We're not in the PNW anymore Toto

My mom-dar, the mysterious thing that wakes you from a dead sleep to instant alertness, went off at 2:15 this morning. I awoke to the sound of sobbing and screaming. After I checked on both the girls and found them peacefully slumbering, I realized that the sound was coming from outside. Pretty soon I could start to make out actual words, like the F-bomb and "husband". Hmmm. This goes on for 15 minutes, so I venture out on the balcony. In the courtyard of our neighboring tower there is a group of about 6 women, one of whom is carrying on hysterically. It has now been 20 minutes since I awoke and I realize I am like one of those people on the news who sees something and just stands by, so I called the cops. I get the impression that I am the FIRST CALLER. Seriously? This can't be. This commotion has been going on for 20+ minutes and it awoke me from behind closed windows on the eighth floor of a totally different tower. The people on the second floor of that tower can't be that heavy of sleepers. The police arrive and the caterwauling continues for 10 more minutes before it subsides. I kept an eye on the situation the whole time and I did not see another sole peek out of a curtain or appear on a balcony. Is this a normal situation in somebody's book? I started to think about the billions of people on this earth and how I thought the bubble I lived in was so big. I keep discovering how tiny my frame of reference in this world really is. I consider myself pretty well traveled having been born, raised, and married in the Air Force community. However, I am still naive as to the true scope of human experiences, even after 30 (and some change) years of living. These aren't even the experiences of foreigners, these are my fellow Americans. Even more narrowly, they are all affiliated with the military. I find it ironic that I am having my eyes opened to different parts of my own country while living in a foreign nation. I guess it is because there is such a convergence of different backgrounds here. You have Navy, Air Force, Army, and Marines all together on a tiny island. This is all further concentrated when you live in an apartment setting.

It has been unique living with the Marines, but I am truly hoping we can move back to the "mothership" next summer. I don't know how to describe it, but the Camp is so different from the Base. I just get a totally different vibe when I am on Kadena. It is friendlier, warmer, and feels safer. It is not like there aren't diverse Air Force people. You have all sorts of Air Force people on Kadena. There are people from every creed, color, socio-economic background, geographic local...name a variable and its there. However, the mentality of the Air Force is completely different from the Marines. It does have its humorous moments though. I recall a time when we first arrived and we were in a briefing with mixed services. The person giving the briefing asked each branch of the service to raise their hands in turn to receive the correct form or something. When they asked for the Air Force personnel to identify themselves, a Marine spontaneously offered to help the Air Force people sharpen their crayons before they filled out their paperwork. Ha Ha, I thought that was quite funny myself. Did you know that actually brief everyone about the Marines when you arrive? They do it during the part about the hazards of Okinawa. I'm not joking. The tell all incoming personnel and families about the dangers of this region: the heat, driving, sea conditions, animal life, and....the Marines. The guy explained it best when he said something like, "Avoid confrontations with the Marines. Have you seen the movie Jurassic Park? Think about the scene where the paleontologist is focused on the velociraptor in front of him and the other two velociraptors swoop in from the sides and kill him. That is what the Marines are like. They always have a buddy and they always travel in packs."

I appreciate you sticking with me through this diatribe. I couldn't sleep and so I decided to write. It is a bad combination. If you scanned to the bottom and you want the cliff notes, here they are:
1. It's a big world.
2. Some Marines think the preferred writing utensil of the Air Force is the crayon.
3. Marine=Velociraptor