Day 5: Dinner, Balut, Shopping

In the excitement of last night's Night Shift, I forgot to post pictures of Kamerie's & my adventure at the G-Mall! We asked the driver to take us to 'Victoria Mall', but somehow, he took us to the G-Mall (which we didn't end up finding out, until this afternoon, when all of us girls & Heidi went to the 'real' Victoria Mall!!).

G-Mall is gigantic...comparable to the Spokane North Town Mall, possibly bigger!! In some parts, it is 5 stories tall!!! The had a "Back to School" sale in one part of it, & it literally looked like a hive of bees at first glance!! (Kinda sounded like it too!)

Kamerie & I ate at McDonald's or "McDo" as they call it here. (The "o" is very soft....kinda French). I know, it was a crazy place to eat, but we thought we might as well try it, & see how it differs from USA! Kami got Spaghetti & I got a hamburger (with lettuce...)

It was definitely better than American McDo, but it still was terrible in my opinion. :D It would have been 10 times better, if I had tomatoes & TONS of onions, but alas, I might a huge amount of work for them, to ask for lettuce on a cheeseburger (they said it was cheddar, but it was definitely NOT!!) In fact, they had to go up to the Manager in a panic, which was pretty funny!!
So, when Kami & I got back to our "house", we found Lydia & Stephanie out on the porch eating dinner, & just then, a cockroach (the first seen) appeared!! Stephanie screamed, & here is what she did next. LOL It was adorable!!! Needless to say, we're trying to scare her to much, but they've been showing up all over the place now.....
Here it is compared to a certain Peso amount (size of a quarter).

Okay, back to today!! This afternoon, a bunch of us girls & Heidi (one of the 1 yr students) went shopping at Victoria mall, which is where we'll get most of our groceries (minus fresh stuff, which we'll get at market). That was a lot of fun...

Then, while I took a nap, a few of the girls went to the Market to get some fresh stuff.

Tonight, a few of us girls went out to dinner at "Boodels", which is an outdoor restaurant, within walking distance of MMC! I ordered rice, & then had a couple bowls of their amazing broth.

As some of you know, I have a pet peeve of LOVING fresh onions-green & regular (& lots of veggies on my burgers :D). It was kinda funny, asking for more for my soup (as the refill didn't have any in it), & seeing their confused faces & partial panic, in trying to understand what I was asking for.... I guess I should learn the Visayan word for "Onion"!!! :D

All 6 of us girls (L-R): Me, Lydia, Stephanie, Jordan, Heidi, & Ashton

I've been staying in constant contact with my family thru Skype & email, & sometimes even through phone!! In the middle of skyping my parents (who are in Washington DC with Samuel & Rebekah for the National Spelling Bee, which Rebekah is competing in this week), one of the Students came over & invited us to a Balut (1/2 hatched duck eggs) party!!

Lydia, Stephanie, & I went over to WATCH. (Remember the word 'watch'...that was ALL it was. :D As most people can attest, most things don't faze me: blood, guts, feces, urine, vomit, etc. But, I gagged at least 3 times, of which, I could of easily thrown up (totally NOT normal!!).

Though I have inherited the trait of serious egg allergies (all kinds, not just chicken eggs), I love them a ton, & so before I came, I had reasoned with myself, that if I got the opportunity, "why not just try it??" Well, now I have 3 REASONS, why I absolutely cannot try it:

1) Egg Allergies

2) I couldn't quit from gagging while just watching others eating them!

3) ....Seriously, I know there was another reason....hmm.....will have to try to remember it! :D

So, I guess I can add Balut to my "Absolutely Disgusting" list, along with Maggots (absolutely disgusting!!), & Mold (which I am also extremely allergic too)...

Heidi with her Balut...
This duckling was ready to hatch!!! That is inhumanely cruel!! LOL :D

I have Day Shift (6 am-2 pm) tomorrow...