a possible submission to a travel magazine.  But my daughter continuously interrupts my writing to insist that I blog something about voting and the election.  She explained that it was my civic duty to use this medium of communication to encourage others to exercise their right to vote and blah, blah, blah.

I reminded her that my blog is about GTMO life, not about elections, voting, politics, etc.  She explained that voting is part of our family’s GTMO life since my husband and I do vote AND we do live in GTMO.  She suggested I blog about our first experience as overseas voters.  I considered her request, but then I got to thinking how boring that post would be.  I basically just went online to the Federal Voting Assistance Program website at http://www.fvap.gov and registered to vote.  I then received my ballot via email, cast my vote and sent in my absentee ballot via postal service.  Nothing dramatic or interesting about that.

Although I realize that tomorrow is election day, I have been avoiding to blog about it since I understand that the fastest way to lose friends is to openly discuss issues pertaining to politics, religion or money.  And since this blog is fairly new, I really don’t want to lose any readership.  I explained this to her, but she was still adamant that I publish a brief blurb about voting and the election.  So, I negotiated with her.  I told her I would allow her to use my blog site to share her thoughts on voting and this year’s election.  This is her message:

“Go out and vote!  If you live stateside, you need to go to the polls tomorrow and vote.  If you live in GTMO, you should have already sent in your absentee ballot.  If you didn’t, you are a moron!  You know there are no voting polls here in GTMO.  Or don’t you?  If you didn’t, then I’m sorry for calling you a moron.  You should have known though.  Don’t vote for who your friends or parents or husband or wife tell you to vote for.  You should vote for who you think is the best person to do the job.  The President is probably the most important job in this country, and you don’t want to just pick someone that someone else tells you is the best person. That person may be wrong. Just pretend you own a company, and Mitt Romney and Barack Obama wants to work for you.  What kind of questions do you think you would ask them to see who you would hire?  That’s what I would do to help me decide who I would vote for.  You don’t want to vote for someone who will ruin your company, right?  Well, that’s all I have to say about voting and the election. I want to thank you for reading and thank my mom for typing my message.”

I’m Kristen Bui, and I approve this message.

Until next time….happy reading!

Blogging in GTMO about Blogging in GTMO

When I first entertained the thought of starting a blog, I wanted to discuss it with my family.  I figured if I am going to write about my life in GTMO (and my family is a big part of my life) then they should have some say so over whether or not they approve of my idea.  I thought it would be helpful to obtain their approval at dinner time since I can bribe them with their favorite southern meal. During our fried pork chop dinner, I initiated the conversation with “I sure do miss writing.”  I was hoping my comment would produce a response like “Why don’t you start a blog?”  It didn’t.  Instead, my husband looked at me suspiciously and asked, “Did you start a blog?”  My then 11 year old daughter’s surprised response was “Mommy, do you know what a blog is?”

That conversation took place almost two years ago.  Needless to say, they weren’t initially supportive about my idea of starting a blog, but they eventually approved of it after almost two years worth of bribery and persuasion.  So…here I am sitting at my computer in my cramped, nine hundred and something square feet, 2 bedroom, one bath GTMO apartment typing up my fifth blog entry.

You may be wondering why my family had reservations about why I should start a blog.  First, it’s our location.  My husband wasn’t too thrilled about the idea that I would be sharing our life experiences in GTMO because we were living in GTMO.  Guantanamo Bay is a place where people have to be extra careful with what information we share to the public.  I reminded my husband that I wouldn’t be blogging about the detainee camps or anything like that because I have no information on that.  The only information I have on the prison camps is that they are here in GTMO.  The information I know about the camps are not considered secret or top secret information.  Anything I learn about the camps, you can too by just searching for it online.  He explained to me that it’s not just about the prison camps.  I later understood what he meant.

For some reason, life in GTMO seems to be more “secretive.”  Perhaps it’s due to the military environment.  I’m not sure.  Even writing this, I am a bit concerned about whether or not it’s ok for me to share that last statement. Well, I suppose I’ll find out after this entry is made public.  People here aren’t as open with information.  And it’s information that one would consider everyday, mundane stuff that if you were to live anywhere else, it would be ok to share.  Stuff like “Where did you get those mangoes?” or “Can we eat at the galley during late night hours?”  Well, I figured if this type of information is so protected, it may not be a good idea for me to start a blog just yet, so I decided to wait.

