Tastes Like Chicken



Skyping home from my CLU

  Sigh... I just got done Skyping Kerry.  She called at 9am, just after dropping the boys off at school (which is 6pm here).  Today was my day off so I was back in my CLU waiting to hear back from her.  I had called them all on the phone earlier, a little before 7am their time, and woke them up this morning - it was nice to get the boys up and going.  I chatted with them for a few minutes each and gave them lots of love and encouragement for the day... kinda like as if I were there.  A video Skype call to a mobile phone is even more fun as we get to move around and see each other - really like I was there.
       I just got a couple emails from guys at work too.  They wrote to check up on me and asked for my address (BTW, it changed to a different box# Maj Kevin MOOSE Dydyk - HOAAC / "YODA"; PSC 831 Box 0008 FPO, AE 09363-0008).  Not that I need anything - a card would be great to put on the shelf there next to my bed and some photos to hang on the wall.  I asked the guys instead of sending anything it would be cool if they would go play ball with my boys and check with Ker to see if there are any odd jobs needing to be done.  It's no fun to not have family around, but it is good having my Air Force family there when we need em.  Thanks guys.
    The Air Force is a small community - I ran into SPLIT Mulhare the other day.  He is stationed as a deputy group commander in the UAE and was here to check on some of his folks in our neighborhood.  He and I worked on the last airshow together at Sheppard AFB - he is going back there this summer as a commander!  I also bumped into WIZ Graber - he and I were stationed together in Aviano, Italy 10 years ago; I've got him to hang around with for a couple months.  Another weird connection happened - PYRO Havens, another Aviano cronie, saw on my Facebook page that I was in Djibouti.  She has a place for rent at Maxwell AFB, Alabama and was contacted by a possible renter - the French exchange officer, Lt Col Richard "Andy" Gros, who is going there for school this summer.  It just so happens that Andy is stationed here in Djibouti as the Mirage fighter squadron commander; Djibouti has an agreement with the French for national defense.  She gave me his name and said I had to go meet him.  By coincidence I bumped into Andy at a meeting I had to go to over there on the other side of the runway in the French Compound.  Last night he was very gracious and invited me and another US officer out to dinner at the fanciest restaurant in town.  After all I've been telling you about this country you're probably thinking how fancy can a place in this poor East African nation be?  Well I was shocked!  Downtown on the water there is actually one really fancy joint - the Kempinski Palace Hotel.


Kempinski Palace Hotel

   We ate there at the 'Lac Assal Restaurant' with his family, wife Nedjma, son Ekouan (9), and daughter Isciane (7) - who drew me this lovely picture!
  It was a great dinner set up buffet style (yes another buffet!) - no 5 slot tray for this meal - though you could go back and take as many plates as you want... I was good.  We had a nice bottle of French red wine, some nice cheeses and meats for an appetizer, the desserts were delicious - I actually partook in some for a change as their macaroons looked too good to resist.


For the main course there was a saute bar where the chef would prepare a chicken and or clam stir fry as well as a handful of unique dishes.  Among other things, for the first time ever I ate frog legs - Yum, tastes like chicken; really succulent chicken.  Where they got the frogs from I have no idea, but they were good!  Sure beats the chow hall food.
  On that note I think I'll leave you and go watch my TV series that Ker bought me on Amazon..."The Walking Dead."  Hope there are no Zombie frogs in this episode - I might not sleep tonite!

500 Paces

   That's how far it is from my CLU to the office... it's a tough commute. The two toughest parts of the trek into work is having to whip out between 27 and 176 salutes every morning to and also having to make it thru the Galley (Navy term) / D-fac (Air Force term) / Chow hall (Army term) somehow, without throwing a heaping ton of grub on my platter - yes, they give us a platter, with 5 separate compartments. My OCD makes me want to fill each one of them with something (yes, I'm a believer that every one of us has at least some OCD - some much more than others, I can definitely attest to that). It's way tough to cut weight with that kinda pressure.  I have managed to drop a handful, but have at least 5 more to go... handfuls of pounds that is.  Below on the left is the Dorie Miller Galley - named after a cook from WWII at Pearl Harbor; he was the first black sailor to earn the Navy Cross.

Dorie Miller Galley (left) and 11-Degrees North (right)

   On the right is 11-Degrees North - the recreation center / social hangout which is my nemesis on the way home; that's where we can buy drinks - 2 per day.  A nice benefit for a deployment.  For the last 20 some years America has elected to fight wars in areas where we have to be hosted by Muslim nations and very conveniently the US leadership elects to not offend our gracious hosts so therefore alcohol is not allowed.  Djibouti is a different story, they are largely Muslim, but they are not the strictest practicers and therefore we can get away with a lot more.  We're on the honor system for our 2 per day, and for the most part there are no issues.

  I have stopped by there a few times, but it's not really my nemesis, I just liked saying that.  I tried a 'local' beer from Kenya called Tusker Beer, not bad - cool label and a big bottle.  Would look cool on a rugby jersey - I'm sure there must be a team.  That's where all our social events are held.  Last weekend there were 4 comedians who came by and did a performance.  They were great - not fantastic as they were completely filthy, but definitely brought out some laughs - it felt really good to laugh.  Since being here over the last month there have been no less than 5 groups that have come through to entertain us - from NFL cheerleaders, to NFL and MLB stars, actors, and chefs who cooked good grub for us. That has been more than all the previous four deployments combined worth of entertainers/do gooders come through.  In fact, I can't remember but one USO show during my other deployments.  Americans have really come a long way in showing their appreciation for us troops.  In fact around work every week there are 2-3 care packages that show up for 'any soldier'.  They have books, movies, games, food, toiletries - you name it in there.  Greeting cards, puzzles, pictures, drink mixes, coffee - anything.  It all gets taken eventually.  Stuff that we don't take for ourselves makes it down to the orphanages and the like downtown.  A really neat thing - it really took me by surprise when I first saw it.  The best ones have handwritten notes from the senders - be they a group of service moms, schoolkids, an office; America rocks!



Djiboutian Baboons

  I haven't had much to do besides work, so this post has been long in coming, but I have a few ideas and a few things coming up that I hope I can sit down and write about.  Plus I just got a media card reader and was able to download my pictures off the camera.  I know Andrew would really like to see a picture of the baboons I saw on my way to the beach on my 1st trip off Camp so here you go Andrew - there really were baboons running wild along side the road... we were driving, so it's a bit blurry, but those are baboons.  That is the village's soccer field in the background.  These things tend to hang around people as their scraps are easy sources of food.  Next trip I'll bring some extra bananas and get a close up for ya kiddo.