Sunday night. I am back at the USO. It has been awhile... Too long.
I am doing good! I've been able to move into the CHU completely, even got some boxes from home. Last night I set up a lamp so I don't have to use my book light to get ready in the mornings anymore. It doesn't feel like home (let's face it, my bed linens here aren't from Pottery Barn and the furniture isn't from Ethan Allen), but I can change in privacy and sleep a few hours each night. That's really all I need.
My mom sent me an email asking about the "defat," asking how often do I get to eat there, what do they serve, is the food any good... Well, that is one of the things I can talk about so I'll tell ya'll all about it. And actually, I'm gonna start calling it that because the portions they give us are so huge I think it'll be impossible to NOT get fat!
I eat at the DFAC (dining facility) usually three times a day. Breakfast is the best, besides Wednesday and Saturday nights when Greg and I get dessert. :) It's the best because I am always SO hungry! There is a grill where you can get eggs made to order, including regular and egg white omlets. They have scrambled eggs with and without cheese, but they don't taste like or look like eggs. There are boiled eggs, cereal, oatmeal, grits (which I have started to get twice a week), turkey and pig sausage, turkey and pig bacon, biscuits, gravy... And the fruit! I like the green grapes when they have then, because they are seedless (and I personally believe if we have the technology we shouldn't have to pick around seeds in fruit anymore and refuse to eat fruit with seeds). The kiwi are fantastic, the pineapple is usually ripe, the bananas are just green enough for me, the apples acceptable. There is leftover dessert from the night before out for us too. And the donuts are there, but too sweet. The pink donut in Kuwait was the best and I don't even eat them anymore because they just don't compare. I try to opt for the oatmeal. Oatmeal and turkey sausage. Or the egg white omlet with tomato and peppers and a little bit of cheese. The one thing I look forward to every morning is the chocolate soy milk. Oh, it's fantastic!
Lunch. There's hot lunch and there's the sandwiches. I like the sandwich bar. I love the egg salad. It reminds me of college. And the tuna is okay. Simetimes I go to the healthy bar and get rice and beans though. They have salad and fruit always. But I don't care for any of the salad dressings they have. I use a packet of pepper and some parmesan cheese. Eh. Nothing to write home about... unless, of course, you are in Basrah and haven't got much else to say, and home asks.
The evening meal is much the same as lunch. There is a specialty bar, sandwich bar, healthy bar, short order cook guy behind a grill with cheesesteak and burgers, main line and the fried food section. Specialty bar has things like tacos, curry, wings, pizza, pasta... different days have different foods. The healthy bar has rice or pasta, chicken and fish or eggplant, sometimes beans. Where there are beans I get them. Not because I love beans that much, I'd just like to stay as veggie as possible. The food is okay. Veggies are overcooked, potatoes are salty, chicken is dry, eggplant is soggy, lobster is rubbery... Oh yeah. Fridays are surf and turf. They have steak and lobster and crab legs and breaded/fried scallops and sometimes shrimp. They have a dessert bar with cakes, not-so-good cookies, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, cheesecake and ice creams every night. Like I said, I get it twice a week. They have this chocolatey cheesecakey thing. I look forward to it all day. I don't always enjoy dinner (or lunch for the matter), but I do always find something to eat. A rubbery lobster tail is still a lobster after all.
I really miss cooking. Really miss it.
The first thing I want to make when I get back home is crawfish etouffee. Mmm.
