New Foods

Working with many cultured Phillipino's I have come to taste many new foods these past few months. Some quite tasty although their desciption and some, however simple they may seem, are not so tasty.
1- fried sardines- the whole sardine, eyes and mouth bones and all fried in oil and dunked in rice vinegar. Not so tasty and the whole thing looking at you before you devour it not so hot.
2- milk fish- a fish, a little bit bigger than a sardine, cooking in a pan and eaten by stripping the skin part way off and eating it. Not a big fan of fish, so, not so tasty.
3-Balut- a 6 day old fetus of a duck that is still in the egg. You boil it first like you would a hard boiled egg. The process of eating it goes- crack to top so that you have a little hole to drink the fluids out of, this part tastes like chicken broth. Next you eat the yolk. It tastes like a chicken egg yolk but much richer. Next you eat the little duckie. Although you think fear factor ducks, you cannot tell much that it is a little duck. It actually looks, (pardon the very disgusting description) like a big snot ball of shredded chicken. It tastes much like chicken. Although the horrible description, it is not that bad!
4- Whole shrimp- Legs, eyes shell and all! Not that bad!
I tell you, we have had a few potlucks and a party and when Phillipinos say food, they mean food! It is like Thanksgiving dinner every time we decide to eat!

Deceiving little ladies

My job at work keeps me very busy with the elderly most of the time. Today was one of the days that kept me guessing.
My days start off with what we call morning draws. Usually between 15-25 draws that need to be accoplished between the hours of 6 and 730. This happens most mornings, although this morning it did not.
The draws started off with sleepy customers and grouchy ones too. Then came room 907. I walk into the room and the about 70 years old smiles at me sweetly and greets me and I get to my business. I put on the tourniquet and I am using the smallest needle that I can because she is a delicate one and the second I put the needle in her skin she screams bloody murder and her other hand comes at me full force with a fist. Lucky for me I have fast reflexes and I dodge it, not avoiding the wind that came with it. She proceeds then to tell me that I stink, although in a rude manner which I shall not repeat, and that I need to get out of her room before she rips my head off! My what a dramatic change!
The second little lady was from Russia and was quite the sweetie until again the tourniquet went on and the needle came out. The same yelling occured this time she proceeded to try and spit on me. Again lucky for me I am a quick study and have Jedi like moves.
The third lady I went to get blood from was the not so nice potty mouth. The nurses warned me ahead of time saying things such as "good luck!" and a few chuckles. I had two nurses helping me hold down this lady and she had language that could make a trucker blush! Needless to say I ended up frusterated because one, she did not have any veins that I could use and two, I was getting a head rush from how loud she was.
This day was one of complete frustration but it kept me going because all I could think about was how the day couldn't get any more crazy than it already was!