Outing with Filipino Staff

Good morning!...well it's morning here now.
Below I posted some pictures from last Saturday's outing with the Filipino staff here at the clinic. Seems to me that this day is a traditional day trip planned for each new group of students that come. Let me tell ya, these ladies are wonderful, full of fun, and love to laugh! I am blessed to have some of them as my supervisors! A few are also students who are doing their training in another school, but their practical here.
At 10:00 in the morning twenty-four of us piled into a jeepney heading out on an unknown adventure! The Filipino staff had planned a whole day of different activities to give us a taste of their culture.
First stop was the Japanese tunnel dug out by the Philippines during WWII.
Second stop was a place that overlooked Davao City (we were still in Davao). There was a restaurant there where we did a little karaoke with each other! Filipino's love karaoke, and it was fun watching them! :)
We were then invited to go up into the restaurant where they had a whole table set for us! YUMMY food! And this time I stayed clear away from the crazy red peppers! Now that I can laugh about it, I'll tell you my pepper story! :P A few days after we arrived here, a big group of us went out for supper at this busy, little restaurant. By each plate was a little dish with a very tiny red pepper and a lime. Somebody mentioned that the peppers must be hot, and I thought hmmm, I wonder how hot it could be. Well you ask my family, and they'll tell you that I can't take any spicy foods! Anyways, silly me picked up the pepper, broke it in half, rubbed my finger in it and put in on the tip of my tongue. That's when the others noticed me going crazy. I grabbed the other girls waters, but the crazy thing was that I still had it all over my hands and I kept rubbing my face. After a few seconds my face felt like it was on fire! No joke, it felt like someone was burning my face. So in desperation I took the rice on my plate and kept rubbing it on my face. The waiter noticed and brought a bowl of sugar which I quickly dug my face into. It's funny, in the Philippine culture, in order to "cover your shame", if something embarrassing happens to you, everyone looks away. So everyone was looking away, but I'm sure they all wanted to laugh. Being a whole group of white girls, I decided we were creating enough attention as it was! Anyways, the poor girls didn't know whether to laugh or feel sorry for me as I sat there for the rest of the time with sugar and rice all over my face! Never again- I have learned my lesson! :)
So back to our day out, after lunch they took us back to the city center where they were holding a week long festival. As you can see in the pictures, they sure go all out with their festivals!
Last of all, they brought us to the shore, where we "enjoyed" a few Filipino treats. Did I say enjoy? Well... The durian fruit was definitely interesting! It's one of those things were you eat it once and that's all. :P
When they brought out the balut I thought I was going to be sick...and I did- I mean I was! I didn't even get to the embryo part of the egg! Afterwards I was talking with Julie, and we decided that we weren't too upset that our bodies didn't have to bother with the trouble of digesting it. ugh!
So that was our day- Crazy and fun! It was neat getting to know the staff a little more, and I look forward to getting closer to each of them! They really are a wonderful group of ladies, whose faces shine with the love of the Lord!
Well, time to sign out!
Have a great and Godly weekend!
much love,
Sarah