Thanksgiving in Baghdad

Thanksgiving came to Iraq this Thursday, and they tried to make it special for us. The day started out early, with an organized 10K Turkey Trot. My friend had signed me up for the race, so I ran as “Santa” Claus. The race started at 6am, and we ran the 6.2 miles by running four laps around the compound. I did alright, running in 45 minutes.
My boss had given us a day off, (he stayed in to handle any emergencies) so after the race I went back to my trailer, showered, took a nap, and then cleaned up the place a bit. By 5pm, I was ready for dinner. I went back to the office to meet up with my group, and we went to the “D-FAC” (“chow hall” or “mess hall” is no longer politically correct. We now use the term “Dining Facility” or D-FAC, for short).

When we arrived, we found the D-FAC to be magically transformed into a cross between the year 1620, replete with mannequins in costumes, and a High School cafeteria decked out for the Harvest dance, with streamers and banners everywhere. They even had formed a choir to sing hymns of thanksgiving. And the food was excellent, with all the traditional Thanksgiving food as well as roast prime beef, lobster tail an amazing spread of desserts, baked breads and treats. There was even roving chefs with sliced-to-order turkeys on trays with cranberry sauce. It looked so good that I got another slice for dessert, after my pumpkin pie.
After dinner I was able to call Boise and speak to Mom, Jesse, Jake and Cobie. The Claus house was busy entertaining all the kids and half of the Fisher kids, as Meredith and her husband came up and Luke and Jackie came down and met in Boise. After that I went to a movie in the palace theatre (not as glamorous as it sounds) and then I got to talk to Jenean once she had come home from the Wilson’s place off-base. All-in-all, it was about the best Thanksgiving I could have had in Iraq. Who knows where I’ll be for next year’s celebration?!