Rafiki on the Run

So for those of you who know me, and know me well, you are familiar with a small purple and yellow stuffed monkey that I have. This was a "gift" from Dan- and by gift I mean, he won it in one of those claw hook machines at a mini-golf course in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina during Beach Week 2005 (or, BW2K5 for those of you who know what I'm talking about :)

Since summer of 2005, Rafiki has been QUITE the world traveler. His "List of Cities He Has Lived In" includes Charlottesville, VA, Jacksonville, FL & San Diego, CA. He enjoyed many weekend getaways to Atlanta, GA & Baltimore, MD. His passports includes stamps from Mexico and London. He even has a visa from a summer trip to Russia!

He was a guest on the USS JOHN PAUL JONES where he hopped with the kanagroos in the Land Down Under and met his distant relative, the koala, for the first time and on the USS BONHOMME RICHARD where he sipped mai tai's and did the hula in Hawaii. He has also done TWO South America Counter Narco-Terrorism deployments as a member of the USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS and made port visits in Boston and Maine. His favorite was when the SAMMY B took him to New Orleans, where he enjoyed throwing beads off a balcony on Bourbon St during Mardi Gras. Rafiki is currently on his first deployment to the Arabian Gulf. According to Rafiki, the pros of this deployment include no seasickness, the same sleep schedule every day and high speed internet. On the downside though, he says the humidity is bad for his skin and wishes there weren't so many flies. Luckily, a quick tumble in the washing machine today cleaned him up pretty good. He's really excited for the rest of deployment too, most notably to watch the planes take off and land on the aircraft carrier.

However, Rafiki's life is not all jet-settling glamor. The worst is when Molly & Dan go on a trip together because he's never asked to come along- he missed out on Spain, Key West, the Bahamas, Disney World, NYC and most recently, Greece and Paris (Rafiki's still mad he didn't get invited on the honeymoon). 

One of my biggest regrets in life so far (up there with loosing my beautiful lace wedding veil at the wedding, anyone out there perhaps know of its location? and not knowing that September 29th was going to be my last night at home and wishing I had stopped to enjoy the sunset more and ate another piece of angel food cake and hugged my husband more) is not getting photographic evidence of all of the places that Rafiki has been. He is green with envy of the Travelocity Gnome, who gets his picture taken EVERYWHERE he goes. Rafiki doesn't understand why the paparazzi likes the Travelocity gnome almost as much as they like Paris Hilton; Rafiki thinks Paris Hilton is WAY better looking than the Travelocity Gnome. He at least thinks he's better looking that that silly little gnome.

So Rafiki, while I'm sorry that I failed to document your life thus far on film, I promise that I will do a better job of it in the future. And, so to make up for it, here is a picture of you somewhere the Travelocity Gnome has NEVER been (nor will probably ever go)- the most exclusive, most highly defended and protected waterfront property in the world, the Al Basrah Oil Terminal.

Pack your suitcase Rafiki because tomorrow by boat and by helo, we're on the run. Next Stop: The Kingdom of Bahrain!!!

If Rafiki could talk, he would be saying: "Do you have a good grip on me? Have you SEEN how unstable these rails can be? I read your post about the sharks, I'm sure they would love to take a bite out of me, I look so delicious and all. Are you crazy?! Put me doooooown!!!!"

Now let's play a little game called "Which one of these is not like the other?" Answer- it has nothing to do with who is an officer and who is enlisted... here I am with some of the DESRON 23 folks: OS1, Senior & OS2. I am easy to spot as I am the one with the super sweet kicks. So not only was my foot seething in pain, but I also looked ridiculous. When people ask, I tell them that I am just prepared it at any time I were to be chased, I could run away.

I'm trying to rest the foot one last day because I have to wear the boots tomorrow back to Bahrain. I'm off to my last dinner here and my last 6-hour stint on watch with my "fingers on the jugular." Oh, how I will miss the power of holding the defense of a small, strategically important country's economy in my hand.

Alright well, bon voyage!