Shellbacks and Pollywogs

An old Navy tradition includes that of the shellbacks and pollywogs. Essentially, a shellback is a sailor who has crossed the equator, while a pollywog has not. To become a shellback one must prove yourself! :)
Dan recently had to undergo the transformation, and here's an excerpt from one of his emails on the subject:

The Shellbacks (people who'd crossed the equator and
gone through the ceremony before) wore pirate costumes, while the
Pollywogs (or just "Wogs"; the uninitiated) wore PT gear of some sort,
and had to come up with a tail of some sort . . . Everyone
was woken up at 0600. Then we went down to "stand" in line for
breakfast. I said "stand" because "Wogs" stand and walk in the duck-walk
position, and quack. So, we were there, waiting for breakfast, and the
Shellbacks made us sing songs, and some of them even sprayed us with a
watered-down syrup mixture (mostly water, but still kind of nasty). Then
we got in line for breakfast, and they had normal food items that were
altered in some way, and renamed something else. Like we had
orange-colored doughnut holes that they called fried seahorse roe, etc.
Then we waddled to a table, sat down, and proceeded to eat with our
mouths only (no hands). Then, with the excuse that, "there are no cups,
so we'll just pour your juice on top of your plate," they proceeded to
pour orange juice on our plates and heads. I used this opportunity to
get back at one of them, and once I'd fuinished my juice-soaked food, I
launched the rest of the juice on my plate at the shelback who had
poured it. He then proceeded to get another pitcher of juice and pour it
on my head. After breakfast, we waddled up to the foc'sle, where we were
sprayed with firehoses, and had to bail out a boat filled with seawater
with green dye in it. This whole thing was a bootcamp type thing, where
you could never fully accomplish the mission, but you just kept going
until they told you to stop. So, I used this opportunity to throw water
at some of the Shellbacks. Then, me and the group of officers I was with
decided to "bail" the boat out by capsizing it, which we did. So, the
next station was PT, where we did lots of pushups, some flutter kicks,
8-count body builders, and jumping jacks. Then we went up to the 02
level, where they continued to spray us with firehoses, and we were told
to dance. They were at first telling us to dance whenever they blew the
whistle, then we did the Mocarena (sp?). Then we did some more pushups,
and whatever they told us to do. Up here is where most of my guys were,
so I used this opportunity to antagonize them. I told them I wasn't wet
enough, and even when they were spraying the firehose at me, I continued
to taunt them by saying that I wasn't wet enough. Whenever I passed by a
Shellback, I quacked especially loud in their ears, and when they
ordered me to dance, I'd dance into them (picture Night at the
Roxbury-esque moves) and stuff. People underestimated me, and thought
that I'd be miserable, but I ended up making it fun, and making it as
hard on them as possible. So then we went to the quarterdeck, where we
were sprayed with firehoses, and told to lay in this huge puddle of
water and "swim." That was fun. Then we went back to the foc'sle, where
we were told to dance, and then we did like the locomotion around the
foc'sle. Then, EMO stopped a few of us, and we did more PT. Then, he
told us to form up a helicopter, and I was the tailrotor, so I swung my
arms around as we went to the next station. On the other side of the
quarterdeck, they put dye all over us, and we moved through there pretty
quickly. Next, we went to the flight deck, where there was bobbing for
apples, then they made us blow water out of pad-eyes (you know, like on
the tarmack, where there are those points where they tie the aircraft
down? Thoes holes with crossed metal rods running acros the top?) with
our mouths. They pretty much just continued to screw with us the whole
time, and once they made me go find Flipper (just yell for him over at
the rail), and another time, they made me go find Nemo (same thing,
different fish; I know a dolphin's not a fish :P). So, my goal was to
get them to give up trying to screw with me, and I eventually won. I was
fine with going through the thing several times, for hours longer, but I
was going to beat my division (who were the ones who antagonized me the
most). I pretty much played dumb, and they kept sending me back to
different stations, but that was part of my plan. I was going to break
their will before they broke mine"

