afrika!

well I am now checking off the list of continents I have visited, africa. though I will be honest we can't leave the pier because of the "area" there was a bus to the local store but only officers got to go cause us blue shirts had an all hands working party for 6 straight hours. many of you might wonder how much food do we go through or how they get it on board well let me tell you..... the hard way. we had roughly 50 pallets stacked two high of food and stuff. we form a long line and pass the item from person to person. some of the things will weigh well over 50 pounds and there will be alot of them. frozen meats, vegetables, giant cans of canned fruit and whatnot. due to the massive amount of things bought we ended up working through all the things we were supposed to be able to do. So I apologize that I was not able to get anything from africa this time. I was trying to get something from everywhere I go but oh well.

I am completely and utterly exhausted and with us still on water hours no shower though everyone was streaming in their own sweat. its currently 106 and suprisingly its not a dry heat. its a very wet and humid heat when we started working the heat index was over 130. as far as everything else. we are slowly looking to fall into a pattern. I am learning to live off of roughly 3 hours of sleep and I am trying to pick up how everything works around the ship. I am pushed hard by my chief and I think its cause he knows I will get it done but at the same time I feel like my plate is overflowing and some are starving for jobs... and other just refuse to eat. but I can't say I can complain I believe that deep down I am happiest when I am working. something about digging my teeth into a job and getting things done. its alot harder to feel like I am accomplishing as much but I know what I do is important and I have to push through that. The new watch standers are starting to know that I am trustworthy and when I tell them something they believe me. the combat tactical officer actually argued with the bridge about a ship because I told them it was something and they said it looked like something else. they believed me over what someone actually saw..... I was right in the end hehe but thats my job and I dont get alot of thanks just the satisfaction of stickin it to the bridge every so often. I just realized I am like the catcher, not the flashiest postion but I block the plate when something happens and people only remember when I do something wrong. hehe great analogy, will have to use it when I am a chief someday.

well I am going to go pass out, if I can actually get out of this chair. I will have to say that though this is not the best opener for a first imporession of africa I do wish to comeback someday.

Take care and be safe.

Mark

The end of a chapter

well its been a little bit since I last posted and I am up though I should be sleeping I will sread my thought to the masses or at least 6 people whichever is more.

Isreal was cool and though my misadventures with the jordan river is well documented I found the place to be unique and different then pretty much any place I have ever been. that being said with who I am and what I do its always a little bit stressful in that region for military folk. we are easily spotted as military and we are loved by some and hated by others. overall I never really heard of any bad experiences but you always had to be aware of where you were. nature of the beast I guess.

After that we hit up cyprus for a small day stay. luckly I did have about 5 hours off the ship to see the sites. now I dont know if most people know this, though the people that read my blog are rather smart people so I assume most will, but cyprus is actually in a sort of cold civil war. The island is split in half with the top half being turkey's since 67 I believe. so its something we are told not to talk about because it is still a bit of a sore spot. We entered into the port of limasoll and though it doesn't look like a whole lot it seems to be a place of rich folk to vacation because I saw numerous sports cars, lambo, ferrari, porsche, and aston martins to name a few and not just one or two either. So it is rather surprising that there is not more here. the main part of town is a small maybe 1/2 mile long main road where all the shops and restaraunts are and the rest is all residental. I personally found it european but also a bit middle eastern, kind of a shade of both. Some people loved it and others hated it. In all its a good place to see for a day and move on..... which is exactly what we did.

Now here is where things get tricky. the first month and some change has been a port fest with a few excersices here and there but now its go time and we are heading into the heart of our mission into the heat, literally and figuratively of the middle east. Its been a long month and a half because of the port visits and not being able to get into a rythem but now its anchors away and land but a distant memory. Finally doing our real job (hehe can't tell you though, just make up something cool like aliens or something). Time should start to go by more quickly with the day in and day out of our job blending together till finally the day we turn around and head home. Then time drags as the though of home permiates our brains. Some say the most dangerous time is when we are heading home cause everyone is dreaming of home and not focusing at the job on hand. but lets not get too far ahead of ourselves. first the ditch

