Friday again

Today is Friday, my day off. How in the world does my one day off go so quickly? I had some work that I had to do so that I could make sure that I get my work done tomorrow. I headed to the gym and stayed there for a while, walked an extra mile and lifted a few weights, cleaned my little room, and then, a treat, watched Stalag 17, one of my favorite movies. Then I came back to my little room (notice how I keep calling it “little?” ) and hit the computer to pay bills and finish a couple of projects. By now, it’s 8:30, and I will be in bed around 10.

I haven’t told you about my DFAC (remember that one?). Tonight was a good example of bad food. We had a choice of barbecued lamb chops that looked like little briquettes, barbecued mixed sausage grill that looked like a bunch of different kinds of sausages that had been cooked with the lamb and then tossed in some barbecue sauce, and barbecued ribs, which I will never eat because everything gets all over me and sticks in my teeth. We had steamed baby carrots that were still dripping water, fried potato cubes, rice, dal, vegetable curry, and a variety of some kinds of salads that were left over from lunch. I ate rice, a few of the carrots, and some cole slaw. The cole slaw here is very good. Fortunately for me, dessert was not appealing today. Over the past few days, they have served these brownie-type chocolate things that I cannot resist, and I have eaten one each time they are offered. Tonight, though, I was safe – some kind of fried pie sprinkled with powdered sugar.

At lunch, we had a choice of some kind of fish (not a chance) and Salisbury steaks that sat in some kind of broth for way too long. We could have broccoli, but it was frozen and cooked to smooshiness. If none of that appealed, we could have the sweet little guy at the sandwich bar put together a sandwich for us – on wheat, white, or tortilla – with tuna salad, egg salad, ham or turkey, with traditional accoutrements – tomato, lettuce, cucumbers, cheese, chopped onion, and, I think, bacon bits – real ones. He even has a couple of Panini presses so that we can have a hot sandwich if we so choose. But the best part of lunch was that they had put out a tub of Jello with fruit cocktail! I loved it! I haven’t had Jello for a really long time; I will tell you that my perfect lunch was a ham sandwich, cole slaw (the same slaw that I ate later for dinner), and a big bowl of Jello! So much for a sophisticated palate!

Breakfast in the DFAC is pretty standard except for one item – every day, one of the breakfast choices is baked beans. I can’t figure that one out, except that maybe it’s just some cultural thing that I don’t know and have not heard about. And people eat them! I don’t know about you, but my taste buds in the morning do not crave baked beans. We often have French toast or pancakes, and the cooks will fix eggs to order. I ordered scrambled eggs for a couple of days, but I noticed that the color of the egg yolks is different – more orangey than yellow. They almost look neon! I wonder if it is the way the chicken is fed? Regardless, I feel weird eating orange eggs, so I have limited my breakfast to a piece or two of toast with peanut butter and honey and then a cup of hot tea. It tastes good every day – and no one cooks it before I get it!

Although I am complaining, I do want to acknowledge the people who prepare the food and serve it up. They are, without fail, polite and nice, and they try to please – even the guy who takes my dirty plate and tray after I have scraped both into the trash can. When someone orders something special, they take the order, prepare the food, and then bring it to the person in the dining room. They are always ready with a smile, even early in the morning, and they are willing to help if anything goes wrong. Those people make mealtime very pleasant, in spite of the food.

The men who do the laundry are the same way. I think they do up to 30 loads of laundry every day, but they are polite and eager to please, and they get the laundry done the day I deliver it to them. AND they fold the clothes very nicely. I have only one little niggle in the back of my mind: I am one of probably five to six women in camp. I wonder, since their religion keeps males and females totally separate, what goes through their minds when they are washing and folding my underwear? I’m not going to ask.

Well, I have bored you enough for today. Tomorrow is approaching quickly, and I think I would like to read before I go to sleep. Tomorrow I will tell you more about what is happening in my little acre of this huge country, where I know little of what goes on outside the walls that let nothing in, other than what I can glean from either the BBC or NBC news on television and the NY Times and the Washington Post on line. Thank goodness for the internet. Enjoy your weekend.