The trip to Johns Hopkins yesterday went well, but the doctors had to cut and cauterize the skin around my Baha implant.

Yes, it hurts just as bad as it sounds.

Anyway, I can’t wear my sound processor( the hearing aid that attaches to my implant) for three days – and that means I’m deaf for the next three days.

Oh well. After so many years I can handle three days. It’s just weird not being able to hear my voice again.

This morning I have to run up to Salisbury for the first of three Synvisc shots for my knee. That should be . . . interesting.

In other news, Aaron from Camp Adventure is having hip replacement surgery today. He does a lot of good for a whole lot of people so we are all anxious to see him back on his feet. Please keep him and his family in your thoughts and prayers today.

The Sweet Sunny South. banjo keys, hats, French electric banjos, Camp Adventure, 2010 Folk Retreat and other stuff from Crisfield

BentleyVision:
http://somersetbanjo.com/week-10-4.html

Benjamin has started up a neat virtual jam session recording project to raise money for Camp Adventure. Get all of the details (and get involved) at http://jaminorm.blogspot.com/

This is Benjamin’s project. Dear Old Dad, the folks at Camp Adventure and yours truly are not involved with this project – but we are all excited to see & hear how it turns out. Break a leg, Benjamin!

Patrick’s ten days in Kansas went extremely well.
He instituted their first ever music program.
More than twenty five disabled campers participated.
Banjo, guitar, harmonica, ukulele and fiddle were featured.
Every fretted instrument was unpacked, checked and set up by Patrick.

He worked with each student to develop a playing technique.
By the end of the week most had discovered that they could indeed make music.
The campers took their instruments home.
Everyone wants the music sessions to continue.

Sincere thanks to those who contributed.
Your generosity lightened a staggering financial burden.
You made a difference and touched lives in the true spirit of folk music.
There are a lot of grateful people praying for you.

Volunteers are being recruited for next year’s program.
At least two more music staff members will be needed.
The work is hard and the need is great.
All they can offer you is all that they have.
Their love, their gratitude and their tears of joy.

Contact us if you want to know more.
phone 410-968-3873 or email pat@funkyseagull.com

Peace to all,
Pat Costello (Dear Old Dad)

In the week following Harper’s apology the headline story of the Calgary Herald’s Sunday edition was a special report on the youth suicide epidemic on Tsuu T’ina Nation. That Saturday we spent the afternoon exploring the Sibbald Flat area.

Standing on a lateral moraine looking over Sibbald Flat where Sibbald Creek, Bateman Creek, Moose Creek and Jumpingpound Creek converge, we can easily imagine the presence of paleo-Indians who hunted here as the glaciers retreated.

The camping tradition at Sibbald Lake which spans several cultures and at least 11, 000 years continues today. It is with cruel irony that this area should be named after Howard E. Sibbald, an Indian agent (1901-1904) turned Banff National Park game warden (1909-). He was the Indian agent when the outer boundaries of Banff National Park were enlarged to encompass nearly all the hunting grounds of the Stoney-Nakoda First Nations and although he understood that the Stoney “took the enlargement of the Banff National Park very hard” he became a fierce opponent of First Nations hunting rights. So there it is, visitors to this area come away with his name on their photos! This region is associated with some of the oldest archaeological evidence of paleo-Indian hunting dating from the Plano Period (10,000 – 8,000 BP) as the glaciers retreated (now revised to as far back as 13, 000 years ago), the Assiniboine hunters of the 1700s and the Siouan-speaking Nakoda-Stoney who probably arrived in Banff in historic times-almost certainly after 1790, and perhaps not until the mid-1800s but they knew the place well by 1870. Surveyors and explorers of the late nineteenth century typically turned to Stoney guides, and as a result many landforms in Banff National Park are still known by their Stoney names.