Presiding over the ceremony are "King Neptune", "Davy Jones", and the rest of the court. I'm pretty sure Dan ended up enjoying himself. :)

Panama

Well, again, it's been a long time since my last post. I'm sorry I haven't been much of a blogger lately . . . highlights of the last couple months include Sarah coming out to visit (yay!!) and going to the Botanical Gardens with Laura.
But probably the biggest event lately was my trip to Panama. If you would like to see more pictures, here's the link to my Facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2140660&id=42103257&l=b161a84223

So, my Panama trip began with me flying out of the little Newport News airport for the first time. It's so little, I think just under 10 gates and 2 baggage carousels. My flight left around 2 pm in the afternoon, which was nice because it gave me a chance to pack that morning. The flight was from Newport News to Atlanta, where I would catch my flight into Panama itself. As we neared Atlanta, the captain notified us that there were thunderstorms over Atlanta and we would be doing loop-de-loops until the storm passed. We finally landed and my next flight was several terminals over (Altanta is a huge airport and you have to next an underground train to get to the next terminal). I ran and made it just in time for the last boarding call. As I found my seat and sat down, I noticed that several people with foreign passports where filling out forms. But then I noticed some with US passports had the same form, I realized that I need one too and asked the passenger sitting next to me. He said it was a visa to get into Panama and they had been selling them at the gate, but you can also buy them once you get into Panama.
The flight to Panama was nice and uneventful. We did fly over Cuba, which I thought was interesting. I did see one island, but I not sure if it was part of Cuba or one of the Bahammas. As we flew into Panama, it was dark and people were taking pictures as we passed over the Panama Canal. Once I got off the plane, it was time to wait in the line for customs . . . once I got the front of the line I then found out that they were selling visas back at the end of the line :(, and just in time for another plane-load of people to get in front of me in the line. As a side note, some officials were handing out little papers on Swine flu, and they did have us stand in front of a camera that takes body temp, as a way to screen for people who might be ill.
I was so glad I had prearranged for a driver from my hotel, Country Inn and Suites, to be waiting with sign with my name for me at the airport. The driver was very nice and spoke a little English. We drove through downtown Panama City at night, with it's many skyscrapers. We turned a corner, however, and entered a rougher area of the city. Lot's of people were walking around, and I don't think it would be a smart place to go if you looked like a rich tourist.
My hotel room was very nice, and had a great view of the Panama Canal at night. I could see one or two big ships making their way even in the dark. The next morning I woke up, had a great breakfast with some wonderful fresh fruit. I knew that Dan would be getting in later that day, and I was supposed to meet another Navy wife in the hotel lobby at 3, so in the mean time I decided to take a little walk. I knew from my Panama guide book were I was and that it was a safe touristy type area. Most of my pictures are from the Calzada Amador, a causeway built during the construction of the Panama canal. It has palm trees and beautiful street lamps lining it along with lots of park benches, with lots of familes going for a stroll with their dogs and strollers.
The flowers and the plants were so pretty and interesting! I did see several lizards (maybe about a foot long from nose to tail) who were pretty skittish about getting their pictures taken. Once I had walked around 2 miles from my hotel down to some shops on Isla Perico, I was so thirsty! Panama is definetly in the tropics and very humid! Most of the shops were closed, but I did find one little store that was selling some sodas. I found what I thought was a "botella de agua", but it turned out to be "Agua de coco" or coconut water! It was vaguely sweet and bland, and not very appetizing, but I was thirsty and it did the job. As I walked back up the causeway, I turned around and saw Dan's ship coming up the canal! It was the first time I had seen that ship since they pulled away from the pier in April!!
I returned to the hotel and cooled off until meeting up with Danielle, the other Navy wife. We got a taxi and heaed to the shipyards. I'm sure the taxi driver wondered why two crazy American ladies wanted to go there, and the guard looked suspiciously at us, but did let us through when we showed him our military IDs. We walked on the ship, and both of our husbands came to meet us!! It was so good to see Dan after such a long time. Dan still had some work he had to finish, but we finally got off the ship and had dinner at TGIF restaurant attached to our hotel. It was funny how all the food names were in English but all the food descriptions were in Spanish. Dan was able to stay until midnight, as they had to be back on the ship by 1 am.
The next day while Danielle and I were waiting for our husbands to finish their work, we went to an Indian handicraft market in an old YMCA gym. The Kuna indians of Panama make beautiful cloth designs called "molas" see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mola_(art_form)
They were also selling many little trinkets and jewelry. I ended up buying a paiting (oil on canvas), which I still need to get framed. I did buy a mola handbag a little later at another spot . . . I'll definetly have to take some pictures of it because it is really pretty! We also later had a wonderful fish lunch at an outdoor restaurant!
Once Dan got off, we at first were going to go to one restaurant highly recommended by my guide book. However, it turned out to be in the older and poorer part of the city (which was off limits for Dan). We asked our cabbie to take us to another restaurant, but suddenly something broke in the car (the axel maybe?) and we weren't going anywhere for a while. The cabbie called for another cab to come get us, and thankfully even though it was the rough part of the city we broke down right in front of the National Police building. We ended up eating at a very very nice Italian restaurant called "Rino's", and later had some drinks down at a outside bar on the Calzada.
My final day was both a little sad and happy. We had dinner at a downtown American-style mall at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was sad to say goodbye to Dan that night as he had to return to the ship, but I was also very thankful to have been able to see him during a deployment. Lord willing, I hope to make a 2nd trip to Panama for our anniversary in several months. Panama was quite an experience!

