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Well, well, well… Looks like it is that time again… I haven’t put up an entry for a while—sorry about that—but be thankful, here is the latest installment!! Just in time for the Thanksgiving festivities that abound here in Iraq and back home in the States.First, there was, of course, a special meal today at the chow hall—look at the happy expressions below…
We had roast turkey breast (which was a million times better than the normal turkey loaf roll that they serve—that stuff is NASTY), ham, rib eye roast and a big old hunk of meat known as a steamship round—I had never heard of this, and if you say “steamship round” real fast it sound like something that belongs in the fort-o-potty, but evidently it is good. The side dishes were quite traditional: cornbread stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes (never enough garlic!), sweet potatoes and green beans, cranberry sauce, and plenty of bread.So, with my plate loaded up, I made my way to the back of the chow hall where there was a table for eight open—we were eating in shifts—some one has to stay on watch at the building!The food was rather tasty compared to our normal fare—I think the Diet Coke was a poor substitution for a nice glass of red wine though… Alas…You probably noticed in the above pics that the place was decorated beyond belief—normally those walls are plain as plain can be—but the entire chow hall was done up—I will post more pictures later. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!
If you read the last post, you know that the USMC birthday was last Thursday the 10th of November. The following day was Veteran’s Day, amazingly enough, not celebrated as widely on this USMC base as the big 230th birthday… But, that date was also important because it was the day the packages arrived. It really was like Christmas when I walked into my office and found 6 big boxes chock full of surprises, snacks and signs from Ms. Coughlin’s classes at Falk School in Pittsburgh!!So, I want to take this blog post to let the fine students there know that we received their good wishes and goodies and wish to send a big swooping THANK YOU right back at them!!!
Any students that have questions are more than welcome to e-mail me or post a comment on the blog
Today is the United States Marine Corps’ 230th birthday. The USMC was founded in Tun Tavern located in Philadelphia, PA (read about it here: http://www.usmcpress.com/heritage/usmc_heritage.htm). So, the USMC flag flew from our flag pole this day.But, the day was also notable in that it was the second time since being in Iraq that I was able to see my breath! That’s right—it has gotten cold enough here in the last three days that two mornings ago and this morning, on the way out for my morning constitutional, I have been able to see my breath… It may have been colder a couple of weeks ago, but the humidity was so low that there was no chance to see any breath vapor. But, the conditions here are ripe for it now… Plenty of clouds, an occasional rain drop and drastically cooler nights… So, when people tell you that it gets cold in the desert, they aren’t making it up. It is still in the 80s during the day, but that often feels chilly as the wind cuts right through and we are used to it being a good deal hotter…Happy Birthday USMC, now put a jacket on…
We here in Iraq never tire of improving our little corner of the world… But, in this case, the improvement came from a FOU (Friend of Unit) across the street. A fine Army gentlemen that we occasionally have over for BBQs and bartering—he has some skills that are quite useful for keeping our little building running smoothly and we have lots of stuff…Anyway, the other day he comes over and asks if we want a flag pole… Well, what group of patriotic people that are far from home (that’s us) are going to turn down that offer?? Behold the new FDPMU flag pole….
Thanks Woody!!!!
"You are hereby warned that you are eating crows that have feasted on infidel flesh"!!This is what my dear wife wrote to me when I told her about the chickens. She was sure that this was the meaning of the indecipherable (to me) words on the side of the chicken. Perhaps I should start at the beginning...What are you to do, what are you to think, when a man stops by your office and gives you a few frozen chickens out of the back of his truck?? Clearly, he wants something. That being established, and having given the man what he wants, one is still left with the problem of what to do with eight frozen chickens. These aren't any chickens--there is writing all over the plastic that coats these chickens--one can imagine that it says how delicious these chickens are--much like the tasty chickens that come from the factories in the Southern United States where workers are locked into the work spaces during the day so that they don't run screaming form the factory line out into the clean fresh air (I digress)--the writing is clearly Arabic. Or, perhaps I should say the writing is clearly not English, not American fer sure... So, local chicken, wrapped in local plastic with local writing all over it--what's not to like. These things are crying out "beer can chicken"! You can practically hear it now--the clucking... Of course, we don't have any beer cans... But, Sprite-can chicken doesn't sound too bad; not as bad as near-bear chicken anyway...You know what my wife said when I told here about the chickens and their colorful and wordy packaging (see above). I am somewhat more adventurous than my wife--after all, I am in Iraq and she is in San Diego taking care of the kids and dogs and cat and fish and house and having a baby--hardly a challenge! Anyway, being somewhat adventurous AND having an advanced microbiology lab at my disposal, not to mention a hefty stock of antibiotics, I decided that I could chance it... Think of it as a public health inspection—for the good of the people….
So, a few of the chickens were thawed, washed lovingly, dried tenderly, rubbed vigorously with various spices, and placed ever so gently on a can of lemon-lime soda and a bed of warm coals... I should mention that there was some discussion over the amount and placement of the coals; the relative merits of using Iraqi charcoal (hotter and faster) versus Kingsford (longer and slower) were also discussed at length and was the decisive factor in the final amount and placement of both the coals and the chicken...Eventually, more of the "right" coals were added and the chicken cooked to a perfect golden brown on the outside and a tender, juicy (well, it was juicy--tender may not be an entirely appropriate descriptor in this case) inside...You can see the immediate results here...
Shortly after, this was all that remained... Anyway, this is what the chickens looked like when we got through with them...
What did we learn? Iraqi Fried Chicken isn't the same as Kentucky Fried Chicken, but it is much better than a kick in the teeth...
