Carrier

The USS Nimitz is the set of a new t.v. reality series. Have you seen the show, "Carrier"? Well, I recently discovered the show and am very interested in watching it each week. Travis was assigned to the Nimitz for two years, 2000-2002. This was while we lived in Virginia. It was actually in the shipyard for a complete overhaul while he was stationed on it. I think he only went out to sea on the Nimitz two times for initial testing floats. Shortly after he was transferred off, it deployed for it's home port in San Diego, CA. He worked in the medical department as an Independent Corpsman. I think he pretty much hated this tour because the staff and the work conditions were both difficult. However, this is also where he discovered his desire to pursue his education toward FNP and be commissioned as an officer.

Anyway, I'm not convinced that this reality show portrays Navy life in a real positive light or not. The two episodes I've watched each focused on a specific theme that wasn't necessarily positive. One was mainly about the sexual frustrations of ship life the other one was about racism issues on board. But overall, it's very interesting to see what the enlisted life is like on a ship. If you're interested, check out the show next week.

grapevines

When we moved into our house, there was a stubby stick, stuck in the corner of our courtyard garden. We were told that grapevines grow up and around the entire courtyard wall each summer. For a science project, the kids and I documented it's growth throughout the month of April with weekly photos. Boy, has it grown fast!



It continues to rapidly grow since this last shot. The vines are now almost long enough to secure along the top wires around the courtyard walls. It looks like a big, uncontrolled bush at this point. I'll take another picture on the first of June to see the growth after a month from this last picture.

My American Sailor

I miss Travis. He's back in the States for the rest of the month for special training. I didn't want him to move me to Spain and then leave me "alone" in a foreign country but it seems that, that's whats happening right now! The idea of it and planning for it was actually harder on me than actually doing it right now. The children and I have a nice routine and a comfortable home so after the first couple of days of getting used to no husband/Daddy around, I think we're doing pretty good by ourselves. We've been able to talk a couple of times but the time difference makes it tricky to catch each other on the phone so daily emails have been wonderful to wake up to.

We had a date night a couple weeks ago for a big Navy Dining Out. We met at the restaurant, Bar Jamon, and enjoyed a four hour dinner and officer ceremony/program. It was really fun being together and very nice to celebrate being Americans. We were even able to bring out the American flag and sing "God bless America" during the dinner. I'm a proud Navy spouse! Travis has served over fifteen years in active duty service. He's my hero!

Embracing Spanish culture

Feria is the big Spring festival full of activities, dancing, eating, drinking, dressing up, horse shows, carnival rides and games and lots of fun. Each city hosts a week of Feria and then it moves to the next town. We've been three times in two different cities. We enjoyed delicious food each time. Our favorite meal was rotisserie chicken, salad, green olives, potatoes, bread. Otherwise expressed as a meal of pollo, ensalada, aucentunas, patatos fritos y pan. Either we are getting used to the food choices around here or we're getting better at reading menus. Probably a little of both.

Camryn was involved with Sevillana dance classes for several months. She really enjoyed it and did a wonderful job during the family performance. I'll include a short video clip of one of her dances.

Feria is also the official start of the Spanish Bullfighting season. The kids and I recently went on a field trip to tour the inside of the El Puerto bullring. From what we've learned, it's a very bloody performance so this will probably be the best exposure to bullfighting that my kids will have. Travis wants to attend a bullfight so we'll probably make a date out of it at some point while we live here.