God I hope they don't like apple pie :)

My students and I have a game that we play called "Ask a Question." We play it when class ends short, or I can't get them to stop talking (which lately feels like is ALL the time). It's pretty simple, I ask a question about the Philippines and then they in return ask me a question about America. The first time we played, I got questions like, "What does 'biotch' mean?" "Why do kids get kicked out of their houses when they're 18?" After almost a year of playing, we're starting to learn more about each other's cultures, and the questions are more about abstract topics, like respecting authority and democracy. Ok, they don't use those words exactly, but they're the ideas that we're discussing!

One thing though, that has remained a popular topic, and I hope continues to be, is food. I love learning how the kids cook and what's for dinner in their houses as much as they love to hear what's on the table for Thanksgiving dinner or my favorite fruits in America.

This past week we took the game to the new level, and actually made one of my favorite snacks. I felt I definitely owed my students considering the feast they prepared last month for nutrition week, so I got a group of about 10 students together from my second year class and had them help me make guacamole. Avacados are in season, so some kids brought them from their homes and I supplied the tomatos, onions, salt, and kalamansi, plus the spring roll wrappers that we baked for chips.

The American's opinion: guacamole was AMAZING.
The Filipinos' opinion: "Ma'am Connie, it's too spicy. Do you have any sugar?"

It wasn't a big hit, but I think they had fun making it, and they asked that we make another "American Treat." So now I got to come up with another food. So far we've made spaghetti with Italian spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese (big flop with the kids), peanutbutter and jelly sandwhiches (huge hit), Kraft macaroni and cheese (the one that I hoped they wouldn't enjoy so I got eat all the leftovers, but unfortunately ended up only getting a spoonful), coconut shrimp (mixed reviews) and microwave popcorn (another big hit). I'm thinking grilled cheese, but I refuse to use Eden cheese, I just can't do it. Maybe apple pie would be good. I'd just need to find some cinnamon and figure out some type of crust, but that's doable. I wonder if they'd like it?