Lajes air force base was created after WWII with special permission from the Portuguese government. In other words, this base is not American. It is a Portuguese base that Americans are allowed to be a part of. The gates are manned by Portuguese military. The MP's are Portuguese and American together. The BX,(K-mart without tax) which normally is only for American military, also allows for Portuguese with ID.
All the buildings are brandished with a letter T for "temporary".
We have to be on our best behavior or daddy will take away the second largest runway in the world.
That's right kids, Lajes is where the Space Shuttle is to crash land if they develop any problems while flying over the Atlantic.
Over the last Shuttle flight, everyone was on stand-by, just "in case". Not that I stayed up, but if the sky is clear, we can watch the orbit with the naked eye.
The school and base housing is actually outside the base perimeter. So there is a walking gate with a Portuguese plainclothes (not sure of his status) to look at ID's. Its funny listening to some of the stories of kids and adults holding up something to pass by. Depending on the person, most anyone can pass through the gate. Hopefully I won't cause a national incident, but someone went through after holding up their shoe.
But on the main gate, there are some uniformed that practically twang after a salute. And they are saluting all day long.
We live about 15 minutes away from the base. Some days Mary and I hang out in Porto Martins, but others are spent being saluted over and again.
Bonnie likes to salute back.
Sometimes the base has a lot to offer. We had a movie theater, it's being re-vamped. There are a few playgrounds, but they are usually wet.
The library is small but well stocked. Somehow they got all new, hardback books. I've not seen any paperbacks as of yet. But the video selection, not so hot. A lot of discarded vhs tapes, of the Barney and Rugrats variety.
Bowling alley, craft center, thrift shop, and in the summer there is a pool. Supposedly there used to be a Burger King, and many Portuguese civilians would pay for the yearly ID fee just for that use. But now the only fast food is Subway (if that even counts as fast food). The largest island Sao Miguel is home to Taco Bell and McDonalds. That unfortunately is a two hour flight.
I am simply rambling, so I will end on the subject of me being stupid.
It makes me feel pretty stupid when practically every Portuguese I've met is bi-lingual and I don't feel comfortable saying "Bom Dia"(good morning). Not only can they speak English, they speak so fluently, you wonder their nationality. Most Europeans are bi-lingual which makes me wonder if the English language itself is a block in learning other languages. Is it harder to learn other languages when English is the native tongue? That's my hypothesis. It's thrown out, I can't take it back.
The language is a cross between Spanish and French. If you know Spanish (as I've learned), then its easy to pick up on the written language. But if you know French (which I do Not), I think the sounds may be easier to pick up on. Like French there are many letters that are not heard. And others that sound completely different that you would imagine.
Yes, for example is Sim. It's pronounced "sing".
No, is Nao, with the squiggly over the a. Its a nasal "now".
Sarahjane and I are taking a class. When I write down notes without looking at the board, just listening, I'm screwed. It just doesn't sound anything like it looks. When watching TV, everything ends with 00 or sh. There is a lot of shushing going on here.
And evidently, we live in hillbilly Portugal and have the added bonus of a peculiar accent.
I'm done.
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