Secondly, my daughter reminded me that we were pretty new to the community. She was worried that my blogging could cause some hesitancy from kids to befriend her because their parents may be afraid that I may accidentally share something that I shouldn’t.  And because I was at the time unsure about what information is ok to share and what is not, I understood her concerns.  Thirdly, if I were to start a blog, I informed my husband that I was going to share EVERYTHING about our life here.  That means the good and the bad.  He was sure this may cause a stir since I have shared with him and close family and friends what the “bad” was.  Just in case you are wondering what the “bad” is, I’ll share that on another post.  I have already shared a few of them on my earlier posts titled “Things You Should Know Before Relocating to GTMO” and “Avoiding Travel Nightmares from GTMO to Jamaica.”  Lastly, my husband and daughter reminded me that I am technologically handicapped. My daughter exclaimed, “Mommy, you still have to ask me how to turn on the t.v.!”  Blogging is just not about writing.  It requires some technical skills in order to create a successful blog site.

Well, here I am almost two years later, sitting in front of my computer trying to figure out how to index my blog.  Whatever that means.  I’m spending more time learning about the “How to’s about blogging” than I am actually writing.  I have even reached out to strangers (professional bloggers) for advice and suggestions.  One told me to keep it to a maximum of 500 words and include lots of photos.  So far, all of my entries contain way more than 500 words, and I still have trouble uploading my photos.  Keep it to a max of 500 words?  How?  I have almost two years worth of information to share!  By the way, this blogger also has an article about GTMO.  You can read his amusing and shocking story here: http://thebackpackershandbook.com/2010/11/10/jamaica-to-cuba-a-story-of-guantanamo-bay/.  If you can’t click on the link, just copy and paste it.

Plus, I realized how time consuming blogging can be because I am currently still new and learning how to set up my page, using webmaster tools, etc.  I had expected to blog on a daily basis, but after only a few days of blogging, reality has hit me.  I probably can only post one new entry a week.  That is if I want to eat, sleep, homeschool my daughter, exercise and continue to tend to my domestic household chores.  I noticed that my posts contain so many grammatical and typo errors because I rush to post a new entry daily.  As a former journalist and an avid writer, these mistakes really irritate me.  So, now, in an effort to produce better written blog posts, I have to dedicate more time in the revision and editing processes.

So now, I’m looking at my word count, and it shows 1018 so far.  I guess this means I better end my writing now.  Until next time…happy reading!

Things You Should Know Before Relocating to GTMO

When I first learned about our family’s possible relocation to Guantanamo Bay (GTMO), Cuba, I immediately went online to research some information about the U.S. naval base.  I had heard horror stories about this place from the news and daily conversations with various people.  People were worried that we would consider living in a place where there were prison camps detaining international terrorists.  I found lots of information and even photos on the detainee camps, but no information on issues that may have an immediate impact on people’s quality of lives here.  Although I had reservations, I took my chances and told my husband that I would be willing to leave behind our friends and family in Texas and Arkansas to start a new adventure.  If I had known some of the information I’m about to share with you all before relocating here, I would have stayed in rural Texas, tending to my herb and vegetable garden, attending PTA meetings, volunteering at local church and charity events, karaoking and dancing privately in my southern, country decorated living room, and happily cooking in my spacious, fully stocked and well-equipped kitchen.  But I didn’t.  So now you have this blog to read.

Below is a list of things you should know if you plan on relocating to GTMO as a U.S. contractor or dependent of one.  It may better help you to decide if the move will be right for your family.

I. EDUCATION OPTIONS

If you have minor children and plan on taking them with you to GTMO, there are two ways your children can get a formal education on base:  enrolling them at the Dept of Defense (DoD) school or homeschooling.  If you plan on enrolling your child (ren) at the DoD school, you better hope your employer has it written in your contract that they will be paying for your children’s education.  If not, the current tuition rate ranges from $12,000USD to $26,000USD annually, depending on grade level.  The higher the grade level, the higher the price.  That’s just tuition.  This price does not include meals, extracurricular activities, etc.  The middle and high school students are located on the same campus, and their school campus does not have a cafeteria.  The elementary school does have a cafeteria.

This means that the 8th thru 12th grade students are required to go off campus during lunch.  The 6th and 7th graders get dropped off at the elementary campus.  A bus will drop the older students off at local eateries, such as McDonald’s, Windjammer, the Goldhill Galley (this is the U.S. Navy restaurant), Taco Bell, KFC, A&W, or Subway.  There’s also the Cuban Club, but I don’t think the kids get dropped off there.  No, they don’t eat for free or at discounted prices.  They pay regular price, just like everyone else.  In case you are wondering if the kids can bring their lunches and eat at the campus, the answer is also no.  I believe the W.T. Sampson school’s website (that’s the name of the DoD school in GTMO) says they can.  I don’t have a child who attends the DoD school, but I was told by some parents who do have children attending the school that the kids are not allowed to stay on campus during lunch hour since there are no teachers on duty during that time.  You can, however, pack your child a lunch and let your child eat at one of the local restaurants.  If you’re too busy to pack your child’s lunch, advise your child to make lots of friends at school.  Perhaps they will share their lunches with your son or daughter.

