Locked Down...

You may or may not have heard... sometimes it's hard for Marines on a tropical island to be on their best behavior. They rape people. They get drunk and pass out in the police chief's living room. They ruin it for the rest of us.

Yes, due to the bad behavior of a few, the entire SOFA status (Status of Forces Agreement) population on Okinawa is "locked down" in a "period of reflection" indefinitely. We are allowed to go to base. And that's all. Suddenly, the gym, the exchange, the post office, and the commissary have never sounded so good...

Daily, I try to find an excuse to get out of my house and drive to base. Any base. This week I've been to Camp Lester to get registered for Tricare, I've been to Kadena AFB to take Gabe for a "quarantine check-up" and Camp Foster for everything else! Burr doesn't have to make up reasons to go to base; he works there! But it does severely limit our weekend options!

Unofficialy, there may have been some dinner "gatherings" over the past two weekends. But that's all I know... Well, that and that the 12 quart pot of gumbo I made suddenly disappeared last Saturday...

Oh well. I know that in past posts I've gone on about how bad I feel that I'm on base so much and that they offer so many American Amenities. I take it back. When you're locked down, with no place to go, it doesn't seem so indulgent to trek over to the Maccaroni Grill on Camp Foster! Let's hear it for the movie theatres with American movies! And a big hooray for the Food Court! And, don't forget the FLEA MARKET this weekend! Base is good.

It's nice to have a place to go.

Grace and Peace,
Rachel