Actually the available housing on-base is very limited. The military pays good money to families living off-base. Many people assigned overseas prefer to live on the bases because of their paranoia. They think the outside world (i.e., outside the U.S.A.) is full of criminals and people who hate them for being Americans. I find it amusing to see those people hiding on their supposedly "safe" base. I also think it's very sad. They will never be able to enjoy all that the areas offer.

Last night Wakana and I went to a party in Ordot. We had never been to Bruce's house but we had heard about it. Bruce bought into the tropical lifestyle and built his house accordingly. He built in the jungle on the side of a ridge. There is a point of rock that extends out over a small valley. He sited his house there. The house is actually three buildings. You enter under a system of canopies into the main living room. This is a split level room with room width steps going down to the bar and wide sliding glass doors that lead out to the balcony that overlooks the valley. From the living room there are two sets of stairs leading up to the two bedrooms. One of the sets of stairs is a cast iron circular staircase. That room has large windows that also look out over the balcony. The roof of this building is a very high steeply pitched roof in the island style. The exposed beams have scalloped edges and are stained dark. All around are examples of island art, some hung on the walls, others painted directly on the wood.

Going out the other door in the living room takes you to an outdoor walkway that leads around to the outdoor kitchen. It has a corrugated fiberglass roof and a long table. The cement floor follows the contour of the land so the table has short legs on one end and long legs on the other. This kitchen is on the outside of another building that contains a bedroom on the ground floor and something else upstairs (not sure what, didn't go there). The third building is a garage and storage.

There is a fourth building, very small, that holds the laundry and bathroom. I didn't go down there but according to Wakana the shower has no walls. Since the house is surrounded by jungle I guess it doesn't matter.

There are paved walkways all around the house. There is another walkway that runs down into the jungle and appears to go to yet another building. We didn't get down there but he had a string of lights running down there so I assume that was his place as well.

Wakana says he is a romantic.