If your employer doesn’t have it written in your contract to cover your child’s tuition at the DoD school, and you can’t afford the hefty tuition rate or just don’t want to pay it, you can opt to homeschool your child.  This is what I am doing.  There is a homeschooling group on base, but I believe that I am the ONLY full-time homeschooling family.  Other homeschooling families also enroll their children in some classes at the DoD school.  They pay a prorated amount.  That’s also an option.  You may enroll your children part-time and homeschool part-time.  If you plan on homeschooling, you’ll need to contact the Homeschool Liason Officer and provide him with your child’s name/age/grade level.  This is all that is required by law.  I won’t provide the name/contact info for the Homeschool Liason here because that info may change later.  If you opt to homeschool, you may email me to obtain the contact info or contact the school.  Here’s the school’s web address: http://www.am.dodea.edu/cubaweb/.

You may be wondering why the tuition rate is so high. It must be a great school with the most updated technology and facility?  Nope. While I can’t say anything about the teachers since my child has never attended the school, the facilities and technology are certainly not the best.  I have visited both campuses.  I would think that it would cost only around $3000-$4000 a year (the most!) to go there.  I’m not sure why and how they came up with this price.  The only way I can compare the tuition with the school is to say this:  It’s like you going into Walmart and paying $1000 for a Faded Glory shirt.  The price doesn’t match the value.  Plus, I have heard dozens of bad reviews about the school/teachers from parents who have children at that school.

II. MEDICAL , DENTAL, VISION CARE & PHARMACY

Hopefully you and your family are physically fit and don’t have any health issues.  If you do, be prepared to put aside alot of money for these services.  Even if you are healthy, set a large budget for these services.  The base does have a hospital, dental and vision clinic, but with limited services.  If you are a U.S. contractor, good luck in getting a dental appointment!  There’s a waiting period.  It’s priority patients are active military and their dependents, then fed gov’t employees (DoD employees) and dependents, and then us (U.S. contractors).  We have been on base for almost 2 years, and we still haven’t been able to get an appointment yet. They will only take us if it’s an emergency.  To determine if it’s an emergency, they will ask you, “Are you in desperate pain?”  If the answer is no, take an aspirin or just brush and floss.  You’re supposed to go to the dentist every 6 months for proper cleaning and preventive care so we have to return stateside to do this.  This is very expensive since we have to pay roundtrip airfares from GTMO to Ft. Lauderdale, FL.  In our first year, we flew back to TX (which costs more) because our dentists were in TX.  And remember you have to buy at least 2 roundtrip tickets since you can’t let your child go alone, which I don’t think any responsible parent would do anyway.  If your child needs to see an orthodontist, that requires a stateside visit.

If you have to see a specialist (such as an oncologist, etc.), you need to go stateside for that.  Once in awhile, the base will have a visiting specialist (like a dermatologist) to come see GTMO patients.  But!  yes, there’s a BUT here too.  You must receive a referral to see them, even if your insurance doesn’t require a referral.  If the attending primary care physician on base doesn’t think you need to be referred, you won’t get to see the specialist.  Let’s just say I’m covering the brown spots on my face/nose with make-up.  I hope it’s just sun damage that caused the spots and not skin cancer.  Y’all keep your fingers crossed for me.

The base also has a vision center for eye exams and glasses.  Their selection is very limited so most likely, they will have to order your glasses and have them shipped to you.  I have never used their vision clinic, so I don’t know about the quality of care there to give you a true review.  But I heard good reviews from those who have received services there.

There’s a pharmacy located inside the hospital.  If you are a U.S. contractor, it may be less expensive for you to ask your doctor to write you a 90 day prescription and use your mail order pharmacy.  We compared the prices of our mail order prescriptions to that of the base hospital’s, and our mail order company was half the price!  Also, the hospital pharmacy has this policy that if you leave the pharmacy with your medication (even if it’s unopened and unused), you can’t get a refund.  This is a problem since once my husband received the wrong medication, and when I returned to the pharmacy to let them know, they said they can’t take it back.  We had to pay $800 for their mistake.  It took me several months and a HUGE headache to contest this charge, and I won.  But it is annoying that they have such a policy that is clearly illegal.

TRAVEL IN/OUT OF GTMO

Currently,  GTMO has two ways you can get on and off the island.  You can either use IBC Travel or AMC (Air Mobility Command).  We used to have Air Sunshine, but it currently isn’t operating.  I’m not sure when or if services will return.  With Air Sunshine ceasing services, it’s not a good thing for contractors since this means we really only have one way off the island unless you’re willing to risk your life and swim to FL. Due to lack of competition, IBC Travel prices have now increased.  It used to cost $520USD roundtrip per person from GTMO to Ft Lauderdale, but it’s now gone up to $568USD.  The AMC flies into Jacksonville, FL; Norfolk, VA; and Baltimore, MD.  If you are a contractor, the prices for these flights are much higher for you then it would be to take IBC to Ft. Lauderdale, if you need to return stateside.

