There were some Turkish officers who were at Ft Bliss for some type of training, and of course, they had to be brought home. They tried to show me how to make Turkish coffee. It didn't work too well because all I had were American cookpots. The coffee didn't get as thick and syrupy as it should have. But that's ok. It was interesting learning about the customs of other people.
Also, later there was a Sikh couple...but I digress. I'll tell you about them another time.
About the tacos. There was one young lieutenant who was a frequent visitor. He was of Irish descent I remember, but I don't remember his name for sure. Terry something I think. Anyway, I think he must have kissed the Blarney Stone at some time because he was full of tales and merriment. He was also a part of the group who got together to play poker once a week...but that's another story. Back to the tacos.
One evening when Terry was visiting, I was making tacos. I had never known about tacos before we got to Texas, but they became a favorite dish. Very quickly. Easy to fix, and tasty. Anyway, I was browning the meat, grating the cheese, chopping the onions and chili peppers, when all of a sudden DISASTER! I must have rubbed my eye (I don't remember touching it), but I must have, because all of a sudden the most fierce burning!! I screeched with the pain, the burn, and tried to find the water faucet to rinse my eye. Nothing was working.
Someone drove the car, and someone held me, while I held a wet towel over my eye, and we raced to the base hospital. The length of time, the doctor, the treatment are not very clear in my memory, but I was treated and released. Came home with some salve to apply however many times of day as necessary, and a bandage over my eye.
I have no recollection whether someone turned off the fire under the browning meat, but someone must have because the place wasn't on fire when we got back. I have no recollection of eating tacos that night. Maybe husband and the young lieutenant finished the fixin's and had tacos, but I didn't. My eye had stopped burning by this time, but I just knew I was blinded for life in my left eye. Fortunately, after a few days and a revisit to the base hospital, my eye healed nicely (thank you) and my vision returned to normal.
I don't make tacos anymore, but let me tell you this for sure, when I'm chopping onions or chilis, I'm VERY very very careful about where I put my hands, and I very very VERY carefully wash my hands with warm soapy water as soon as the chopping is done.
And that's the tale of the Taco Fiasco!