I specifically planned it this way. On Thursday night football, the mighty Redskins were playing the Chicago Bears. An 8:30 pm East Coast kickoff meant it would be 4:30 am Friday, Africa-time, when the game began.

First, God Bless AFN (Armed Forces Network) because they do a great job of making sure America's service members get live feeds of sports from back home. So, 4:30 was a little too early even for me, so I set my alarm for 5:45, figuring the second half would be good enough. Imagine my suprise when I arrived at the dining facility, with its 52-inch flat screen t.v., and the men in burgandy and gold were up, 14-0.

Of course, I've seen this script five times before this season, when the Skns squandered a second half lead. Worse, Jason Campbell, Clinton Portis and Fred Smoot were all hurt. But somehow, through it all, despite the four game losing streak and the tragic loss days before of Pro Bowl defensive back Sean Taylor, the good guys prevailed. And as I let out a loud cheer, I looked around, and realized I was the only one watching. The chow hall was empty.

There is a reason for this. Friday, as some readers may know, is a holy day in the Muslim world, so U.S. bases throughout the Middle East tailor their schedules accordingly. So this is just a half-day, work-wise, for the troops. So it's kind of like their weekend. It would take me a while to get used to it. But I don't think I'd ever get used to the Redskins at 4:30 am. That is, unless they kept winning at this hour. I'd get up for that every time.

Something else well worth building your day around is the U.S. Central Command Expeditionary Band, "Hot Brass," a brass quintet out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio that's on tour right now out in these parts. Here was the scene a couple of nights ago. The band--two trumpets, a tuba, a trombone, sax and drummer--was set to play before a Djiboutian community center. Several hundred locals turned out on a dusty soccer field, in the dark. Because of cultural sensitivities, I figured they'd steer clear of Christmas stuff, but I didn't know what they'd play. Imagine my surprise when they trotted out everything from
Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody," to the theme from "The Jetsons," to Bon Jovi's "Living On A Prayer." I can't say if the locals had ever even heard of any of these songs, but I can testify for certain that they enjoyed them.

The only thing crazier was when I was sitting in the camp cantina the other night, minding my own business, when a guy came up and asked if I was Mike Gooding. Turns out he and 11 of his buddies were from VRC-40, the Rawhides squadron out of Naval Station Norfolk. So I posed for some photos and signed a few autographs.

It was all a little unexpected, but at the same time, a whole bunch of fun. Just like everything else that keeps happening around here, we're having a blast. Even if I didn't see some of it coming.