Birthday Festivities!

Ok, so seriously one of the funnest birthday parties ever, aside from that fifties/Grease party I had when I was in elementary school:)

On Saturday, some of the girls took me to sushi where I tried fish eggs for the first time...cruchyish. Then we went over to the gelato place we visited during the first week I was here. They have this amazing menu selection where you can choose eight flavors and it feeds like four people. I got to choose the flavors, and unfortunately, if you want a colorful display on your cool ice cream plate you have to choose yucky flavors. Ours was rather boring looking, but it tasted great! The flavors were almond, hazelnut (my new favorite), coffee, tiramisu (everyone hated this flavor), white chocolate, Oreo, lychee (an Indonesian fruit that tastes a little like fruit cocktail), and mint chocolate chip. It was so much fun. Then we went to the movie store where I bought a couple movies for like $7--it's a beautiful thing:)

On Sunday afternoon was my fruit party. Jennie and Lindsey worked hard to make sure nearly every fruit available in the city of Bandung was present at the party...including Durian. Ever since I knew I was coming to Indonesia, Charity has been telling me I have to try Durian and how awful it is. Everyone that I have talked to hates Durian, not even Indonesians like it. It is a giant green spiky fruit that when cut open, the pulpy fruit inside smells close to rotting flesh and kind of has similar consistency. Hotels and other malls prohibit the stuff from being in their building "No Smoking, No Food or Drink, No Durian!" To be honest, this was the fruit I was most excited to try last night because everyone talked about it so much. So, they waited until the end to bring it out, because it would stink up the whole house, and I grabbed my fork while people got out their cameras and anxiously awaited my first bite of Durian. The yellowing flesh was rather slimy in texture, but the taste...it is terribly hard to tell you what it tastes like, because it tastes like something I have eaten before, but it should not be the flavor of a fruit. It kind of reminded me of seafood casserole. I actually took three bites in an attempt to place the flavor and everyone was impressed. Most people can't get past the smell of the stuff and they say that after three bites you're supposed to love it. I can't say that is the case for me, but I am glad that I tried it. It really was probably the worst tasting thing I have ever put in my mouth:) The fun didn't end there though. Last weekend, while Jennie and I were participating in one of our favorite pastimes--grocery shopping--we came across century eggs. I thought they looked rather awful, the thought of even purchasing an egg that's 100 years old made me nauseous. Joking, Jennie said she would get it for my birthday, starting a new BAIS Staff Birthday tradition. Well, turns out she did purchase them, and whipped one out after we had all suffered through the Durian. A century egg a duck egg preserved in a mixture of clay, ash, salt, lime and rice straw for several weeks. The finished product has the consistency of a hard boiled egg with a pale, dark green colored yolk, and the egg white is black. It took a while for me to put a piece of it in my mouth. I couldn't get the Fear Factor episode out of my head where they had to eat the rotten duck eggs. It really didn't have any taste, it was the appearance that was worse than anything.

Weird foods and all, I had a wonderful 22nd birthday. Although I was away from some of the people I love the most, it was so cool to feel loved by so many people that I only met three weeks ago:)

Charity and I have started our second week of school off on a pretty good foot. I feel like we are really getting to know the kids and they are getting to know us. I get to teach a math lesson tomorrow morning that should be really fun.

Hope I didn't gross you out too much with my stories:) Abby...no gagging!