Day at the Beach

Today I spent a couple of hours reading by the beach. It was a really nice day, very sunny, the wind just slightly cool. Would have been perfect if Dan was with me. This is Buckroe Beach in Hampton . . . that's not the Atlantic but the Chesapeake Bay (which to me is really just a part of the Atlantic so I think it's silly to make a distinction but oh well). Nice beach except the bay has lots of jellyfish- this was where Dan got stung by a jellyfish last year. So I was content to read my book and let the jellies do the swimming.

Dan at the Panama Canal. I got to talk to him on the phone too!!

Deployment Thoughts

I'll just give everyone a quick update on what Dan and I have been up to in the last couple of weeks leading up to Dan leaving on deployment today. I finished my training in Cincinnati on the 20th, and Dan and I drove back to Virginia that day, getting in around 2 am. Then that Saturday (the 22nd) we flew out to Colorado, where we visited family and took some fun drives in the mountains. On the following Thursday we then flew out to Washington, where Dan was part of the wedding of a friend. On the return trip to Virginia this past Monday we also took Liesl, Dan's German Shepard. It was a bit a nightmare trying to fly with her, but the Lord was gracious and we all arrived in one piece, except Liesl was very poopy and needed to be hosed down in the back yard once we got home :). She's doing pretty well, all things considered, but she is very vocal about voicing her disapproval of being left in the backyard when I have to go to work. I reported in to Langely AFB this Wednesday, and started the process of getting all my paperwork done.
So on top of this we had to get Dan ready to deploy as well. On Tuesday, we went to the USS Carr family readiness meeting where I found out the proposed port stops in Latin American during Dan's six month deployment. Lord willing, I hope to visit him at least once in one of those ports. Last night was the hardest for me as it really hit that he would be leaving the next day. Today on the pier I was doing okay, making silly faces at him as he manned the rails, until the ship began to pull out and that's when the tears started. It was an interesting experience, I stood there and cried as my husband left and other Navy wives and families cried aroud me- both a very personal and communal grief. Please pray that Dan would be able to get enough sleep and a little free time, and that I would keep active and content, and that the Lord would comfort both of us.

Deployment Begins