Howard E. Sibbald was the the Indian agent on the reserve when the outer boundaries of Banff National Park were enlarged to encompass nearly all the hunting grounds of the Stoney-Nakoda First Nations. In his annual report (1902) he wrote that the Stoney “took the enlargement of the Banff National Park very hard.” In 1903 he added that

“I consider these Indians have behaved very well under certain restrictions put upon them in connection with their hunting in the National Park; this was a hard blow to some of the old hunters who have hunted over this ground all their lives, but the majority see the benefits to be derived from this preserve in years to come (Sibbald 1902, 1903 Binnema and Niemi 2006)”

A Selected Timeline Related to Critical Events in this Region

11,000 years ago Prehistoric hunters chipped stone spearpoints to hunt in the hot grasslands. The Plano Period (10,000 – 8,000 BP) About 10,000 years ago the climate began to change and grasslands spread across southern Alberta. Mammoths and many other Ice Age animals became extinct, A beautiful example of an Alberta point. While other animals flourished including antelope and a new, smaller species of bison. This period, known as the ‘Plano’ period after the Spanish word for plains, lasted up to 8,000 years ago. http://www.abheritage.ca/alberta/archaeology/overview_pg3_planopr.html

1700s Assiniboine hunted bison with bows. Aspen trees were already established. Prior to the arrival of Anthony Henday in central Alberta in 1754, Aboriginal people from the area were trading with Europeans either directly by visiting posts to the north and east themselves, or indirectly by trading with Cree and Assiniboine groups. These Aboriginal traders exchanged goods they had acquired from fur trade posts for furs, Beaver Indians at trading post. horses, food and other products. In turn, they then traded furs and other goods at posts for more goods that they could trade later. In this way European trade goods reached Alberta in unknown qualities for at least half a century before the first European arrived in person to trade.

1790 – “The Siouan-speaking Stoney (Nakoda) probably arrived in Banff in historic times-almost certainly after 1790, and perhaps not until the mid-1800s but they knew the place well by 1870. Surveyors and explorers of the late nineteenth century typically turned to Stoney guides, and as a result many landforms in Banff National Park are still known by their Stoney names [1] (Binnema and Niemi 2006).”

1875- Cattle ranchers had already arrived. Pine trees were already established.50 years ago Stoney Indian wove freshly-cut willows into the walls of a sweat lodge. There was already an open meadow.

1875 The Ontario family Andrew Sibbald came to Morley, AB from Ontario to teach at George and John McDougall’s mission at Morley. In May 1900, Andrew Sibbald’s son, Howard E. Sibbald became the farmer in charge at Morley, and from 1901 to 1904 he was the Indian agent there.

1880s Indian agents did tolerate or even encourage Indians to hunt for subsistence during the winters during the 1880s and early 1890s, and even later in more remote regions, but they believed that when a sedentary agricultural way of life was feasible for any given community, that community should be dissuaded from hunting. Thus, from the perspective of some Indian officials, the restriction of aboriginal hunting rights might be a blessing in disguise.

1895 Quebec established its 2,531-square-mile Laurentides National Park in prohibiting all hunting in the park.

1900 Quebec deputy superintendent general reported that the aboriginals’ loss of hunting rights in the 2,531-square-mile Laurentides National Park near their reserve was one of the important factors that led them to direct their efforts towards agriculture.

1900 The last known wild passenger pigeon was killed around 1900.

1902 Howard E. Sibbald was the the Indian agent on the reserve when the outer boundaries of Banff National Park were enlarged to encompass nearly all the hunting grounds of the Stoney-Nakoda First Nations. In his annual report (1902) he wrote that the Stoney “took the enlargement of the Banff National Park very hard.” Reflecting on the enlargement of Banff National Park, wrote “I hope it will be for the best, for as long as there was any game so close to the reserve, it was hard for them to get down to work.”

1903-02 The Canadian Magazine published its obituary for the wild passenger pigeon species.

“[L]aws for the protection of our fish and game we have in plenty, but laws that are not enforced, and which are not supported by public sympathy, are worse than useless.” See Binnema and Niemi 2006.

