Iraqi carp

They serve this fish here in Amman, cooked the same way, and it's pretty darn good. Anyway to stock these fish in the US?

Neat story. I was on board until I came to the roasted carp guts. I'll eat chicken gizzards, but I think I'll pass on carp guts.

yeah, I don't need an aphrodisiac that badly, lol

I'd use either as bait to try and catch dinner.

No need to stock them, the Government did that for us close to 100 years ago and they are everywhere (I'm unsure if they are West of the Rockies).

Celebrated Brit carp "Benson" dies:

http://www.reuters.com/news/video?videoId=109118&videoChannel=4

Made big news across the pond.

Oh Cecil!!!

edinbowen, if you haven't already, please tell us about the Amman Jordan thing. What are you doing there, etc. etc.

You rang? What'd I do this time?

They are looking for a taxidermist to mount a 65# carp.....

They're better off molding it. Greasy!

Sunil, I'm a bit of an wandering vagabond and spent a majority of my adult life outside of the US - stationed in Germany, grad school in Scotland, and living in the Middle East since 2002 when I was assigned to Saudi Arabia and Qatar as an army explosive ordnance disposal officer. I worked in about 20 countries from 2002-2004, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Djibouti. Got out of the service in 2004, lived in Philly for 9 months, and missed the ME and the opportunities. I moved to Kuwait in 2005 and worked there for 2.5 years. I took a left out of the door one day instead of a right and was hired to run a company in Jordan in 2007. I'm GM of a refined petroleum products import/export company and should be in the ME at least through 2011. I love it over here - Amman is a beautiful city and Jordan has lots to offer. I'm engaged to a wonderful woman who was born in the US but raised in the Arab Gulf and Jordan. We're getting married at the Dead Sea in October and then heading to Mauritius for a couple weeks of honeymooning (hoping to sneak in a couple days of blue marlin fishing!). One thing that working over here has afforded me is the opportunity to travel and fish - I've been to India fishing for mahseer on the Ganges River, Egypt fishing for Nile perch on Lake Nasser, Sri Lanka fishing for barramundi (skunked on that trip but caught some tasty mackerel), Belize for bonefish on the flats, and Brazil for just about everything including 100+lb catfish and 6lb piranha. I've been blessed to have lived a pretty full life - ran with the bulls in Pamplona, jumped out of airplanes in the army, defused live explosives, was interrogated in Bulgaria by some very bored police officers, searched for whiskey on the black market in Sudan (I was thirsty), and some other things best left unwritten though man they were fun, lol. But for me, hooking and fighting a fish are by far the biggest thrill. So I'm just reading and learning from all the smart pondmeisters on this site so hopefully one day I can turn my ponds into some very nice fisheries for friends and family to enjoy.

Thanks. That's a great story and it sounds like you've got some wonderful things still to happen.

I've sent you a PM.

EB,

I knew a sweet beautiful girl in college from Jordan. Not a girl friend or anything but she was interesting to talk to. What was really amusing is she was confused that I wasn't into baseball, hotdogs, and apple pie, and didn't have a girlfriend at the time. She said I must not be a typical American.

I sent an aquaculture book on the culture of hybrid striped bass to a gentlemen in Jordan. I was surprised to get payment in American dollars.

When I was in the ANG our area of operation was the Middle East. Fortunately we just missed Desert Storm by 20 minutes (the war ended early) and I was out by 92 before the Iraqi Invasion. I would have gladly served in the war zone but glad I didn't.

Cecil, you may be surprised to know that you can buy anything in Jordan with the US dollar. The Jordanian dinar is pegged at a fixed rate and shopkeepers are more than happy to take a greenback off of your hands. And by the way, just from reading your posts I can tell you're no typical American, haha - which is why I always look forward to a Cecil post and never know what to expect.

Seems like many places you go in the world they'll gladly except a US dollar. I wonder how long that will last with all the money printing going on as of lately here in the States...

In Argentina, the value of goods or services are pinned to the dollar. So if you get a quote for say, rent on an office, the quote is listed in USD. When the time comes to pay, you can pay in Argentine pesos, at the current exchange rate, or USD.

It's their way of hedging against the fluctuations of the Argentine peso.

I'm hoping that's a compliment...

In all truth even though I was born here my first language was not English as my mother is German and the family moved back to Germany shortly after I was born. (Dad was in the military) I prefer soccer over football too. So in that sense you're definitely right!

We do the same thing in Ohio.

Good one Theo - people from Ohio are not only better looking than the average American, they're also much more financially savvy.

Cecil, nothing but love for ya, lol

Just what parts of Ohio have you visited Edinbowen???????

I know some parts he obviously hasn't been to.

now that you mention it, I was there once for a bachelor party so my memory might be slightly skewed.

That part he didn't visit must have been central Ohio.

I could point him to a few roads in PA as well Theo, heh heh.