A little slice of home through breaking bread

Having been in Singapore for a year, we understand what it’s like to be away from home. You miss the food, the sights, the smells and the people.

Speaking of people, Amy and I are lucky that we have met some incredible people. We were able to join up with one of our favorite couples to host a group of sailors from the USS Makin Island, a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, as part of the American Association’s Home Hospitality program. This program allows you as an American to open your home (or host a group at a restaurant) to provide them with a good meal, American sense of humor and hospitality.

Our group hosted seven sailors (six men and one gal). We asked them if they had any special requests and some of them included mint chocolate chip ice cream, potato salad and deviled eggs to name a few. 

We shared stories of the world, talked about career ambitions and how their view of the world has changed since being enlisted. (If anyone is involved in ranch management or organic cattle our pal Richard is looking to get into that industry when he gets home this month. Email us!)

I must say the night was eye opening.  A few things that I learned throughout the evening:

• They can be on a boat for up to six months without being on land. This group left San Diego in July 2014 and was sent to Yemen to wait offshore in case the tension escalated, provide aid when a storm hit the Philippines and assist in the search for the Air Asia plane.
• Sometimes they will not see the sun for days (or weeks) as only certain people are allowed on the deck.
• The drinking age is much younger in Singapore than the U.S., thus some of our guests were happy to enjoy a well-deserved ice cold beer. 
• The ship is about 80% men, 20% women and despite being against the rules, many people couple up right when they get on the ship. 
• The ship is totally self-contained with hospital, police, gym, grocery store, and anything else you can think about. 
• At dinner they did not eat as much meat as I thought they would, but they drank almost as much beer as expected.
• Singapore is one of the few countries that still allows for Home Hospitality. 

We're both honored to have a long line of family members who have served our country and while it was a small part in comparison we were happy to support our troops.

These brave men and women are finishing up their tour of duty on the USS Makin Island (follow them on Facebook by clicking here) and heading back to port in San Diego. I hope that those of you reading this stateside will welcome them and the rest of our soldiers with the hospitality, grateful hearts and support that they deserve. They are spending their prime years floating in the middle of ocean for our country, for our freedom. We look forward to hosting the next group in Singapore!

Thank you to our Veterans for your service.

Until then,

Raegen and Amy

PS- Thank you for those of you who have been our loyal readers. We mark one year in Singapore on 7 February (Singapore time) and it has been quite an adventure. We have learned so much but there is still so much to do, see and experience. As always, email us if there’s anything you’d like to learn about.