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| News > Deployed Living - Part III, what does "delicious" mean to you? |
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Army Maj. Edward Sauter, a liaison officer stationed at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, and one of more than 1,200 permanent party service members, finds the meals at the dining facility - delicious. Sauter is deployed from the 1st Air Calvary Brigade out of Fort Hood, Texas, and his hometown is Killeen, Texas. (U.S. Air Force photo illustration/Master Sgt. Tracy L. DeMarco)
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Deployed Living - Part III, what does "delicious" mean to you?
Posted 5/6/2012 Updated 5/6/2012
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by Master Sgt. Tracy L. DeMarco
376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
5/6/2012 - TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan -- One of the things that almost every service member thinks and talks about while deployed, is food.
About a week ago, I was speaking to my 5-year-old on "Facetime" and I was telling her about how when I get home, we will visit a certain middle-ages themed restaurant slash dinner theater. Her witty mind remembered eating there before and she said, "The dragon soup was delicious!"
Children are a wonder, and I seriously pondered at what point in her life the word "delicious" had been defined.
After that phone call, I started to notice that a lot of people deployed here at the Transit Center at Manas use the word delicious. Some even use the word to describe a drink like mango juice.
It's funny the foods people miss while living in a deployed setting, and every location within the area of responsibility has its unique food supply challenges and blessings.
For instance, when I was deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 to 2010, my forward operating base could not maintain a supply of real milk. So, for nearly seven months I drank long-life shelf milk. The first glass of real milk that I drank on my way home from that deployment was - delicious.
Just today, one of my Kyrgyz Republic co-workers ate a pile of sauerkraut with her lunch. I'm not used to seeing sauerkraut without an appropriate carriage such as a sausage and bun of some sort. But as she forked the soft sour smelling cabbage from her plate to her mouth, she said, "Mmmm, delicious."
Why is it that certain foods are deemed delicious and others aren't? Why is it that my 5-year-old thinks the soup at a restaurant is delicious when she's only eaten it once in her entire life?
I think it is about where the food teleports our minds to when we consume it.
If I were to get my hands on a moist mint-chocolate slice of cake with thin silky mint-chocolate icing on top, I'd be instantly transported to my childhood and I'd see my mom standing in the kitchen serving up love-on-a-plate after a long day of school.
When my daughter remembers "dragon soup," she remembers seeing knights in armor, horses and having a great night of fun with her sister, father and me, all while wearing a pink princess dress. I'm not sure if the soup is truly delicious. I think the word describes happiness or joy or peace.
Our wing commander told a story the other day. He talked about an encounter he had with Marines while eating at one of our dining facilities here at the Transit Center. These Marines had completed their deployment in Afghanistan and were on their way home. When the commander told of how they described the food, he said they used the word delicious.
Delicious!
I ate the same food that day as those Marines. I even saw our commander and command chief master sergeant sitting with them a few tables away from mine. They were laughing. I remember thinking how cool it was that our commander purposely sets out to sit with different service members transiting through our base when he takes a break to eat. I suppose it's like instant feedback.
What I don't remember, is thinking that my food was delicious that day. Maybe I was stressed or maybe I was tired. Maybe I just wasn't as happy as those Marines, perhaps because I wasn't as close as they were to going home.
I miss my 5-year-old and 3-year-old daughters. I miss a certain donut shop that starts with the letter "D" and I miss my husband who makes delicious French toast. The kind of French toast that can make you forget about work or the laundry and only think about the people sitting at the table with you.
Delicious!
I bet while you're reading this, deployed or not, you're thinking of one of your favorite foods. Pause for a moment and think about why that particular meal, snack or drink deserves the word delicious. Maybe you've only ever eaten that food or drank that drink once in your life like my daughter.
I'll tell you what I'm thinking. I'm thinking about how I can't wait to be as happy as those Marines, heading home to my children and husband. I'm thinking that I can't wait to watch my daughters eat dragon soup and hear them say, "Mmmm, delicious!"
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