my non-European palate

Jen blogging for Drew:

He is on the Spaniard's base as mentioned before. This means he's eating in their kitchen, which follows a European menu. It's fair to say Dr. Drew doesn't enjoy deviating from his American palate.

He has asked for whatever spice/sauce packets I can get from ANY restaurant. The only condiments there are Ketchup, mustard, and Mayo I think. He pretty much eats rice and salad for his meals because the rest of the options are so unappetizing. For example, they served a beef dish several nights ago. After chewing two bites, Drew swore the food was NOT beef. Then last night they served Paia. Paia apparently is made up of rice, crab meat and parts (his buddy pulled a small crab leg out of his mouth after one bite) and some other stuff. Drew was brave enough to try one bite, but that was all he could muster for one night.

The base has more positives than negatives.

He can Skype. He gets 15 minutes for free. If he wants to Skype longer, he has to go across the street to the paid internet room. He has done both so far. The paid room has worse reception.
The base boasts two work-out rooms. Between that fact and the food I'm expecting him to come back slim and trim.

He has a bed, a hot shower, and laundry capabilities.

Oh, and even though it isn't Papa John's, there is a pizza place. He ate there at the end of the week and said it was o.k. (Anything is better than Paia.)

He has to buy things in Euros, which is a bummer since the dollar is down.

The base is established. The Spaniards have been there since 2005 so they have cement buildings. He's not roughing it in the dirt like he thought he would be.

That's about all I can recall for now.

Oh, I sent him his first packages today. He's going to receive two boxes in about two weeks. It was exciting to mail them. It kind of made everything seem official and real. I wonder how many I'll send in the course of the next six months. The boxes are special military flat-rate ones. I packed a lot of stuff into them. After every edge and corner was taped up, I realized that I forgot to put in my Valentine's card.

Oh well, I'll slip it in the next box I send.

Time for bed now. Lights out. (They really do do that over there. It's not just in the movies. Drew requested a reading light because he said it's so dark at night he cannot even see his hand in front of his face.)