Disclainer

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Sunday, August 17, 2014

I bought a bike. It folds in half.  It's blue and had 7 speeds.  I don't care one bit about it.  PC wanted me to by one.  I bought one. It took me 9 weeks to get the help I needed to buy the fool thing.  Other PCVs bought theirs on the way to their sites. 
Two teachers took me to the shop where one of them had found the best bike for the right price. Not to get off topic, the guy who found the bike for me,Gozem, has been the most helpful friendly of all the teachers.  He teaches Sociology.
Anyway, we got back from the shopping trip during the morning recess so all the teachers were in the teachers' room. One minute of talk about my new bike then one of the teachers asked me how I was feeling. I said "fine." I decided against mentioning my little stomach problems which have persisted for the third day. I was then asked if I had eaten Jengkol the other day. 
3 days ago a few of the teachers treated everyone to lunch. There was something about these teachers getting 6 month of back pay or getting 6 months of a pay increase all at once. Flush with cash, they treated everyone to lunch. They served rice ( of course ), chicken, hot sauce, perhaps a couple of other things I forget and Jengkol. I was told that Jengkol was a real treat as it is slightly expensive and hard to find. It was sliced into disks and cooked in a kinda brown sauce. The disks were about an inch around and tasted a bit like potato. 
NOW they tell me that a couple of the other teachers are having stomach problems accompanied by gas. I Googled Jengkol. It's name in English is "Dog Fruit." It sometimes causes digestive problems since it is slightly toxic. Google it yourself for the full effect. I read out ( in English ) what I found on the net. "Yea," said I. "I have had some digestive problems. So now I understand the reason."  Laughter.  LAUGHTER! Kidding - I said, "If you want to get rid of me, I can go home.  There's no need to poison me."Now guys (remember: it's the 'men teachers' room) are doubled over with laughter. This is the most fun of the school year so far. 
I haven't yet found online how long I can expect the side effects of Jengkol to last.  I will probably live. I'm kinda happy I gave the men something laugh about.

1 comment:

  1. Apparently, Jengkol is not all bad: "According to various studies have shown that jengkol also rich in carbohydrates, protein, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, phosphorus, calcium, alkaloids, essential oils, steroids, glycosides, tannins, and saponins." Except perhaps for the odor part... You are a brave soul. We respect you. And I, at least, wouldn't blame you at all if you packed your bags and headed for home!!

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