1903 In his annual report Indian agent, Howard E. Sibbald, wrote that although hunting restrictions were “a hard blow to some of the old [Siouan-speaking Nakoda-Stoney] hunters, … the majority see the benefits to be derived from this preserve in years to come.” By that time, more Stoney had taken up paid work as guides even in the national park. He added that

“I consider these Indians have behaved very well under certain restrictions put upon them in connection with their hunting in the National Park; this was a hard blow to some of the old hunters who have hunted over this ground all their lives, but the majority see the benefits to be derived from this preserve in years to come (Sibbald 1902, 1903 Binnema and Niemi 2006)”

1903 In his annual report Howard Douglas argued that,

“Moose were frequently seen, elk, and black tail deer, big horns, and goats were plentiful; now some of these have totally disappeared… [and] there can only be one opinion on the subject. The Stony Indians are primarily responsible for this condition of affairs. They are very keen hunters, and have always been, and they are the only Indians who hunt in this section of the mountains. For years, from their reserve, they have systematically driven the valleys and hills and slaughtered the game. Their lodges are full of wild skins and meat. From thirty to fifty of the lodges are continually in the mountains from September 1 till Christmas … [T]he old haunts are deserted, the sheep runs are falling into disuse, and the greatest game country the sun ever shone upon is fast becoming a thing of the past. True, within the last few years, there has been a close season in which the Indians are supposed to stop harassing the game, but no notice has been taken of the law, and in short time this vast tract of mountain land, abounding in all that is required for the sustenance of wild animals, will be deserted, unless the Indians are compelled to live on their reserves. Laws are useless unless they are enforced. There seems to be a feeling that it would not do to press the more radical feature of the law amongst Indians. I feel that we have reached the time, when we can take a step in advance, when we can apply the laws more forcibly than we have, without creating any adverse sentiment. Let the line be drawn now; if we wait longer, the game will be gone (Douglas 1903).”

1904 In his annual report Howard Douglas made an appeal for game wardens as the noted that with the expansion of the boundaries of the park, that there were increased difficulties in enforcement. What was not clearly explained in his annual report was that the new boundaries prevented the Nakoda-Stoney from hunting on almost all their hunting grounds! Douglas called for “the establishment of a rigid and thorough system of game guardians to maintain the legislation needed for the enforcement of much more severe penalties for its infraction.”

1909-06 The Canadian government provided for the hiring of game wardens in national parks. Douglas believed that the Nakoda-Stoney were the most serious threat to the game of Banff National Park and he therefore chose Howard E. Sibbald as the first chief game guardian.

1910 In Glacier National Park in Montana, William R. Logan, the park’s first superintendent, was the former Indian agent on the Blackfoot reservation.

1911 The Canadian government passed the Dominion Forest Reserves and Parks Act, which established the Dominion Parks Branch-the world’s first national park service-and helped institutionalize the Warden Service of the national parks. This altered the boundaries of national parks so that areas that were not important tourist destinations were removed from the national parks. As a result much of the land in Banff Park was reallocated to a forest reserve. The Stoney only briefly took heart. In August 1911, the assistant secretary of the Department of the Interior sent a sternly worded letter to the secretary of the DIA announcing that it intended to enforce a new regulation that stipulated that no one was allowed to enter the forest reserves without special permission from the Department of Forestry. The documents suggest then, that the policies of barring aboriginal people from Banff National Park were rooted primarily in the goals and values of conservationists and sportsmen. But aboriginal subsistence hunting also frustrated one of the central goals of the DIA at the time: the civilization and assimilation of aboriginal people. When he was still the Indian agent at Morley, in 1903, Howard Sibbald opined that “as long as they can hunt you cannot civilize them. I have lived alongside of them for twenty six years, and with the exception of a few of the younger ones they are no more civilized now than they were when I first knew them, and I blame hunting as the cause.”

1930s By the 1930s, few Nakoda-Stoney could depend on full-time subsistence hunting.

