When my orders officially posted after the new year, I was shockingly excited to find out that I would be heading to 3 classes before being shipped off to Japan to meet my ship. I had not anticipated going to any schools so this was great news. What’s more, is I was being sent to Newport RI for the first 2 months of summer for my first class. Are you serious? Newport during the summer is the best time of the year to be there.

As of right now Newport is where Officer Candidate School is located for the Navy and this is where I went to OCS. It was complete torture for me the first 3 months I was there and having a view the most breathtaking sunset falling behind the Clairborne Pell Bridge, was a most cruel ending to every painful day I was trapped there, which always left me very bitter. Now, I’ve been back on 3 different occasions and Newport has finally started to grow on me in a good way. I enjoy the sunset’s, and after two months of fully exploring the area, I can’t complain.

The summer arrived full of promise and did not disappoint. For the first time all of the rooms were booked on base to stay in so I was able to use government per diem and stay at the Residence Inn Marriott, which was the best idea I ever made. I loved it there!  They provided a hot and hearty breakfast every morning, small gifts for all the holidays, and dinner three times a week. And when I arrived they gave me 10 drink tickets to use at the bar which was open whenever you needed a drink. Great place to stay.

I found out very quickly that my days basking in the Newport summer sun would not come so easily and that the class that I was in was going to be very intense and hard. The first week was the worst since there was a test on Friday and the days were very long. I made friends with a guy whom had been in the navy for a very long time, was just coming off of a steam ship, and was an LDO. That was great because he was extremely smart and fun and had a family with 5 kids all girls! That was the best part. I could only imagine 5 girls in a family. I know how my two sisters and I used to act, imagine two more.

At the Marriott I met a girl working there for the summer from Russia. She was hilarious and we became fast friends. I wanted to brush up on my Russian so we talked often and soon started going out with her other friend and my friends from the class. It was a great time! I hope that one day I’ll be able to visit them in Russia.

The next few excerpts will sum up the summer time in Newport.

A & I. She’s from Russia!

Both A & M. They are great.

Different Day. Haha.

Horrible at Pool but loving life.

We went out a lot. haha.