Spain

**Warning-TMI alert for this entry. Read at your own risk**

Well we are here. We have (sort of) settled in and are starting to get a small routine going. We got here last Friday evening after an overnight flight to Madrid. The flight was awful. Don't get me wrong-O was great for the most part. One minor fit because she was so tired. She only slept about 4 hours of the flight. Justin and I collectively got about 3 hours of sleep total. That is why it was awful. They served dinner on a 9pm flight. By the time that was done, they then started selling duty free items. This meant that they did not even turn off the cabin lights until there was only about 4 hours left on the flight. Then with about an hour left, they turned the lights back on to serve a small danish for breakfast and then land. I have never been so tired. When we got to Madrid, our layover until the flight to Rota was 7 hours. The area we live in is so small they just don't have many flights down here. At least in winter. The layover in Madrid where I think O got her rotavirus from.

For those that don't have kids, this bug is awful. It is the stomach flu on crack. It takes its toll on little bodies. The only good news is Justin and I did not get it. The reason I think she got it in Madrid is because they have these WONDERFUL little areas called "Guarderias" in the airport. They are nurseries for kids. They have some play areas, toys, showers, bathrooms and multiple cribs for kids to use. I highly recommend for anyone with kids traveling through Madrid. We spent about 6 of our seven hour layover in this area. The only drawback-GERM FACTORIES. It was a very clean place and no matter how much I wiped her hands, and believe me it was OCD often-she touched everything and then it never failed, hands to her mouth. I am convinced the virus came from here or the plane.

We put O down for a nap in one of the cribs and then I slept in a chair next to her while Justin found a bench outside in the terminal. We managed to get about an hour more sleep which helped us get through the rest of the day/evening. We got on our flight to Rota and landed at about 6:30 pm Rota time. Justin's Navy sponsor was waiting for us at the airport to drive us to the base to our temporary housing.

We got there, ate some frozen pizza and put O and ourselves to bed. And a few short hours later...all hell broke loose. I heard O crying at about midnight and assumed that she just wanted the pacifier. I went in and to my surprise she had thrown up her dinner ALL OVER. Herself, the crib sheet, the crib, the floor on both sides. It waas nasty and sorry for the TMI for some of you reading this. She proceeded to dry heave for the next hour after that but I was able to get her to the toilet each time for that. She finally fell asleep at about 1:30am and we did not fall asleep until about 3am. Saturday she woke up and threw up some more after drinking some water in the morning but seemed ok the rest of the day. We went out and explored Rota with our sponsor in the afternoon and we when we got home in the evening she threw up again. Our sponsor told us that the base hospital is pretty bored and always looking for people to treat so we decided to take a ride over there and see what they would say about O. We were the only customers. The ER doc gave us a thorough description of what the rotavirus was and how we should treat it and then we were on our way home. Fastest ER visit in history.

Needless to say, we have spent the rest of the time here so far catching up on sleep, nursing O back to health and checking in with Justin's command. The base is Spanish-the US uses it for the landing strip and port calls for ships. The gates are run by Spanish guards, the grocery store, exchange and base services employ spanish civilians. We are totally surrounded. Let me put this in perspective for you. Justin took Japanese in high school and I only took two years of Spanish in high school. Justin is looking to me for language translations! Luckily on the base everyone speaks English but not as much in the nearby towns.

The base is beautiful. There are palm trees everywhere and it is beautifully landscaped. Some of the base housing is on an ocean bluff but we will probably not be so lucky as to get one of those. They are all taken right now. Of course. Who wouldn't want a million dollar view of the ocean for free? The weather is great. Upper 50's everyday. Just cold enough to wear a jacket but just hot enough to start sweating in that jacket after about 15 minutes outside. I'll take it!

The base is pretty sleepy and small-townish. Most know each other through kids and school and work. Justin will have considerably less to do here than he did in Norfolk which is great! He will be home more often and a lot sooner at night. We are busy trying to plan our first big travel trip over the next long weekend. Communication is bad right now because we either have to steal internet or go to the base library to check. Not easy with an 18 month old. No telephone either unless we want to spend mucho dinero a minute to call the states. Haven't found a place that sells calling cards yet.

We are busy trying to get permanent housing established. We are trying to figure out what unit we will live in. There are some available but we are trying to pry for info. as to why some of the homes on the ocean bluff are unoccupied and for how long. They are not very forthcoming with the info.

We will try to get some pics taken when we finally get into a routine here. This may take some time. But Rota is worth taking pictures of! It really is nice here. We have been told some service members have retired to the town of Rota after having been stationed here if that tells you anything. Right now I can't imagine that but I am sure it will make sense soon.

Love you all!! Hasta Luego.

Heather