Rota

Last Monday, we decided we wanted to go to Rota NAS. There were 2 reasons. First, we wanted off the base. The second is I wanted to get an Xbox or Playstation to pass some of my time between shifts.

So Other Eric rented a car on base. It was a tiny, 4-door Daewoo. For those not familiar, with Daewoo, it is a Korean car company. Daewoo is Korean for “We’re gonna stick you in this tiny dang car and make you look like a fool for driving it.” And this car was as small as a 4 door could be. It had a tiny 4 hamster engine. This car, going up a slight incline, wouldn’t top 100 KM/hour, which is just over 60 MPH. It reminded me of my first car, a Hyundai, which is Korean for “hunk of crap.”

Rota is a Naval Air Station about an hour and a half away from us that lies on the Mediterranean Ocean. On the way, there we passed a really great looking church/fortress/whatever. I’m not sure what it was and I haven’t been able to get any of the Spanish folks here in the office to tell me. They aren’t familiar with it. We stopped and took pictures of it on the way back. I hope to have those pictures available in a few days. Just wish I had more information on it. There was a sign in front of it that read “La Cartuja.”

I was navigating while Other Eric was driving. Pat, from our Thanksgiving trip, was along with us. We’d picked up some directions at our base’s library (think of the library in Shawshank but a bit bigger). At one point in the directions, it said we had to pass through a small town, past a waste treatment plant and another small town.

I was pretty sure we were on the right road but not positive. I told Other Eric and Pat that we needed to be looking for these small towns and the waste treatment plant. We passed through the first town and then the following conversation took place:

“OK, we’re looking for a waste treatment plant next.”

“A waste treatment plant?”
“Is it near the road? Will we be able to see it easily?”

I think we will. Otherwise they wouldn’t put it on the…Oh my gosh!”

“Holy ****! That smells like ****!”

“Oh my gosh.”

“That smells worse than Korea.”

“Oh my gosh.”

Yeah, we found it. We continued on and stopped at a McDonald’s for something to eat. It was connected to a mall and we watched the Spanish women walk by. It’s weird to see people smoking as they walk through a mall. They don’t care about it as much here as the behavior police do in the states.

We continued on to the base and after one wrong turn, found it. We almost didn’t get on base. Other Eric didn’t bring a copy of his orders. Brilliant move. When deployed somewhere, *always* carry a copy of your orders on you. It’s common sense and he should have been briefed on it. It’s so second-nature to me, I hadn’t thought to ask him before we left. He had his military ID but the gate guards needed a copy of his orders and wouldn’t let him on. I eventually had to remind the guard how long we’d driven and that I’d vouch for him and bring him on base as my guest.

So we bought my Playstation (one of the new, really thin ones), ate at Taco Bell and got my film developed before turning around and heading back. On the way back, Pat thought of getting some meat and grilling out at the dorm. So we asked someone where to get some beef and he directed us back to the mall where we’d eaten at the McDonald’s.

We pulled in to the mall again and inside it was the Spanish version of Wal-Mart. Exactly the same, really. Walking through it, we made our way to the meat section. In Spain, apparently it is common to buy the legs of cows. They were hanging all over the place like a weird Spanish version of bunting. We decided we didn’t want any and after the guys checked the liquor aisle, we left.

We got back in our lunchbox with wheels and made it back to Moron before it was dark.

And that was our exciting trip to Rota.

I’m hoping to head into Sevilla again this weekend.

One bonus! They are moving us off-base to a local hotel. So we’ll get to live in a Spanish town. We move later this morning. I’m looking forward to it.

And if you are visiting my page and enjoying reading these updates, leave a comment. I can’t believe my updates haven’t prompted one comment! Do it for two reasons:

It lets me know you guys are reading it. Call it positive feedback.

Whoever leaves the most comments, I’ll bring them a t-shirt from Spain when I get back. These have to be legit comments, too. No, one word comments. Plus, you have to leave your name so I know who you are. If you aren’t local, I’ll mail it.