Little things.
It really is the little things that matter most sometimes. Last night I had the great fortune to be invited to the UK Embassy for the Summer Ball. I have to brag a bit to be able to tell you this but I guess I have to. There were only 200 attendees. There are 200 people a lot more important than me that didn’t get tickets so I was extremely grateful to have been invited and allowed to bring a date. The only deal with that was that I had to bring one for the guy that invited me. Getting 1 date can be a challenge, 2 is darn near impossible. For anyone other than me that is:) Seriously there are about 10,000 people in the International Zone and only about 5% of those are women. Further break down the ratio of good looking women, those in the right age bracket etc… and you can see the dilemma. Anyway I have tons of cool pics that I have yet to retrieve from my camera which was left at the embassy by uhhh mistake.
Among the attendees were of course the ambassadors from the US and Britain, but I was surprised to see GEN Casey. I have seen him a few times in passing in the hallways of the embassy but last night he wore his dress greens and it is always impressive to see a 4 star general with all their medals. I don’t know that much about him but I know that Patton would be envious of the medals on his chest.
Like I was saying about the little things. The food at the UK embassy is roughly equivalent to that which is served here at the US. KBR provides both. But at the UK embassy, they have a cook, and everyone knows the cook and the cook provides more of a catered appearance than the assembly line chow hall we have at the US dining facility. Do not misinterpret for a moment that I am complaining about the food I get. I most certainly am not. I eat better than a lot of people. I am pointing out the little things. So the food there, while not completely different from what I am eating tonight was just ever so slightly different to make it special.
Well after dinner, which started at 2030 and ended at about 2300, we started dancing. I am a 6’3” white boy with the dancing skills of a weeble-wobble. It turns out that my absolutely gorgeous date, who is half Italian and half Peruvian is also the teacher of the weekly “Salsa Night” lessons at the liberty pool. Uhoh! So the microsecond they play the first beat which happens to be Shakira’s “Hips don’t lie” she is dragging me to the dance floor. If you are a person that dances this might seem silly to you, but to those of you who are allergic to dance floors I am sure you will see what I am getting at. Anyway, she is dragging me to the dance floor and there is no one else there. It is about to be me and her and 198 people watching. I am scared shitless to put it mildly. It was about halfway there that I realized I already had a date, so I didn’t need to worry about impressing other chicks and more importantly, that every eye would probably be on the hottest chick in the room dancing in synch to “Hips don’t lie” and that I would be last thing anyone was watching. So I accepted my fate and went on up there.
It turns out that I was right, nobody looked at me, and by the time other people saw us up there they joined in and I moved us to the back and blended into an ever-growing crowd of dancers.
So when they closed the bar at 0200 we decided to go jump in the pool. We first stopped off and grabbed a few bottles of red wine (can’t remember what kind) and then stripped to our skivvies and jumped in the pool. It was fun splashing about. Well as the sun was coming up, I don’t know what time, we put parts of our suits back on and exited the embassy.
It was absolutely fantastic. And it was one of those rare little things one gets to experience that makes living in this God forsaken hell hole a little bit more bearable.
Pics will follow I promise.
Cheers,
Walt
It really is the little things that matter most sometimes. Last night I had the great fortune to be invited to the UK Embassy for the Summer Ball. I have to brag a bit to be able to tell you this but I guess I have to. There were only 200 attendees. There are 200 people a lot more important than me that didn’t get tickets so I was extremely grateful to have been invited and allowed to bring a date. The only deal with that was that I had to bring one for the guy that invited me. Getting 1 date can be a challenge, 2 is darn near impossible. For anyone other than me that is:) Seriously there are about 10,000 people in the International Zone and only about 5% of those are women. Further break down the ratio of good looking women, those in the right age bracket etc… and you can see the dilemma. Anyway I have tons of cool pics that I have yet to retrieve from my camera which was left at the embassy by uhhh mistake.
Among the attendees were of course the ambassadors from the US and Britain, but I was surprised to see GEN Casey. I have seen him a few times in passing in the hallways of the embassy but last night he wore his dress greens and it is always impressive to see a 4 star general with all their medals. I don’t know that much about him but I know that Patton would be envious of the medals on his chest.
Like I was saying about the little things. The food at the UK embassy is roughly equivalent to that which is served here at the US. KBR provides both. But at the UK embassy, they have a cook, and everyone knows the cook and the cook provides more of a catered appearance than the assembly line chow hall we have at the US dining facility. Do not misinterpret for a moment that I am complaining about the food I get. I most certainly am not. I eat better than a lot of people. I am pointing out the little things. So the food there, while not completely different from what I am eating tonight was just ever so slightly different to make it special.
Well after dinner, which started at 2030 and ended at about 2300, we started dancing. I am a 6’3” white boy with the dancing skills of a weeble-wobble. It turns out that my absolutely gorgeous date, who is half Italian and half Peruvian is also the teacher of the weekly “Salsa Night” lessons at the liberty pool. Uhoh! So the microsecond they play the first beat which happens to be Shakira’s “Hips don’t lie” she is dragging me to the dance floor. If you are a person that dances this might seem silly to you, but to those of you who are allergic to dance floors I am sure you will see what I am getting at. Anyway, she is dragging me to the dance floor and there is no one else there. It is about to be me and her and 198 people watching. I am scared shitless to put it mildly. It was about halfway there that I realized I already had a date, so I didn’t need to worry about impressing other chicks and more importantly, that every eye would probably be on the hottest chick in the room dancing in synch to “Hips don’t lie” and that I would be last thing anyone was watching. So I accepted my fate and went on up there.
It turns out that I was right, nobody looked at me, and by the time other people saw us up there they joined in and I moved us to the back and blended into an ever-growing crowd of dancers.
So when they closed the bar at 0200 we decided to go jump in the pool. We first stopped off and grabbed a few bottles of red wine (can’t remember what kind) and then stripped to our skivvies and jumped in the pool. It was fun splashing about. Well as the sun was coming up, I don’t know what time, we put parts of our suits back on and exited the embassy.
It was absolutely fantastic. And it was one of those rare little things one gets to experience that makes living in this God forsaken hell hole a little bit more bearable.
Pics will follow I promise.
Cheers,
Walt
posted by Walt at 4:51 PM
2 Comments:
I just read your post on PWZ.
Walt, get the hell out of there now! Don't think about quitting, quit! Leaving the Siagon way is no way to go. You do not have to stay, you have the luxary of leaving anytime you want so go! Nothing there, and I mean nothing THERE, is worth your life. You have been there what, 29 months already? Come home to your family. Just come home.
Kanrei,
I can't. It is sad but I like it too much I think. Maybe I am sick in the head?
I appreciate your concern immeasurably however.
Post a Comment
<< Home