Monday, November 30, 2009

Thanksgiving in Iraq

Welcome back loyal readers. I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving
meals and time with family and friends. I also want to reassure everyone
that the same thing happens here as at home…there was a lot of leftover stuffing
for Thanksgiving night and all of Friday.

Speaking of Thanksgiving food, the fare here wasn’t too bad at all really. The turkey was pretty decent, the stuffing wasn’t bad once it was doused in gravy (as all stuffing is), and to top it off there was a cocktail shrimp bar that I did my best to demolish as best I could manage. But the real story here on “The FOB of Choice” wasn’t the food really…it was the decorations. I mean, I knew it would be interesting. For most holidays there are some streamers and some red, white and blue stuff strewn about. For Halloween there were even some large “scary” things that almost resembled American Halloween decorations. For Thanksgiving though I must say it was quite a spectacle. Let me be honest, the intent is great and I give the food services contractor an “A” for effort. But really, if you take a bunch of Indian expatriate workers and try to explain the “theme” behind the Thanksgiving Day decorations you want…well, it’s sure to be an adventure. SO – let the adventure begin.

The main decoration display, I must say, was pretty good and on-target. Below is a picture of the “centerpiece” of the Dining Facility (DFAC) was this huge display of food, fruit, cakes, and a large cornucopia at the top.



And there was even a ship on one side. I mean, the pilgrims did come here by ship…so that works.


I will say though, the strange thing is that the cakes all over the place never got cut all night long. But that’s not nearly as strange as some of the other ideas they had. Speaking of the cakes, I’m not exactly sure what’s going on here…but I think the title is “rejected lover” or maybe something much more sinister. I’m just not sure.


But let’s move on a bit shall we. For some reason this display here makes me think of G.I. Joe’s lair. Or at least, if I had been near as creative as a kid this is what I would have made for my G.I. Joes to play on. Also, the little guys you see in the middle are supposed to represent each of the different services…apparently they are all lined up for execution. What the heck, it is Iraq I guess.

Oh, and for some reason some astronaut was busy invading the scene as well. Maybe he was a zombie astronaut there to save the military folks. Who knows.

There was also a nice bread display which featured many interesting bread animals. My favorite was this one right here. If it was art I think it would be titled “The Gator Ate Your Baby!!”


And where would Thanksgiving be without some kind of elephant pagan god?

Last but not least…where would the Army be if they weren’t out to torment your soul as much as possible? You see, U.S. Dept. of Defense policy is (essentially) that alcohol is not allowed in combat zones. Never mind that every other military in the world that anyone knows of allows its members to conduct themselves as adults. But to make the matter even BETTER they like to tease us ceaselessly with fake beer and “sparkling cider”. Don’t let the sign below fool you – it’s just a mirage suitable for the worst desert environment…not a vendor cart at Wrigley by any stretch.



Well all – that was Thanksgiving on FOB Delta. Unfortunately I won’t be going as soon as I thought to visit our 4.7 million dollar project so those photos won’t be as soon as I wanted to. But don’t fret all. Another post will be coming soon. I already have some great ideas.

1 comment:

This Girl said...

Those decorations are HILARIOUS! If it makes you feel any better, I didn't get to have cornbread dressing either... just mushy stuffing. :( We will have to recify that situation next Thanksgiving somehow! Love you!