The interwebs tell me that this is where I am presently situated on the globe. The reality is that every military base looks the same, with the same crappy music and largely empty vending machines. Although I have to say, the Nescafe machine is calling my name right now….
It’s morning here in the Azores, and most of you are still asleep- lucky bastards. Too bad for the mass of people on my 767 aircraft (including lots of babies and sleep-deprived children), we’re all awake and/or crying as we sit in a holding terminal, waiting for our plane to refuel. You’ll have to excuse any typographical errors or lack of coherence; it’s either attempt a blog entry or watch this completely pre-historic black and white film playing on the Armed Forces Network television. For you civilians, AFN is a horrible cobbling of American programming that also has its own low budget “commercials” aimed at military families…my favorite one uses the old Hercules movie, which is overdubbed so that Hercules foolishly gives power attorney privileges to untrustworthy characters and he consequently loses all his assets while gone on deployment. Let’s just say that I don’t think I’ll need AFN while living in Dakar, I already know not to sign up for every credit card solicitation that arrives in my mailbox…
Sorry for that tangent.
I guess you could say that I am in the Azores- my only stopping point between Norfolk and Naples. While I don’t exactly count sitting in a military terminal as “visiting” or actually being in a country, I’ll tell you know that in my limited observation, these islands are green and in the middle of nowhere. Yes, I’m extremely observant…
No photos are authorized here, and this terminal provides nothing in the way of interest. Upon arrival at the military air terminal back in Norfolk, I immediately observed that most of the people on my flight look vaguely familiar to me- it’s possible that I could have served with any one of them over the past ten years. This is because, to me, we sailors all look pretty much the same. If you have left an impression on someone, it’s probably not for a good reason.
After dropping me and other passengers off in Naples, there are still a ton of poor people who will continue on with this “flight”. The plane still has stops in Crete, Bahrain, and lastly scenic Diego Garcia. Talk about a long day with a crappy final destination. I’ll be happy to stop in Italy here in a few hours…