Hafla Photos by V.Adm. Bob Vosseller

 

USS Avengers from left-right, Todd Brugman, Alex Rosenzweig and Ricky Bruckman join USS Challenger Pat Comune.  The Avengers donned a fez while Col. Comune came in his black ten gallon cowboy hat.	Counselor Emily Vosseller performs her "salsa" solo which some described as pretty saucy.	Avenger Todd Brugman drew in USS Challenger Pat Comune's face on a paper bag to make sure his black hat didn't get lonely during the Hafla held in southern New Jersey featuring members of the USS Challenger, USS Avenger and USS Sovereign. USS Challenger Emily Vosseller was one of the featured dancers during this middle eastern dance event.
	Challenger Col. Comune has a little fun with some vacant fez hats but Avenger Todd Brugman seems to be enjoying it way to much	Challenger Col. Comune has a little fun with some vacant fez hats but Avenger Todd Brugman seems to be enjoying it way to much

So what is a "Hafla" anyway? Is it served at a Greek restaurant? Is it a dance? Is it a place?  On March 22 several members of the 7th Fleet got to discover the answer.

USS Challenger Counselor Emily Vosseller danced a solo and with her fellow members of the Alliah Dance Troop during this year's Hafla who hosted the event. Hafla translates to middle eastern dance party and that is exactly what we all experienced. A variety of middle eastern dance, belly dance to be specific which included dancers balancing swords on their heads, tribal dancing, Egyptian dancing, turkish dancing and much more. Even one male dancer, Omar was part of the entertainment.

Beyond her friends on the USS Challenger, (Security Chief Col. Pat Comune, ship XO Capt. Mary Francen, CMO Capt. David Singleton, Asst. Security Chief Cmdr. Ken Dohn and her CO and hubby your's truly sporting my " I support my local Bellydancer T-Shirt) the cheering section also included USS Avenger friends Adm. Alex Rosezweig, Todd Brugman and Ricky Bruckman (Also known now as the Fez Trio) and Catherine Miller and USS Sovereign Chief Engineer Traci Giorganni.

We all had a great time that included watching and even taking part in some middle-eastern dancing. Ironic, that we enjoyed some culture from the middle east considering the week's events. It is important to remember though that our war is not with a culture but a corrupt government and its leader.

Mary got into the spirit of the event and even wore a belly dance costume. Food was part of the event but the menu didn't satisfy our need to explore some treats from the region so after the Hafla we moved over to an Indian restaurant (Gagan Palace) in Lindenwold and continued our good time.
Todd gave us some pointers on some of the items on the menu.  We shared some humorous stories (piece of advice, NEVER share your company's voice mail number with Todd) and caught up some regional news (and gossip). Yeah we talked about Enterprise and Farscape as well.

Even when we reached the parking lot we couldn't seem to part and talked for another half hour. Challenger thanked all our friends for coming.