Surprise!

After a not to eventful, but not to restful flight I made it to Frankfurt. Ahhhhhh the sights, sounds, and smells of civilization. The Middle East may in fact be the cradle of civilization but they certainly have not moved much beyond that. The food smelled sooooo good and there were people everywhere and this was going on and that was going on. It’s not home, but it was a damn far bit closer than where I had just left!

Emily has been under the impression I would meet her in Rome. With some divine intercession and a little logistical planning I was able to get a seat on the same flight out of Frankfurt to Rome as Emily was on. Now all I had to worry about was her landing on time. Getting through security and to the gate on time. There was still so much that could keep us apart!

So I spent the next 5 hours researching what gate Emily was coming into. Could I get down there and meet her there? Unfortunately, no. Security is pretty tight in Germany, which is OK with me. You need to be ticketed to get down the terminal, even if you are already in another terminal. I was in terminal B, Emily landed in Terminal C and we flew out of terminal A. I made my way through security again, and got to our departure gate. I roamed around a while trying to pass the time. Finally it was getting pretty close to when I thought Emily should be getting to the departure gate so I made my way back.

I don’t think I have ever crept through the woods deer hunting with as much care and caution! I was looking at everything. The last thing I wanted was to run into Emily and ruin the surprise. I went past the gate and lurked, looking at every person in the gate area. I had to be careful as I know Emily sometimes goes a gate or two away if it is too crowded at the departure gate so she can sit and read.

I decided to move. I crept up the terminal, scanning every face. Left. Right. Oh shit! She was walking right toward me. Jump behind a column and hold my breath. Move like a cat stalking his prey around the column…ahhhhh. She’s walking along, never saw me.

I follow Emily almost to the gate. I watch her go in and look for a seat. I decide to duck into the latrine. I don’t want to be so excited I pee my pants! I slink out of the latrine. People are looking at me kinda funny as I am sort of crouched, just in case Emily decided to come up to the latrine. I make my way down to the gate. I am moving slow. Looking again at every person. I come around a pillar and see Emily sitting way off in the back and she turns towards me! Whew, never saw me. I am about 50 meters from her, but I have to approach from her right side. There is no way to sneak up behind her.

I watch. She is reading a magazine. I wait until I see her turn a page and then I dash. I get past the counter and am able to slip in behind her. Ok gotta be calm. There are a few tables behind her with a few people. I slip off my ruck. I ease up behind her. She is engrossed in a wedding magazine. Funny I think. So cute, she is so ready to marry me ☺. “Excuse me ma’am, can I help you with your bags?” Emily looks up she looks at me about to say something like “no thanks”. She sees me. She looks, blinks. Looks. Then the expression and the “Oh my gosh, what are you doing here??? Ahhhhhh. Eeeeeee.!”

It was so fun. We of course hugged and kissed, we somehow were able to keep a modicum of decorum about ourselves. She was so surprised. We sat and talked and waited. Then, like everybody else we shuffled onto the plane for Rome. Unlike everybody else though we were already the only place either of us cared about being….with one another.

Nando’s Zucchini Appetizer

I spent a few hours at the café and then made my way to the check-in. Kuwait International Airport is, like the rest of the country, disappointing. For a nation of millionaires that don’t work, they sure have a crappy airport. That is not to say it isn’t nice to look at. They have it all Starbuck’s, KFC, Fuddrucker’s, even a Harley Davidson store! As with the rest of the place, they have really nice stuff set amongst a backdrop of crap and existing in a system of ridiculousness.

So while I am sitting on my luggage after I had been charged $5.00 to have it shrink wrapped (still not sure if that was voluntary or required) and taken by porter to where I am sitting on it to have it checked in I meet Fernando. Nando as he likes to be called, is a technician that has worked in the oil refinery business for almost 30 years. He has spent many years all over the middle east. Anyhow, we strike up a conversation while waiting for the baggage check into open and I discover he is from Italy! So of course we talk of my trip and we wait. We get checked in and then spend the next few hours waiting for our plane together. I find him an engaging very well informed and wonderful travel companion. I also notice the many facial expressions and gestures that I have seen in my Grandfather. I chuckle to myself and think “yeah, so that really is how Italians are!”

I will get to the appetizer in a minute, but I wanted to relate one part of our conversation that I found very moving. Typically speaking, Americans are not viewed all that highly by Europeans. There are lots of reasons for that, no the least of which is the “ugly American” display we see parodied in movies. Apparently we also have very little fashion sense as a culture, which is a very big deal to Italians especially. At the moment I want to relate to you, Nando and I are discussing politics and our respective cultures in general. Nando is very upset with the almost constant corruption that has plagued his government. He tells me a few stories and I try to explain that we have just as many problems as Italy in the very same areas. That is when he says something I will never forget. He looks over to me and says “…yes, but you LOVE America.” I am taken aback. Of course I do, don’t all cultures foster that same “spirit”. Don’t Italians LOVE Italy. Nando sadly tells me he does not believe so. He gives a litany of reasons; love of money or power, lack of national identity, etc. I feel a little sad for him if he is right. I try to say something to disagree with him again, but again he repeats “no no. Americans, you are different. You have invited the world, and you LOVE America!” I cannot argue with him. I simply nod and tell him I do love my country. Well, of course I do. Only a complete moron would serve in the military, risk his or her life, and not exhibit love of country!

So we talk more. Nando lives in Tuscany and I tell him how much Emily and I would like to take a vacation there someday and maybe go to cooking school. He tells me he likes to cook too and starts describing this recipe. It sounded so good I had him write it down and I thought it would be fun to post here:

• Slice a few zucchini length wise about ¼” thick.
• Heat these up on the BBQ or in a dry fry pan. Just a minute or two each side. Just until they are soft.
• In a mixing cup add:
o Olive Oil (very important Nando said, “no vegetable oil!”
o White Vinegar. To taste as you like it.
o Minced garlic, again to taste.
o Fresh coarse ground black pepper
o Finely chopped parsley
• Warm this mix up a bit, just so the flavors begin to meld together.
• Drizzle mixture on bottom of backing dish
• Add layer of zucchini
• Drizzle
• Layer of zucchini and repeat until ingredients are used up
• Leave this to rest in a cool, not cold place for 3 hours
• Enjoy as an appetizer especially before pasta!

As I will not be cooking for some time somebody will have to try this and tell me how it is. Enjoy!

Its not just a vacation, its an adventure!

As promised my faithful minions, er ah I mean readers, my first post detailing the adventure that is R&R (Rest and Recuperate) leave. So far all is going fairly swimmingly.

I am currently enjoying a Mediterranean panini at the Juice Zone Café in the Kuwait International Airport. I can’t detail my days activities, but I will say in true Army style it has taken me 13 hours to get a grand total of 30 miles away from where I woke up this morning to wait for a commercial airplane! I am not saying I have only traveled 30 miles, I had to go much farther to come all the way back to the airport. Although normally this would be quite a frustrating experience, I don’t care. My leave doesn’t start until the day after I land at my destination, so in effect this has been a work day for me. I’ll take it.

I will be here at the airport until my plane departs several hours from now. Again, I am getting paid, so I don’t really care. All I can think about is seeing Emily’s face when she sees me in Frankfurt. She doesn’t know it, but by a shear act of God himself I will actually link up with her in Frankfurt Germany and we will be on the same from there to Italy! She is going to be so surprised to see me in Germany. I cant wait. I will leave you all waiting as anxiously as I….