1991

1996 RCAP

2008 Harper’s Apology

Notes

1. Luxton, Banff, Canada’s First National Park, 49–50. For the Kutenai, see Raoul A. Andersen, “Alberta Stoney (Assiniboine) Origins and Adaptations: A Case for Reappraisal,” Ethnohistory 17 (1970): 48–61; and Theodore Binnema, Common and Contested Ground: A Human and Environmental History of the Northwestern Plains (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001), 81–82. For the Blackfeet, see Spence, Dispossessing the Wilderness, chap. 5; Brian Reeves and Sandra Peacock, “‘Our Mountains Are Our Pillows’: An Ethnographic Overview of Glacier National Park” (Glacier National Park, 2001); Brian O. K. Reeves, Mistakis: The Archaeology of Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park (Bozeman: Montana State University Press, 2003); and Binnema, Common and Contested Ground, chap. 2. The ancestors of the Stoney were among the Assiniboine who broke from the Sioux sometime before 1640. Some of their descendants were in the forests and foothills of the Rocky Mountains by the late 1700s, and in the area of present-day Banff Park by the mid 1800s. See Hugh A. Dempsey, Indian Tribes of Alberta (Calgary: Glenbow Museum, 1988), 42–43. Also see Luxton, Banff, Canada’s First National Park, chap. 4

Bibliography and Webliography

Binnema, Theodore (Ted) and Melanie Niemi, ‘Let the Line be Drawn Now’: Wilderness, Conservation, and the Exclusion of Aboriginal People from Banff National Park in Canada. Environmental History. 11.4 (2006): 33 pars. 15 Jun. 2008 <http://www.historycooperative.org/journals/eh/11.4/binnema.html>.

Hildebrandt, Walter; Carter, Sarah; First Rider, Dorothy. 2008. The True Spirit and Original Intent of Treaty 7: Treaty 7 Elders and Tribal Council With Walter Hildebrandt, Dorothy First Rider, and Sarah Carter. Mcgill-Queens Native and Northern Series. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press. ISBN: 0-7735-1522-4 408pp. http://mqup.mcgill.ca/book.php?bookid=1419

http://www.heritagecommunityfdn.org

http://www.albertasource.ca/treaty7/treaty/perspectives_elders.html

Dear Blogosphere,

I apologize for my absence. I spent two weeks on the beautiful island of Oah’u working for Camp Adventure at Pearl Harbor Navel Base and needed some time to adjust to the new school term. I am back now!

~Jackie

What’s better than the opportunity to help children AND get a free trip to any location in the Northern Hemisphere? These are just a couple of the benefits of the Camp Adventure Youth Services Program. 

Camp Adventure is an opportunity for college-aged students to make a difference for the lives of others. The program works directly with the military and sends students to continents like Europe, Asia and North America to provide summer camp to children age’s five to ten.  

Camp Adventure pays for travel expenses, like room and board, gives students at the University of Oregon 18 upper-division college credits and gives a living stipend for the summer. The only catch is that students need to be CPRPR and lifeguard certified and pay for uniform and college credits. 

I have been involved in the Camp Adventure program for the past three years. I spent my first summer in Germany and my second on the island of Okinawa, Japan. I will be doing the spring break camp in Hawaii and plan to direct camp in Denver, CO this summer.  

My travel experience and benefits are overwhelmingly beneficial. I’ve learned about cultures in this world, seen many famous sights and met some of the most amazing kids ever. I would highly recommend participating in this program if you like kids and are interested in travel.

Journeys Through Journalism is the new site for my blog. The purpose of this blog is to practice using social networking skills for my Advanced PR Writing Class at the University of Oregon. This is the first blog page I’ve ever made, so bear with me as I learn.

I’m a senior at the University of Oregon and I plan to graduate this spring. I will graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Public Relations along with a double minor in Communications and Business Administration. My plans for after graduation are still undecided. After high school I thought that it would be a challenge to find a job opportunity, now that I’m almost through with college it appears that there is a world of endless opportunities. The goal for the end of this term is to decide on a geographical location to work in. Baby steps are what it’s all about.

