Million Man March

The day is upon us. Yesterday morning Cuban workers hit the street in front of the section preparing for today's protest. They replaced the anti-US billboards with new ones that depict President Bush and Posada Carrilles in a faux movie called "El Asesino" and another billboard next to it that says, "All those that harbor terrorists are terrorists." Just more in the billboard war that is going on here.

They also painted a giant caution symbol on the Malecon with Pasada's portrait in the middle of it and the words "Caution Terrorist" underneath. They also erected two stages and multiple speaker assemblies. I'm guessing one stage will have a band and the other one will be the one from which Fidel will give his speech.

As I write this workers are starting to show back up to make final preparations for the rally. In just a few hours the buses will come to bring people in from the countryside. Rumor has it that it will be a million people if not more. There have never been protests smaller than 100,000 people from what I've heard. This is certainly larger than anything I've ever seen before. Expectations are that this will be a peaceful demonstration and I'm sure it will be. But if they do get rowdy we're going to be here on standby to give them some pain. =) I'll get some pictures posted as soon as possible so y'all can see what's going on.

And I can't sign off without saying what a great time I had this past weekend visiting my girlfriend, Andrea, in Ft. Myers! Thanks sweetheart for taking the time off so I could come see you. It was the best trip to see you yet and I can't wait until the next one!

I'll get that picture of the electronic billboard posted soon too. Blogger doesn't work well over here with uploading pics.

This Is Going To Be Fun...

This has been under wraps for a while now and they finally let the cat out of the bag tonight. The US Interests Section put an electronic marquee on the front of the building to taunt the Cuban government with. Castro is really not going to like that at all. It's in Spanish and it's a declaration of freedom for the Cuban people that I think may have originated from before the revolution here. The last time we put any propaganda on the building it was a giant number 75 to signify the 75 political prisoners being held. In retaliation the Cuban government set up huge speakers in front of the building and blared communist crap at us all day long. This fracas went on for a while too. So there's no telling what tomorrow will bring. If you're reading this tonight, then you're hearing about it first. I wouldn't be surprised to see CNN, BBC, or other major networks say a little blurb about it in the next few days. So keep your eyes peeled. Here's what it looks like lit up at night.

At least I'm getting out of here on Wednesday though. This sign silliness really better not interfere with my travel plans! I'll be spending the weekend in Ft. Myers with my girlfriend, Andrea. It's a long overdue break I need from this place. I'm starting to get island fever I think. I feel like I only go to work and back home only to sleep and eat in-between. You can't really escape work, not even at home because I live with everyone I work with. This will be just the breath of fresh air I needed, I can't wait!

Promotion to Sergeant!

As the first of the month passed I eagerly awaited the day I would be pinned with my new rank. Then I could officially use the title of the rank I had been promoted to. Well that day was January 3rd and it was sweet! My goal when I joined the Marine Corps was to pick up sergeant in 3 years and I have met my goal right on the mark. Plus the raise in pay is quite considerable so that is definitely a morale booster. I would just like to take this time to thank all you tax payers out there! I will make sure I put this newfound money to extraordinary use. ;-) And for those of you who know my dad, a.k.a. The Sheriff, when he got out of the Marines he was a sergeant. So if I can somehow pickup one more rank before I get out I would outrank him! Muwhahahaha. However that is an unlikely scenario but it would be funny.

We held the ceremony on January 3rd at the US Interests Section. Most of the Marines were present except for the two who were on leave. Here are a few pictures from the pinning ceremony.





Sergeant Compton signing out!