Birthday Balut

On Sunday, in one of the branches we attend, some young women approached me after church meetings.  A couple of these girls are piano students of mine, so we know each other pretty well.  One of them said to me, with a big smile, "Sister, I think we need to have a birthday party for Elder Shamrell, because his birthday is tomorrow.  We will come over and help."  She was very insistent, so we said for them to come at 3:00 the next day.  We knew it would be a fairly long trip for them - - probably an hour, by jeepney.

Sometime after 3, we got a text that they were on their way, late, because of the heavy rain.  When they arrived, there were just two of them, who are some of my favorite piano students (if I'm allowed to have favorites!) and who are sisters.  They had their 8-month-old nephew with them, whom they were babysitting.  Their dad had driven them over in his trike (again, probably an hour's drive) and dropped them off.  Later, he came back and joined us.  And we texted the Manaoag sister missionaries to come over, which they did a little later.

We had a good time, assembling pizzas and baking them.  (Most Filipinos don't have ovens in their homes, so getting to bake anything is a novelty for them.)  We didn't bother putting olives on the pizzas this time, since nobody here seems to care for them.

After we ate, Jayza, one of the sisters, pulled out her present for 'Elder Shamrell' - - balut!  Balut is a delicacy here in the Philippines, though some of us non-Filipino types are not so excited to try it.  It's a duck embryo, boiled in the shell.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balut_%28food%29

Elder Shamrell is a good sport.

Jayza shows him how it's done.

You open the top so you can sip the broth first.

Then into the bowl it goes.

Yum, yum.

A little baggie of vinegar was included, and you add some salt, too.

What's that hard thing in there?

Hmmm.

Analyzing . . . .

It tastes like a combination of egg yolk and chicken liver.

Who else wants one?

Jasmin and Jayza with their nephew, Prince.

Sisters Finau and Belaro were with us, too, though this pic was taken later.

It was a great time with good friends.  It was beginning to get dark outside and the Labis family got on their way home, then the sister missionaries went back to their work.  But we were glad those girls decided we should have a party.  : )