Appreciation

Today was graduation for the 6th grade - they are moving up in the world to Middle School dun dun dun! This is considered a huge deal. Today there was a two hour long ceremony for the 6th graders complete with performances, slide shows, music, videos, and lots of clapping. The gym was packed with parents. I was really surprised at just how many people were there.
After the ceremony had finally concluded, I went out with the other teachers for lunch. This is always an interesting experience as I never know what we're going to eat. Last time I went out to eat with them we had this spicy fish dish.

It looked a lot like the picture to the left. It was fresh fish (they have tanks where they keep the fish alive and swimming until they are ready to use them) in a very spicy sauce with vegetables and potatoes. I was lucky enough to score some of the mackerel and it was delicious. We were served rice in these very hot stone/iron bowls that caused the rice to burn at the bottom. However, this was not a cooking accident as it is necessary to create another dish to go with your meal. I scooped my rice out into another bowl, leaving only the burnt bit in the stone/iron bowl. Then I poured water into my bowl to create a type of soup out of the burnt rice - strange, I know, but tasty.

So! I was pretty excited when my KT informed me that we would be having fish again. I thought we were going back to this delightful place. Imagine my disappointment when we walked into an entirely different restaurant and I saw this on the table...

My first thought was "Uh oh" followed by "When in Rome..." so I sat down and began chowing down on the fishy soup. My KT kept lifting up the fish head and joking about the eyes and tongue, telling me that she'll save them for me. I joked with her about eating them if she did. Next thing I know, I have one eyeball and she has the other. After a quick "Cheers!" and a tapping of eyes, it was bottoms up to the 'delightful' treat. What do I think about eyeballs? Completely opposite of what I thought I would think. I assumed the eyeball would be gooey and would burst liquor into my mouth once I clamped down but it was the opposite. The eye was powdering and tasted like nothing really. It wasn't the greatest but it certainly wasn't the worst.

The soup had the entire fish cut up and thrown in - THE ENTIRE FISH. So...every part of the fish. Including these interesting looking twisty pieces. I started eating them, enjoying the texture and flavor, when my KT asked me if I knew what they were. I replied by shaking my head and was promptly informed that they were fish guts. Yum. After a quick pause, I picked up some more fish guts and went to town!
There was also this grayish piece that was soft, almost a tofu texture. No one at the table was sure about what it was, however. Ideas?