*Sorry this is late, we traveled the next day and posting to the blog got lost in the shuffle. -Joni
This morning, we headed out to the town pier to meet with the head of the fishermen’s union. We took a stroll on the beach to get there. As we were walking, I noticed there were hundreds of tiny snails and odd looking shellfish buried just under the surface of the sand.
We arrived at the entrance of the pier and walked down. There were dozens of local fishermen stationed at either side of the tattered, wooden platform. Children as young as four were running around with fish in their hands, overlooked by wrinkly old men who looked like they had dedicated their entire lives to fishing. They all stared at us, probably wondering what a group like us was doing in a place like this.
We walked to the very end of the pier where the president of the local fishermen’s union was waiting for us. He looked like he had a great deal of experience under his belts. We gathered in a circle and he talked to us about what he does and what the fishermen do, like maintain a way of fishing that protects the environment and its biodiversity.
After that, he walked us to the middle of the pier and gave some of fishing lines. I watched and observed on the side while some of the kids threw the lines in the water and attempted to catch something. I noticed that the bate the fishermen were using were the little shellfish I had seen before on the beach.
With a little patience and much switching off, luck Ramzy finally caught something. Everyone soon noticed they hadn’t planned on what would happen when someone actually caught a fish. So, after a slight period of panic, we just gave the fish to the fisherman next to us.
After fishing, we walked to the WAVES office where Henry and Junior taught us to make bracelets. Some people were successful, others, such as myself, ended up with, let’s say, a “custom design” (or really just a knot).
Later that day after siesta, Pim, Dave, Joju and Henry picked us up at our hostel and we headed to the beach. It was time for the surf contest. I was a little frustrated because I had a day less of practice than everyone else, but I also knew that it was just for fun so it wasn’t too big of a deal. I surfed my best and afterwards played beach soccer with some of the locals. Later that night they announced the winner: Me! I was really happy I won. It turned out to be a really good day.
