“Fishbone” found metals assemblage by Paulina Constancia Cebu 1995

Fishbone, the Artwork

In 1995 while preparing for my first solo exhibition, I went to a junk yard to scout for some interesting junk metal pieces to use for sculpture. The artwork ‘Fishbone” was one of the resulting work of this creative adventure.

A Local Fishbone Remedy
I was born and raised on the island of Cebu where we ate a lot of fish growing up. Among the fish we loved to eat was one that was absolute ‘torture’ -the Bangus (milkfish)- which was really more bone than flesh. Of course the younger generation of Cebuanos would think I am overacting because most of the Bangus they eat now have been conveniently deboned before they are flash-frozen and sold in the groceries. But back in our time, it was a laborious endeavor to eat Bangus.  And of course, no matter how good your fish-bone extraction skills got through the years, you would still get a bone stuck in your throat from time to time.

So if you ever get a bone caught in your throat here are some of the local natural remedy options (no kidding):

Option 1-Grab a cat, and have someone hold the cat’s paw and rub it against your throat, to release the bone

Option 2– Find someone in your household or in the neighborhood who was born ‘suhi’ or breach.  Have them rub your throat to help release the bone.

Option 3– If option 1 or 2 does not work out for you, the last remedy local folks would recommend would be to bite a big chunk of banana and swallow it without chewing. Hopefully, the fishbone will stick to the banana and it will slide peacefully into your stomach.

My Canadian husband asked me: 
How about getting a cat born breach to rub your throat..will that work better?
What about if your breach-born cat gets a bone caught in its throat, what do we do then?