gross foods of the world (or at least the philippines)

June 6th, 2010 by Lawrence David

Christina and I threw our last study break as GRTs (RAs) last month. We hoped to end on a high note with a memorable food theme. In the end, we went with a long-promised and ill-conceived idea: gross foods of the world. (Actually, due to a combination of our cultural expertise and the Philippines’ seemingly inexhaustible appetite for all things pork, the study break was in practice the “gross foods of the Philippines.) Christina and I dug up some dinuguan (pork stewed in its own blood), sisig (fried pork snout), and chicharron (fried pork skins). The real highlight of the evening though was the balut, or fertilized duck egg, which proved horrifying to some and delicious to most.

Overall, the study break was bittersweet. I’ll be defending my thesis later this month, meaning Christina and I will have to leave the undergrads we’ve been living with for the past 2 years. We’re both can’t help but feel malungkot to be leaving.