You can read part 12 here.

Dedication of this chapter goes out to the SOFREP family’s favorite, Mr. Yankee Papa!

Mission notes

I was intentionally up early the next morning to set out and do a bit of clothes shopping before I caught my train to Mechan. I stepped out onto the damp cobblestone alley into the barely lit day. There wasn’t a thing to be heard save the distant call to prayer. That’s just the way I wanted it as I headed through some alleys of residential Tangar.

I pressed my way through a gap in the corner of a stone wall and presented myself to some laundry hanging just ahead and rocking in the morning breeze. I quietly plucked a djellaba (GELL-la-ba) from the line, rolling it quickly and tucking it under my arm I skated away… like a rat!

A typical djellaba

A djellaba was a unisex robe that is customary wear by most everyone in this country. I wanted to look like the rest of the Romans in this place, at least from the standpoint of a cursory inspection. I fancied the day before that I might need a lid to top off my homeboy garb. With that understanding, an unattended fez from the hotel made its way into my bag and bolted…like a rat!