Missa! No Beef! No Beef! Beef no gud, no gud!!

The title of this post is the reaction that I hear, 6 times a day, when I grow bored and begin to think it's a good idea to inform my 10 workers, of Indian descent, that my the US Dept of Defense chow halls will no longer be serving chicken in the dining facility, only beef.
After spending 6 interesting hours in Dubai, which included eating fish at a local cafe and unknowingly thwarting the efforts of an Asian prostitue (I turned down her "massage", only to later find out a massage is a bit more than that) and a quick shower, I flew into Baghdad. The minute I stepped off the plane, the smell of Iraq hit me. Anyone who has been there knows this smell well: the combination of burning plastic and dust. It hovers in the air, at times, even blocking out the sun, and nauseating and sickening. But, I loved it, because I was finally back here. I ate lamb schwerma inside the only Baghdad airport restaurant, which would have been a bit bland, save for the ketchup that Achmed, the "cook", decided to add for last-minute "American" flavor. Mmmm, lamb and ketchup.
After spending the night in Baghdad, I flew to Nasiriyah, in southern Iraq. I was able to walk around the 4,000-year-old Ziggurat of Ur, which is actually on our base, and absolutely fascinating to a lover of Biblical history, such as myself. The ancient ruins of Abraham's house are next to the ziggurat and are equally as fascinating. I will post pics as soon as security conditions allow.
Unfortunately, I will be transferring to a different base in order to fill the needs of the Dept of Defense's task force. I will disclose more details after it is safer to do so on this public blog.
I really like my Indian crew, and they seem to be fairly fond of me too, and tease me as much as I do them. They are only fed white rice for all 3 meals, so I try to sneak some meat out of our chow hall to give them some variety and morale. It's great to be back.