Give me liberty...

I’ve mentioned before that liberty has been a very popular topic of conversation on the ship.  It got more popular as the date drew closer.  Unfortunately, the Commodore (ship’s commander) and the admiral in charge of the “4^th Fleet” (of which the Comfort is currently a member – it switches depending on where we are in our journey) had some pretty strict rules about liberty.  The first (and worst) was that we needed a skeleton crew on board the ship at all times – “in case of emergency.”  The skeleton crew was to consist of 25% of the ship’s crew – I’m not sure what kind of emergency would have necessitated us leaving 75% of the crew on land with the other 25% on board, but don’t get me started.  We’re pretty sure this rule was in place purely for crowd control – the Manta liberty area was small and we brought 900 thirsty American sailors to it.  So they split us up into 4 duty sections, and I was in section 1.  Unfortunately, since there were technically 5 liberty days, those of us in section 1 got to “stand watch” (sit on the ship looking longingly at the shore) on the last day as well as the first.  Sigh.  Thankfully, many of the staff in my duty section were friends, so we made the best of it – we watched movies, sat on the flight deck talking, and even ordered pizza from a local Godfather’s Pizza place (got it delivered to the quarterdeck).

The second rule for liberty was that it expired every night at 1am.  This meant that we had to be back on the ship or in our hotel rooms (if we were approved by our commander to stay out overnight – and this was only for E-7 and above) by 1am.  AND, the third rule was that we had to be back on the ship, in the uniform of the day, by 8am for muster.  This meant waking up at 6:30 or so at the hotel to make sure we wouldn’t be late.  After muster, it was a matter of waiting around for the Commodore to call for liberty.  Some days this was as early as 8:45, but others it was as late as 1pm.  So, our “5 days of liberty” ended up being much, much shorter (about 40 hours total of actual free time).

Other liberty rules included the requirement for “liberty buddies” – we had to travel in groups no smaller than 2 and no larger than 5 (and the groups were documented on the ship and could not be separated under any condition).  In every liberty group, there had to be a “DND” – a designated non-drinker, for the full 24-hour period.  Some of the skeleton crew served as “shore patrol” – members dressed in civilian clothes making sure there was always a DND and that groups were not too large.  It was hardly “liberty” as I pictured it.  Which is not to say that we didn’t make the most of it…

Thankfully, many of the people that I hang out with are FIPs (fairly important people) on the ship.  We had a couple of section leaders and the equivalent of some squadron commanders in our group.  No one cared that we took a group of 15 to dinner, given who was in the group.  That was pretty nice, since we all have a good time together.  And the DND thing was actually not hard to enforce, as there were always a few people who had no interest in drinking after the previous night’s activities (and very little sleep).  By the end of liberty, I was actually happy for the 1am curfew and 8am muster – no one in their right minds would have been up at 8am otherwise, but this way no one wasted any of their precious liberty sleeping in.  And given that none of us had working cell phones, mustering everyone together at breakfast time gave us an opportunity to plan our day.

I stayed with 2 other girls (2 of my roommates) at a local hotel called the Oro Verde.  Many of the officers stayed there.  It was a 3 minute taxi ride from the ship and was right on the ocean.  There were several small oceanfront restaurants and shops within walking distance.  The hotel also had a very nice pool area where we spent most of our time.  On our first day of liberty, I went with a friend to the hotel’s “beauty saloon” – where, despite the name, they don’t serve drinks.  We both decided to take the plunge and get our hair done.  I was very nervous – trying to pantomime “natural-looking highlights” wasn’t easy.  Fortunately, a girl from the ship (who speaks perfect Spanish) was getting a pedicure, so she translated for us.  The stylist then told her to tell me, “it’s going to be very blond” – ack!  So after a little bit of back and forth, I went for it.  Both of our highlights came out fine – pretty good, in fact.  We didn’t get cuts, though.  Just didn’t want to risk it.

After the saloon, a group of us went to dinner at a fantastic steak/ seafood restaurant called Martinica.  Service in Ecuador is very slow and relaxing.  Dinner took almost 3 hours.  When we were finally done, we made our way to a dance club called Paparazzi.  Dancing to South American/ Latin music was entertaining, but we were happy when they put on some more recognizable songs.  Of course, at about 12:30am we headed back to the hotel so as not to be caught out after curfew by shore patrol.  I haven’t had a curfew in a really long time.

The next morning, we headed back to the ship for breakfast, and some people for their duty day.  When liberty was called that day, we all headed right back to the hotel where we slept and hung out at the pool.  There were a few non-Americans staying there, but we definitely overtook the place.  We had another relaxing lunch and then dinner at an Italian restaurant.  A note for future trips to South America: they are not known for their Italian food.  My chicken parmesan was terrible.  I did have some fried octopus, and every place serves “chifles” (fried plantain chips), but overall not my best meal.  After dinner we again explored the local bars and nightclubs – but only until 12:30am or so. 

By the next day, Sunday, we were all starting to get tired.  For many of us, though, it was our last day of liberty (back on duty on Monday), so we wanted to make the most of it.  My amazing translator Rosa from Jaramijo (the one who set up the hospital tour earlier), had arranged for some of us to have a spa day on Sunday.  Normally, the spa would have been closed on Sunday, but a friend of hers owns the business, and so she opened it up just for us.  We had mani’s, pedi’s, and an hour-long massage, for $40.  Although I would have paid much more just for the day of pampering.

After our spa day, we once again headed back to the hotel.  In Ecuador, it is illegal to purchase or drink alcohol in public on Sunday, so we had stocked up on a few beverages and snacks the day before.  Our room party started at about 2pm and went until, you guessed it, 12:30am, when we headed back to the ship.  I have to say, I don’t think I could have handled another day of liberty.  In 67 consecutive hours, I slept 3.5 (the 1am curfew didn’t necessitate going to sleep at 1am, and many of us stayed up all night playing cards, talking, and trying to use the internet at the hotel).  Monday, my “duty day,” was spent napping and relaxing on the flight deck.  And as much as I complained about having to end liberty a day before everyone else (or at least 75% of everyone else), most everyone came back early that day.  I think everyone was exhausted. 

The days since liberty ended we’ve all just spent catching up on sleep, stories, and pictures.  I like to say that if nothing else, liberty provided us with something else to talk about besides how stale or soggy the French toast is in the morning.  It was good to get out of uniform (especially these awful combat boots) and eat normal food (you know, like fried octopus).  A couple of glasses of wine didn’t hurt either.  And it brought us a lot closer as a group.  Of course, we are all already looking forward to our next liberty stop in Costa Rica.

Tuesday morning we pulled away from Ecuador and headed back to sea.  The local food finally took its toll on me that day and I took my first dose of Cipro.  I was one of the last people to suffer from Montezuma’s revenge, so I really can’t complain.  We arrived in Tumaco, Colombia this morning and sent a small crew out this afternoon to set up the medical site.  I am on MOOD duty today, so got to spend the afternoon catching up on email and blogging.  Hence the two blog updates in one day.  If you made it this far, congratulations.