"Join the Navy, see the world!"

In case I haven't been clear (or, um... saying much of anything at all), I've been in San Diego for the past week, doing a rotation at the Children's Hospital here. Jack got here 2 weeks before I did, which means he'll be leaving a week from now.

And that means I'll have to move, because currently we're staying on the Navy base here-- well, one of them; there are several-- and since I'm not military, I won't be able to stay here once Jack's gone. It's a good deal while it lasts, though. And it's quite interesting to present your ID to a camo-clad Marine every time you want to come home!

Also, this kind of cracks me up:


Nope, definitely not on a ship. But instead of calling the different floors on a building, well, "floors," the Navy calls them "decks." I get a kick out of it every time.

We're staying in the BOQ, which stands for "Bachelor Officer Quarters"-- though in fact you don't have to be a bachelor (obviously) to stay here. (And actually, it's not technically a BOQ-- it's combined bachelor quarters, which means both officers and enlisted can stay here.) It's kind of a cross between a hotel and a dorm. It's a hotel in function-- electronic room keys, private bathrooms, daily housecleaning and fresh towels, etc. But it's definitely more dorm-like in appearance. The carpet and furniture are ancient and kind of ratty, for instance. And we also have the time-honored dorm-room-style painted cinderblock walls:


And the bathroom-- though clean-- is lined with grubby tiles, and the sink and toilet have a vibe more industrial than domestic.


But. One excellent thing about being a military wife whose husband is Navy?

As opposed to other branches of the Armed Forces (I enjoy the joke "Join the Air Force, see the Midwest!"), Jack and I will tend to be sent to slightly more scenic locales, on average.

view from our balcony the first evening I arrived (the only cloudy day so far), looking west from Coronado island

view from our room to the west (we've decided, with the help of Google Maps, that it must be San Clemente island we can see there in the distance... or at least, that's our theory)

view from our room to the southeast (where you can see mainland San Diego across the bay)