This blog will provide the chance to show the world some of my personality. I will be able to write about trends in Public Relations and any other topics that appeal to me. Some topics I am interested in stem from the volunteering I’ve participated in on campus. Throughout college I have volunteered several days and nights for non-profit children’s organizations like Children’s Miracle Network through Dance Marathon at the University of Oregon (http://uoleadership.uoregon.edu/events/dance_marathon), MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) through Allen Hall Public Relations (http://jcomm.uoregon.edu/~ahpr/) and Camp Adventure based at University of Northern Iowa (http://www.uni.edu/campadv/).  

These programs have provided me with PR experience. I am an Account Supervisor for Allen Hall Public Relations at the University of Oregon. I was the Public Relations Executive for Dance Marathon 2008 and I’m an Administrative Assistant for PRSSA, Public Relations Student Society of America (http://www.prsa.org/). After two years in the Public Relations major I have learned skills that will benefit my career in the future.

After graduation I plan on continuing to work with Health Care PR, hopefully with a focus on children. My other interests include playing tennis, enjoying Eugene’s green outdoors, relaxing, being with friendly company, traveling and listening to music.

Enjoy reading more of my blog in the future!

This morning my co-workers left for the states. I am already missing some of them, but I can honestly say it was time to move on. I had an interesting 2 and a half months in Rota, but I’m glad I’m gone.

Today I was sitting in my room, dreading having to travel to Madrid because I had no idea how I was going to get there. Oh, best part of all: I had a plane ticket to get to Madrid with all my coworkers… like the giant asshole I am, I canceled the ticket two weeks ago when extending my trip.

Major travel anxiety kicked in, but I found a way, and now I’m on a high-speed train in 1st class, living the life of rich Spaniards. Pretty sweet ass accommodations, considering my dumb ass had to pay an extra 100 Euro to get there.

I’m glad I’m on my way to Madrid. Today, they have this show featuring 100 percussionists by a lake in El Buen Retiro (a park built by a former king) I’m wicked exicted to go see that and then hit up the tapa bars/discos/wherever else I end up.

My vacation has finally started, and it just set in. AND, I’m friggin excited.

Wednesdays are field trip days for our camp. It sounds like it would be a blast, but it’s so nerveracking to keep track of so many kids in public. At least when we are on base, we have activities and know where to go. In public, it’s a whole different ball game.

Today we got to go to a theme park called Isla Magica in Sevilla, about an hour and half away. Notice the title of this entry… it says it all.

The park was packed full of amazing rides. Let’s see… there was the log flume that went about a mile per hour, the water was piss yellow in some parts and it smelled like goat shit after the first drop. Then we got on the dragon ride. All the kids were so excited for the “scary dragon ride,” which turned out to be Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (from Disney World) with technology from 40 years ago. It was like a low budget Legends of the Hidden Temple. All I could do was laugh as we passed by cardboard Tiki cutouts. Would have been more scary to drive us past a band full of hyped up Gypsies. Still, I think one of the kids may have crapped their pants.

We also go to hit up the River Rapids, the Cyclone and the Yo-yo. And they all… you guessed it… blew a big elephant nut. The best ride of all… the bus ride home when I got to sleep a little bit.

Don’t get me wrong. I love seeing the sights, and my kids are awesome, but there’s a reason why it should be called Isla Mierda.

On a positive note, the week is half over. This week is flying by. We are gearing up to go to Sevilla on Friday night, which will be wicked fun. It will be nice to see Sevilla on our own time without having to worry about our kids. Gotta go shower… still got some hints of Mierda on me. Adios amigos.

It has been a long week. Being a camp counselor takes a hell of a lot out of you. The kids are great, but there are so many to take care of and keep in line that it gets to be wicked tiring. I was put with 8-11 year olds. It’s such a great group. The kids get along for the most part, and they are enjoying me as a counselor.

