Re-fried beans in Germany

(hummed to the tune of Bing's "Do You hear what I hear?")

Do you smell what I smell?..

The Bell, The Bell...

creeping up my nose

Let us hope the re-frieds will be nice!

Let us hope the re-frieds will be nice!

Nachos, tacos, and Buritos filled my nose with glee and left me remembering why I don't miss fast food so much.  There just aren't fast food restaurants every 3 blocks here in Germany.  Yes, there are  McDonalds, Burger King and KFC sprinkled in what I like to call the high tourist areas.  THEY ARE NOT LOCATED WITH EACH EYE BLINK.  But another American fast food was eaten by us this past weekend complete with taco sauce!

Our friends invited us to to see "Madagascar 3" at the cinema located on Patch Barracks.  (There are four U.S. bases located here in the Stuttgart area;Patch Barracks, Robinson Barracks, Panzer Kaserne and Kelley Barracks.)

Since we are not GS, TESA (Gov Contractor), or a Local Nationals we do not have access to get on base, other than as a guest of one of the above.  This was only my second time on a military base and I was again surprised at all of the security it took for us to obtain an "ok" to proceed thru the gate.  Once they had thoroughly checked under the hood, in the trunk and all the nooks and crannies of our car, we headed in for a fun day with our friends.

I again had the feeling of confusion at hearing all of the English being spoken around me.  But that confusion quickly went away as I ordered in clear English from the Taco Bell cashier.  We ate in an area with various American 'fast food' restaurants that brought back memories of the survival lunches I would have more often than not with the kids at the mall's food court.  We finished out our day at their cinema enjoying a funny movie that was all "auf English."

I have learned many exciting and interesting things about Germany since moving here, but I have also learned much about the U.S. military.  Over the past year and a half, I have gained a higher respect for all of the people that move around the world on a regular basis in order to serve and protect our country!   They deserve all the Taco Bells they want and much more!  (I wonder if there were German bases in America if they would serve a good flammkuchen and hefeweizen bier?)

Even the 'pre-show' brought excitement...