It is bright here. Like insanely bright. St. Thomas sits 18.3° north of the equator. For reference Cleveland sits at 41.5°N. So that’s about 23° further south than I’m used to being. Going from the much darker tents to outside actually hurts if you’re not wearing sunglasses. The sun is a lot more intense and I have one hell of a farmers tan as well. The sun has a different feel to it the closer you get to the equator. Back home if it’s hot out and you go out in the sun you feel warm. Here though if you step out in the sun you just feel an intense heat. It took some getting used to, but actually I think I like it. I could do with a little less humidity, but there’s a breeze more often than not so it’s quite bearable.
I’ve often wondered if I could live somewhere with no winter. Granted in the middle of winter, when the house is so cold you need an extra sweater even with the heat on, I would very much like to live somewhere where there was no winter. But I actually like seasons. I think as long as I’m near water I’ll be fine. Then again, somewhere with no winter means that there can be sailing year round.
We had something like 120 Army medical personnel move into camp today. The place doesn’t feel so empty anymore. It’s a good feeling because now we’ve clearly set this camp up for a reason. Of course this also means that the showers, bathrooms and laundry are going to get more crowded. Hopefully the rumors of the other have of half of the second kit, which got stuck in Puerto Rico, getting here soon are true.
I also spent a couple hours over at the airport moving boxes around in a big forklift. Not super exciting, but I was just happy to get some stick time.
Infinitely Expanding 