Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I know that is a little late, but I had to have my Thanksgiving before I write about it. I was bummed not being home for the holiday for the first time, but I did have a good time. Every year they decorate the DFACs with lots of homemade foods, breads, and displays. They make a contest out of it, and the best decorated DFAC get a trophy. They have been working on displays all month and go all out to make sure they win. I was lucky to end up eating in the DFAC that won, DFAC4.

To say I was impressed by what the Indian guys created would be an understatement. For not knowing much about the holiday at all they did an awesome job capturing the spirit of Thanksgiving. It surely raised the morale of the homesick Americans here. I attached a lot of pictures here at the bottom of the page; I hope the quality comes out good so you can get a feel of what the DFAC was like on that day. Under Each picture I put a caption so you know exactly what you are looking at if you can’t tell because of the picture quality.

Me

Wine Bar (NA wine)

A Few of my DFAC buddies

Platter made peals

Big Ass Cake

Turkey Made Of Veggie Peals

Watermelon Carvings

Thanksgiving Viking

One of those horn things

DeePack, Me, And a buddy

Me and buddy W/ potato chip turkey

Colored Grits

Me and JG

Another Big-Ass Cake

Deck of the ship

More Carvings

Ice Sculptures

Potato Chip Turkey

Me and scary looking plastic pilgrims

Ramadan

Ramadan is here which usually means heavy attacks from the Iraqis. However that is not the case, things here are super quite and Iraq seems to be moving in the direction we want it. Every day more and more Iraqis are working on base, which I think is a good thing. How can you hate someone you know? Let alone the fact, why would you shoot a rocket into a base where you brother is working? I know most people think they are just sand people who have no value for life, but I think it has a lot more to do with a lack of education. Saddam kept his people ignorant for the simple reason it is easier to rule ignorant religion obsessed people then educated ones (just look at the Republican party for instance…just kidding).

I think the future holds bright for the country of Iraq, but I do think we need to spend a lot more time here. Leaving now is too early. We need to pump more money into building hospitals and schools instead of giving them tanks and weapons. The Military is too concerned with making Iraqi military strong instead of setting up a healthy educated society. It is important to have a country that can defend itself (especially in the Middle East) but there is more to a successful society then a strong military.

I am suppose to fly in a Blackhawk helicopter when I get back from my R&R and check out another base that is close by. Far smaller then ours, but it has the Iraqi prison and has a lot of Iraqi military working there. It will be interesting seeing them in action.

Well it is down to two weeks until I am home! Some pretty sweet stuff going on here too. For one, it rained. It rained really hard for about a half hour the other morning. It made the area seem like a different world, I am so used to cloudless skies baking me all day long. With rain it makes you feel like you are in a totally different place.

I got something cool in the mail the other day. My boss and friend, Don, passed away a few months after I got here. I finally was able to get a hold of the family a month ago and sent a card. I was surprised to find my name on the box list in the Daily Post Office email. Don’s wife ended up sending me one of his Grateful Dead T-shirts. Along with the shirt was a thank you card. Don was huge into live music and played it often at the Deli he owned. It is really cool having one of his shirts and I took a picture of me in it to send back to her. I hope she likes it. Don was an awesome guy, and, by far, the best boss I have ever had. Chill, laid back, didn’t mind if we ate at the store. An all around cool dude.

I also got a package from my Ashley and her mom. It had lots of cute things in it like Tasty Kakes and Herrs Potato Chips. I took a picture for them. I love the chips, the chips here suck. They are very thick, almost enough to hurt your teeth.

Speaking of bad food. The contractor that was in charge of the DFACs has lost it’s contract and will be gone in November. You can sorta tell they have given up. The food quality is lowering and they don’t put out as much as they used to. They also “forget” to order things like “to go boxes” and lettuce. They used to not care about how much you took out of the DFAC, and that was probably because they were doing there best to keep the client happy. Now they only want you taking out what the contract states. Which is 2 drinks and one plate. Before the loss in contract people would take a bunch of drinks and 2 or three plates. Which is a shame because you know they didn’t eat all that food. Americans have the tendency to take as much as they can if it is free even if we don’t need it. I am looking forward to the new contractor; I am hoping they have a healthier setup. All the food with these guys is really good, but not the best for your health. However, I am worried they will not be ready in time. They are suppose to start in November, and they don’t have a camp set up yet or any equipment here. Let alone any sort of workforce. It is going to be interesting.

Can’t wait to be home, will be there in no time!