Life on Base

As I got situated in my new temporary home, and got rid of the jet lag, Katie and I set up a daily routine that we’d wake up, take her giant dog, Diesel, for a walk, and we’d explore the base. The base they lived on was one of three bases that were all within driving distance. Her base was the smallest of them all and was just mainly used as housing. She showed me all the old buildings that were once used during World War II, and the little elementary school whose mascot happened to be the hedgehogs.

Michael worked during the week and they only had one car, so we typically stayed on their base during the day and watched a lot of Disney movies on Netflix. Once Michael got home at 3 PM, we’d all take the 30-minute drive to the Mildenhall base (Mildenhall is the name of the town the base is in) and go bowling or see a movie. They take security very serious there. Base entrances are guarded 24/7 with military police and every time someone enters a base, you must show your identification and proof that you are allowed onto the base. For me, I had to go get a special piece of paper that stated how long I was going to be in England and who I was allowed to enter base with.

Mildenhall is only about 10 miles away, but the roads are so curvy, they take you so far out of the way that it actually takes longer than it should to drive that distance, which is extremely annoying. Mildenhall base is the biggest of the three bases and it contains several different parishes of churches, every single health care facility you could think of, a middle and high school for the American kids that live on any of the bases, little knick-knack stores, and a super market, which is called the BX and I have no idea what the B and the X stands for.

 

All the meat products that are in the BX come from America, packaged in vacuum sealed bags and pre-marinated. It’s quite possibly the worst thing I’ve ever tasted. And there is a whole aisle dedicated to local British cuisine which is honestly just full of crazy flavors of tea, crumpets and orange flavored chocolate, which is actually round and you pull the slices apart just like an orange.

All in all, life on base is just the same as life in America, the only difference is you drive on the wrong side of the road.

                                                      

Reunited and It Feels So Good

Growing up, my sister Katie and I were very close. We were the closest in age compared to our older siblings and we were forced to do everything together, even wear matching clothes and we eventually learned to love it. She asked me to be her maid of honor in her wedding and when she had to move away, it was the hardest and saddest goodbye I ever had to face, but We messaged each other everyday. I even had my phone taken away in class because I got caught talking to her. Once I told her about my mission to come visit, we were both so excited to see each other again. And that day had finally come!

… I landed at 7 AM (London time) and impatiently stood up thinking we would be let off right away. Unfortunately, we had to wait 10 minutes to exit the plane and because I flew economy and was sitting 3 rows from the very back of the plane, I had to wait another 10 minutes to actually move out of my row. 25 grueling minutes later, I was finally off the plane and on my way to the baggage claim. The process of getting my baggage took longer than needed since I got lost, but I eventually found my way and noticed my giant purple luggage, grabbed it and was on my way to customs.

Katie had told me not to tell the customs people that I was visiting someone in the American Air Force because they might’ve thought that I needed a visa to be in the country and it would have created a giant mess. So, as I got to the angry looking man who inspected the passports, he asked me “why are you here?” My response was that I was visiting my sister who lives in Lakenheath. “And why does she live here?” he asked and since I’m not good under pressure I said, and I quote “I don’t know. I guess she wanted a change of scenery.” He didn’t appreciate my American sassiness and looked at me as if he knew I was lying but stamped my passport anyways and told me to have fun in Britain.

I took the long walk from customs to the terminal exit and as I rounded the corner I was sad that I couldn’t see Katie and Michael anywhere. Then just as I was about to start panicking, Katie came up and hugged me and a wave of emotion washed over me. One emotion was relief that I wasn’t forgotten and the second was joy that I was finally with my sister again. We both stood there crying tears of joy then Michael told us to start walking because people were staring.

Katie handed me a cup of coffee and a muffin and we walked out to the parking lot. We talked about everything and anything on the hour ride back to their home on the base. It was like we were never apart.