The suez canal at points is narrow enough that I could throw a rock from the ship and hit land on either side. For the first time we really started to see the true symbol of the middle east... yes you guessed it figs.... no! sand. lots and lots of sand. Of course lets not forget the heat, its really starting to heat up and its going to probably average over 100 degrees from now on out. so those of you that want to send me care packages I would recommend things that do not have a chance of melting hehe I of course recommend care packages but do not be surprised if it takes up to 4 weeks to show up.

finally one last thing that marks the start of the mission, small pox. A long custom of getting shot up with all sorts of diseases. the first being small pox. now I am sure some of you remember the fun known as small pox. As of right now its nothing. I have never had a problem with shots, though I am sure my mom may disagree when I was younger hehe. the shot itself is not the annoying part its the after effects. After about 3 days the shot with start to irritate and then puss up and finally fester and crust and scab over by day 14. Some people get a minor irritation other have full blown quarter sized scars. I am now going on day 3 and so far I am doing well and have yet to turn into a zombie or desire human blood so I think I am good..........so far >.>

Over the next few months it will be a lot of sea time a lot of work and hopefully time will fly by. I do not know how much I will be able to write that is of any interest other then saying the same thing as yesterday. but I will try, maybe I will just make up something..... aliens again anyone?

take care everyone.

good and bad days

well it has been awhile since I last posted and most of it mainly to the severe lack of internet bandwidth, so I apologize for that.

First stop Greece, more specifically souda bay, is beautiful. I was only able to get off the boat for one day due to the mass work load, but for that one day it was a blast. This part of Greece has a military base that the US Navy visits all the time. There is a place called american alley in downtown hania( the main city) where they treat americans really well. Everyone was really nice and the people were all very good looking. It felt like a tropical paradise in a way I am pretty sure I will come back someday on my own accord to check out the rest of the country. I did get a really nice leather backpack for pretty cheap and it looks like something Indiana Jones would wear hehe now to look for a good whip :P

As much as I liked Greece I must say I was looking forward to my next port visit which is Isreal. As we pulled into hiafa ideas of temples and to be honest bombs were in our heads. Me and a couple guys decided to do a small hike around the city of hiafa there are several religious sights that the guys wanted to see and we wanted to break away from the club and drinking scene which I am finding out is the mainstay of the navy. We went to the cave of elijah and climbed to the top of mount carmel (I have scene 5 different spellings for it so you figure it out :P ) it was a great time but one thing you should know about hiafa, its on a hill! a very big and steep hill. by the end of the day the guys were exhausted. Add in the fact that its nearly sweltering in the the shade and you can imagine how we felt.

the next day it was time to do the tours which everyone was so excited about. Bethleham, Nazareth and the Sea of galleli with the end being the river jordan where you can get baptized for an additional fee. The day was great and fun, I took lots of pictures and saw some really cool stuff. The house/grotto of mary and the actual streets of the biblical Nazareth. We went to where peter lived and where Jesus stayed with him. The area where there was the sermon on the mount and where the miracle of feeding off those people with a couple loves of bread and stuff hehe details details details. speaking of details I was the best rock skipper on the sea of galleli out of everyone on the tour. No I didn't not receive a trophy or get sainted or anything which disappointed me. And now for the real disappointment. While at our last stop at the river Jordan I was taking a picture and in the crowd of people wanting to get a good look someone knocked my arm and my camera is now officially baptized as well. Sadly it also does not work either. so I know how the most holy and clean of sin camera in the work that does not take pictures. So it was a good day and a bad day.

The worst part is that tomorrow we go into Jerusalem where the real cool and photo worthy stuff is. Oh well it is what it is. I am surprised at how I am not really that mad, Sad maybe, but not mad. I think I realize that its not really that big a deal in the big scheme of things. I guess maybe I have become more perspective over the years but then again maybe its cause now I get to camera shop for a nice camera hehehe

I apologize once again for not posting in such a long time. The schedule is going to get pretty rough soon and I already do not get as much sleep as I should but I will try and post more often. To all reading I wish you well. take care