We went to the Zoologico Botanico in Jerez de la Frontera (about 45 minutes away) on Wednesday. It was an all day field trip, meaning 8 hours of being there. Funny thing is you could walk through the whole entire zoo in 20 minutes. Imagine entertaining 15 8-11 year olds with frigging meercats. Yeah, they’re cool animals, but I was racking my brain trying to find a way to keep the kids interested.

We did get to see the elephant. There was only one, but it put on a great show. First it came right up to us and started waving its trunk. After a little bit, it walked over to the building and started rubbing its back and butt on the wall. Before you know it, it opened up the hatches (it was a female) and started going to town. I swear it dropped a good 3 gallons of urine and about 5-10 lbs. of mierda. It was great looking down the line and seeing all the kids in complete shock! (gotta turn your heads for this one!)

Fortunately, about 6 other animals felt the urge to go numbers 1 and/or 2, so that occupied another 45 minutes. In the end, I played games with the kids and made it through the day.

One of my kids had a great quote: “Mr. Flintstone, that elephant just made a poop. You know what the difference is between a poop and a fart. A poop is solid, but a fart is just air, so you don’t leave marks in your pants.” Kid’s a genius!

Well, we have a celebration in Rota tonight. It’s the Summer Solstice, so they named it after a saint, they burn a bunch of shit and people run naked into the ocean to wash away their sins. Good pictures are on their way.

See ya.

This will be a short one because I’m pretty wiped, but I wanted to fill everyone in on my first day of camp.

I lucked out with a great group of 9-11 year olds. My “Camp Name” is Mr. Flintstone, but they insist on calling me Mr. Fruitcake. One kid loves to fart and loves his own scent even more. We’ve developed some etiquette rules, so that he at least excuses himself before he singes our nose hair. I forgot how funny farting is when you’re younger. It’s just something you avoid talking about when you’re older, but these kids take pride in their farts.

During closing, which is a short big-group session, one of my campers pulled on my hand and said… “Mr. Flintstone, I did something bad.” I turned and said, “Did you toot?” Her face said it all. She had a giant shit-eating grin, much like my own, and she just nodded proudly. How did I know, you ask? Because it smelled like rotten cabbage all around me, and I knew it wasn’t me.

These kids have a lot of energy. They were running circles around some counselors, but I managed to last the whole day (over 9 hours). I’m definitely pooped now after working out and going out to dinner, but it was well worth it. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow.

And now… another random drunken Marine quote:

(To his friend at a table across the restaurant): “Hey faggot. Yeah you… eating the pizza. You should have played beer pong on the beach with me. Instead, I got really drunk… pussy. Fuck you dickhole.”

I really liked the combination of “fuck” and “dickhole.”

Adios amigos… tengo que relajarme antes el largo dia que viene.

Just a brief note on this one…

I hated Texas when I lived there. It’s the asshole of America. I still hate Texas. Sorry if you’re from there, but it needs to be gifted to Mexico.

The woman that we work for on base… I’ll call her Yahoo… is a great representative of the Sovereign State of Texas. Every time we hear her voice, it’s like nails on a chalkboard. I’ve developed a really good impression of her already, and I entertain the rest of the group with it, but knowing my shitty luck, I’ll be imitating one day to boost morale, and she’ll be right behind me.

It’s only been 4 days, and already, we’re all pretty sick of her. She has lived here for 2 years, yet she knows absolutely nothing about the town or the base. She told us to walk about 5 blocks for an ATM, but I refused to believe her. I did my own investigating and found one across the street. Right across the frigging street… Texas Intellect is what I like to call it.

We’ll see how I can put up with it. Right now, I’m enjoying everything here, except for the Yahoo from Tejas. At least it gives us something to joke about.

Que Uds. esten bienes!

Adios Amigos!

I’ve always had somewhat crappy luck… it runs in my family… and there was no exception when I arrived in Spain.

