GTMO Q&A

I enjoy getting comments on this blog and am delighted that many of my readers are former residents of Guantanamo Bay.  I would like to share some comments and expand on them a little bit. 

Bill Lewis said....

Are the big bleachers still at the NAS movie? That used to be the largest outdoor theater in the world in the 60's.

Yes Bill, they are. I don't recommend sitting on them for long periods of time or your behind will be really sore. I Googled to see if it was still was the largest in the world and didn't find anything. 

Anita Lewis Isom said......

When I last lived in Gitmo from 84--86 up at Corinaso Point in a Burns and Roe trailer - we had an iguana named Stubby that lived outside our trailer. I do not know if she is still there or not but the one in your pic sure looks like her!



There are actually several Iguanas running around GTMO that have no tails. I think it's a combination of bad drivers and that fact Iguanas love to sun tan in the middle of the road. 

 

Nee Nee said........

 

All the years I lived in Gitmo and I never ate those crabs - didn't know we could!! Squished a lot coming across Sherman Avenue - but never ate them.


Well Nee Nee, I think people will eat almost anything. They are supposed to be rather tasty. I still have issues with eating things I have seen alive so the crabs in my yard are safe.  Crab road kill is still a problem here. Especially when it rains. They will puncture your tires if you're not careful. 

 

Anonymous said.........

Hello My husband and I were stationed there in 75-77. I have no idea what your bottle is. We have been trying to find out for years for we have several bottles we also found when they were digging the new ferry landings. One lady found bottles that they figure Columbus dropped. It was a rare jewel. Is the old sucken ship still behind East Bargo? Is the auto dump yard still Sears and Roebucks? Cubans still worked on the base when we were there. there were some Cuban families that lived in trailers near the commissary, if it is still in the same place. Thanks for taking me down memory lane, it was wonderful!



Why thank you Anonymous. I still have no idea where this bottle came from. We have found dozens but it's still my favorite. Yes, the old sunken ship is still behind East Bargo. The auto dump yard is now run by Burns and Roe. There are many Cuban still living on base. They are now in regular housing in the Bargo area. They are getting very elderly and many of them are living in houses converted into nursing homes. Several have passed away in the year we have been here. It is a joy to see them out in the community. It must be incredibly hard to know your family is right across the fence but you will never get to go home and see them. 

 

Anonymous said...

I am in fact the guy who was nailed by that shark. So there are no discrepancies, it was a bull shark, around eight feet long. Although my leg is pretty chewed up I did not lose half my calf. Last point: one can theorize all they want, or read all they can, but until it happens, no one knows what they would do if in a similar situation. Thank you for your time

I am very happy you did not lose your calf. I got another comment from another shark survivor and thought I would share. Hope you are healing up well. 

Thanks for posting information on the shark incident. 

My name is Al Brenneka and I run a online shark attack file and a support group for other shark attack survivors like myself. 
We are interested in learning more about the shark incident you wrote about. You can visit us at www.sharkattacksurvivors.com. Please use the contact us form with any further info or post it here.

Thanks,
Al Brenneka

Mary in MN said...

I just fell upon your blog by doing a search for banana rat. I was stationed at Gitmo 15 years ago. Wow, what a blast from the past!!! I LOVED the time I spent there. I was telling my son stories of Cuba and he wanted to know what a banana rat looked like. That's how I ended up on your blog. I really hope you can find the good times among the restrictions of being on such a small post. Do I ever remember the 'it's on the barge'! 


I'm glad you are enjoying my blog Mary. It's been lots of fun for me as well. Yes, we still hear it's on the barge more than we would like. For those of you that don't know pretty much everything comes in on the barge. From toilet paper to socks it all comes in on the barge. If they are out of something at the Commissary you can't just run down to Wal-Mart and pick it up. You just have to wait until the next barge comes in. It's a trade off for living on this fabulous island. It's a trade off I'm willing to accept. 

Thank you all for your comments. I enjoy getting them. I now have over 11000 hits on my blog. I never in a million year thought I would have so many readers. Of course many of them are from the middle east and the rest are from my Mom.  I will leave you with a few more pretty GTMO photos.

A Perfect Day

What makes a bulldog smile this big?




A canoe trip to Hicacal of course. 

Turbo only jumped out of the boat once. Good thing he was wearing his life jacket. 

We found some pretty shells and I was able to take a nice dip.



The dogs needed to supervise my dip and make sure I was not having to much fun. 



Sting ray.


Dude is still smiling. 


So is Nala.

Both dogs then begin consulting if they wanted to go home or not. 


All good things must come to an end. 

Banana Watch 2009 - Day 11

When I came up with the brilliant idea for Banana Watch 2009 I had big plans. I would take daily photos for a couple of weeks, pick the bananas, and share the unique way we used them in a recipe. What I didn't realize is bananas take two or three months to ripen. I have no intention of taking daily photos weeks on end of these slow growing bananas. So, here is the new plan. I will post new photos if there are any significant changes.

These two photos were taken this morning from the safety of my living room. The mosquitoes are beyond terrible right now.   I'm impressed how well they turned out. My living room window is REALLY dirty. 

Pretty Trees

Along with all the summer rain, warmer temps, and humidity comes these beautiful tress. They are blooming all over GTMO.  

Banana Watch 2009 - Day 6

This banana watch thing is not turning out the way I had hoped. First of all the bananas look exactly the same as they did yesterday. Plus, every time I go out to take photos I am attacked by mosquitoes. To top it all off, someone told me tarantulas live in banana trees. So when I go to take a photo now I'm disappointed, irritated, and scared all at the same time. Well, that's just no way to live. So I'm taking a break from the daily post and promise to post if there are any changes.

Here, enjoy a photo of my beautiful babies.

Banana Watch 2009 - Day 5

Someone told me if you cut that red thing off the banana tree the bananas will ripen faster. Jerry is convinced there are more bananas growing in the red thing. So it will stay for now.






This fellow scared me. I was taking pictures of the bananas and I saw the ground move.

Banana Watch 2009 - Day 4

I think we are going to have three bunches of bananas. Did you know after a banana tree produces fruit it never grows fruit again? I know, it's so sad.

Banana Watch 2009 - Day 3

I know. I totally skipped a day. The bananas are making fast progress. We will be eating banana bread before we know it.

Banana Watch 2009 - Day 1

I know it has been a long time between posts. I have been off Island for a week and playing catch-up this week.

When I returned on Saturday I noticed something wrong with one of our banana trees. It appeared to have a strange growth attached to it. I soon realized that growth was the beginning stage of a bunch of bananas. I'm so excited. I will be posting photos as the bananas grow. 

So let Banana Watch 2009 begin!

We Have Crabs

Our yard is full of Land Crabs. This happens every year around this time. The rain starts to fall and the Land Crabs descend upon GTMO. The kids enjoy playing with the crabs, as you can see below.  It's much more fun for adults that run around with buckets gathering crabs for a crab bake. It doesn't get much fresher than that.  I don't eat the ones in our backyard. They are more like pets to me. 



This is one of 97 semi-terrestrial species of  crab.  This one is a local favorite for crab eaters.

I love this close up. You can see his cute little eyeballs. 

Enjoy the video below. I just wanted to cuddle with this crab, but he wasn't in the mood.