Travelling in/out of GTMO is ALWAYS stressful for our family since the flights are usually unreliable with arrival/departure time.  Typically, we will have to fly into either Ft. Lauderdale (FLL) or Miami and catch another flight on another airline to our final destination.  If you don’t get to FLL or Miami on time, this means you can miss your flight on the other airline.  We usually use AA.  If you miss your flight, that means you either need to stay over night in FL or pray that you can catch a later flight.  If you miss your flight, that means a brand new ticket needs to be purchased at full price. Yep!  It possibly also means that you may need to check into a cheap hotel in FL if you have to stay overnight to catch the next available flight.  I have never flown on the AMC back to stateside, but if you do, I heard you need to be prepared for it to not get to the destination on time.  It may not even fly that day!

THINGS TO DO IN GTMO

The most popular activity in GTMO is exercising.  Almost everyone on base exercises.  That’s a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing.  For holidays, the base sponsors or hosts races.  Yeah…races.  Not horse races or dog races…human races.  Recently, we just had a 5K Zombie Run where people dress up as zombies and run.  Last year for Thanksgiving and Christmas we also had runs.  We had the Turkey Trot for Turkey Day and a Jingle Run or something like that for Christmas.  You can always find someone walking. jogging, or running outside anytime of the day.

Other popular activities include any outdoor sports/activity you can think of: kayaking, boating, fishing, scuba diving, snorkeling, swimming, golfing.  GTMO has it all.  The costs of these activities are rather inexpensive.  We also have two gyms and two outdoor swimming pools.  The gyms and pools are free to use.  There’s bowling and paintball as well, which you have to pay.

The beaches here are not at all like the beaches you’ll see at various Caribbean resorts.  It’s rocky and sort of dirty to me that’s why I hardly go to the beaches here.

There are two outdoor movie theaters, but you have to have a special ID to go to the one at Camp Buckley.  The one downtown is open to everyone, and is free.  You just pay for your snacks at the concession stand.  If you want to save money, you can bring your own.  They used to allow residents to bring our own alcoholic beverages to the movies, but the base recently issued a ban on alcohol at both lyceums.

There are no cultural activities on base unless you count the monthly meetings held by the Multicultural group.  Our family really miss this entertainment option.  If you like to attend live plays, ballets, operas, orchestra performances, you won’t get any of that here in GTMO. Live performances are available on a regular basis, but they usually are rock or country band type of concerts.  And GTMO never really get any top acts visiting.  It’s usually unknown bands that perform top hits.

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR SPOUSES OF CONTRACTORS

Most U.S. contractors on base are here unaccompanied.  When I first relocated here, I wondered why none of my husband’s coworkers had their wives/children on base.  Besides one other coworker, I was the only one.  Later, a few more showed up and experienced the same dilemma as I did.  I believe part of the reason is because of lack of affordable and available education for their children as well as job opportunities for contractors’ spouses.  Because most companies do not include education into the contracts, at least one parent needs to stay at home to homeschool since most people can’t afford the DoD’s high tuition rate.  If the spouses work, the jobs available to them, typically do not pay high enough a salary to cover the full tuition rate, so it sort of makes no sense to work.  The jobs that do pay high enough are GS positions.  Most GS positions are reserved for military spouses or dependents or spouses of current GS (DoD civilian) employees.  This means that a contractor’s spouse may be the most qualified candidate, but he/she may not even be eligible for consideration for the position because the candidate is not a military spouse or DoD dependent/spouse.

If you have a marketable skill, you can easily make money on the side.  You’re not really supposed to do this, but lots of people do.  You can get away with it by asking for a donation and not charging a set price for your service.  The recommended thing is to ask for a “suggested donation.”  If you just leave the donation amount open, some people tend to underpay you.  One of the most seek after service is music lessons.  If you have prior experience in this field, you can definitely make some extra income.  I see people posting ads seeking piano and guitar lessons all the time.  Currently, there is only ONE teacher on base who offers private music lessons.  My daughter is taking piano lessons from her.  If you are in need of this service, you may contact me and I’ll forward your info to her.

Another much needed service is a licensed or even non licensed but experienced hairstylist.  We do have a hair salon on base, but the stylists there do not really know how to work on a variety of different hair types.  It is staffed by Jamaican workers.  I have used their services only once because I ended up having a bleeding scalp and a red forehead after I left the salon.

Well, I hope my information didn’t scare you off from relocating to GTMO.  There are positive traits about this place.  I’ll post about those on my next blog entry.  Happy reading!