Let’s start from when I got to PDX. The clerk at check-in had my bag going only to Madrid. Luckily, I caught that mistake and directed it to Rota.

Fast forward to about 27 hours later. I’m tired, sweaty, and I smell like a bum’s ________ (you fill in the blank). Needless to say, I’m in desperate need of a fresh pair of shorts and a nice t-shirt. Fortunately, after getting some advice from Cathcart and my parents, I packed an extra pair of underwear, shorts, and a shirt.

We arrive in Jerez de la Frontera, a small airport about 20 minutes outside of Rota. I’m sitting there with 7 other people from my program, watching the bags zoom by on the belt. Ever since PDX, I had this gut feeling that my bag would not show up in Jerez, but I also had hope that I wouldn’t be scatted on this time. One by one, they’re picked off until there are just three bags. Ha… wouldn’t you know it… mine wasn’t on there. I had the urge to start going nuts, but I had just met these people and wanted to make a good first impression, so I just started laughing instead. Everyone couldn’t understand how I could be so calm about it, but I knew it was just my luck.

So, everyone packs their bags into a van and we’re greeted by a nice, but overly-excitable woman from Corpus Christi, TEXAS! YAHOOO! Needless to say, I wasn’t in the mood for her redneck, inbred banter. She’s a nice woman, but she talks to us like we’re 3 years old sometimes, and if you ask a question and she doesn’t know the answer, she’ll just ignore you. (She likes me though, and she’s in charge for the most part, so I have something going for me… as long as she doesn’t find out that I had Bar Mitzvah)

We get to the base.. which is beautiful… 12 square miles of a small, naval city. There is everything you could need on here… a golf course, driving range, several restaurants, Naval Exchange and retail stores and even a drive-in movie theater. They even have slot machines in certain places, and I’m definitely going to hit them up.

We get to our dorms, and I’m dreading walking into a quad or double with twin sized bunk beds and a fan in the corner. This time a little good luck came my way… we each have our own separate sleeping quarters complete with extended twin, ceiling fan, air conditioning, desk, wardrobe, dresser, mirror and a TV with a DVD player. It’s a hotel suite. Plus, we share a kitchenette with free washer and dryer and a really nice bathroom. Oh yeah, and we have maids come in every day to clean our bathroom and make our beds. Basically, we’re living in the lap of luxury for a Camp Adventure program…. Or any program for that matter.

I’m paired up with Marco, a really good kid. We have similar senses of humor, and I can tell we’re going to get along just fine.

Our first day, we toured around the base a little bit with the Texan and were allowed to shop in one of the Military Personnel Stores. We also went out into the town and checked out the night life.

It’s pretty cool. Restaurants don’t open until 8 or 9 here. Restaurants are bars, and bars are restaurants, so no matter where you go, you can get a drink. We hit up the different bars and walked around the city for a few hours. The biggest difference I’ve found is how generous bartenders are with alcohol. In any drink… say Jack and Coke… they’ll pour 80% Jack and 20% Coke, then they give you the rest of the can to carry around with you. Stiff drinks for cheap is a great thing and only adds to the experience. The beer here is about 3 times stronger than the beer back home. It tastes a hell of a lot better, too, so I have no complaints with the night life here.

The locals are totally friendly to Americans, and especially love the American girls. We had two guys buy us all shots at a bar last night (and there were 9 of us) just so they could get to 2 girls in the group. I busted out my Spanish and told them the girls were lesbians (without the girls knowing). The guys backed off, the girls thanked me, and I just laughed to myself because I’m an asshole.

Turns out local women look for American guys, too. We are their passport out of here. If they can get with us and get us interested, they have a good chance of getting married (moreso with Marines than Camp A people) and they can come to the states. The women I’ve encountered here are very attractive, and we haven’t even ventured past the city limits. I’m excited to see what the rest of Spain has to offer… in a curious sort of way.

Well, we’re about to go out again, but I’ll write soon. Hope you all enjoy the pics. Adios amigos!