Fat Tuesday

POST-POSTED FOR 20 FEB 2007

boutros boutros-ghali, camelman!
the spread here almost completely makes up for the accomodations.
well, not really... but damn! food, glorious food!

i have long held that the tales of fabulous submarine fare are myths, and our contracted dining facilities (dfacs) here put the last spoonful of incense in that thurible... or something. on subs, even the fresh fruit (for all the 10 days that it lasts underway) is made with suet. typically, 60 days underway equates to about 15 pounds. true, the dfacs here provide mainline offerings of traditional american cuisine, not unlike shipboard board, and shortline offerings of fried everything, but the one here at camp victory also has an indian station that is fairly authentic--except for the beef curry today (sh! don't tell!)--and just an absolute divali in your mouth--except for it being february and all. so, rotating choices of vegetable curries, tandoori chicken, naan and rice and some kind of indian antipasto salad for lunch... and made-to-order stirfry for dinner! i asked the cook to make mine the way he liked it: wow. i teared up. then, joy of joys, one fellow wheeled a gigantic basin of mangoes to the fruit bar.

maybe if we just feed these people properly, they'll get along?
nah. they'd probably just fight about the proper proportions of coriander seed and cassia bark in baharat.

what the heck are saveloys, anyway? i never did bother to find out.
so much for method acting!

i'm off to celebrate mardi gras on my army cot:
show your... ah, nevermind, dude.

some festive photos:


the al faw palace in baghdad, now part of the victory base complex.
it may be interesting to note that
the palace and its surrounding grounds were once a wildlife refuge,
until we deforested and dozed the area for our fortifications.




stupid fish. that's where i belong.


the mosque on al faw palace grounds.


a wind chime? also on al faw palace grounds.