On Friday we received a package with a state of the art filet knife sent to us by my Dad (of course there were a bunch of snickers bars in this as well, which Ryan counted... then gave me my portion, then made a plan of when he would eat each of his.) This knife perfectly foreshadowed our adventure to come.
Ryan and I awoke Saturday morning, had a leisurely morning of coffee and chores, and then sat down to make a plan for the day. We decided to go see if we could find the path to the lake that is close to our village. We had enjoyed an amazing swim in this lake a few weeks prior when we came to stay with Nora (another PCV) for our attachment. We thought this would be a fun way to get some exercise and cool off.
We started down a dirt path that looked well traveled through the uta. The uta is the bush here in Tonga. This is a combination of tropical jungle and wild farmland and is where the men clear paths and farm kava, vanilla beans, and root crops. Here is a picture of the Uta that surrounds our village.
After walking for a long while down the path, we realized it did not in fact lead to the lake. Just as we turned around to head back home, some of the local boys from the village ran from the bush to join us. They told us they heard our voices and came to eva (walk) with us. They then asked if we wanted to go with them to the lake. Ryan and I grinned in pleasure. Success! Just what we wanted.
After a really cool walk through a what we thought was a beautiful dirt road in the uta (it was actually pure, matted down, cow poop), we arrived at the lake. This part of the lake was vastly different than what we had experienced before. It was VERY dirty and not much for swimming. Disappointed, Ryan and I asked the boys if it was time to return. They looked at us and told us "Ikai... taimi eva i he ano!" (Time to eva on the lake) Ryan and I looked at each other with worried expressions.... no way was I going in that water. A few seconds later, the boys had pulled out the roughest looking canoes I have ever seen out from under a tree. They looked at us and said..get in! We looked at each other, shrugged, and thought.. why not? It looks like we were going to stay close to shore. Here is the lake... it is Tonga's largest freshwater lake. Sidenote: this "freshwater" lake is still pretty salty. But, here in Tonga, it is classified as freshwater.
We got in the boats and the boys pushed off. Only then did we realize there were no oars. We asked the boys how we were going to paddle and they happily told us we would use our hands. Riiiight. So away we go! The boys had a little trouble steering the boat with our weight, so two jumped in to pull the boat. The bottom of the lake was like quicksand... I have never seen anything like it. The water was soon pitch black with the debris the boys kicked up from the bottom. Swimming was really wading through waist deep mud. I quickly abandoned my happy hopes of a cooling off dip.
After a period of 30 minutes we arrived at a fishnet that was strung out in the water. Ryan and I gleefully looked at each other... we were fishing! We had totally wanted to learn to do this, so we were happy for the opportunity. Having grown up with a father and uncle who are avid fishermen and hunters, I was confident I would be able to participate with the boys and show them I was up to the task. 20 minutes later, I was sitting in the boat, trying to keep my feet out of the filth that had accrued in the bottom, warily watching my husband bailing water from his boat and wondering what in God's name we were doing in the middle of the lake with some of the most resourceful 11 year olds I had ever seen. Needless to say, fishing in America is a bit different from fishing in Tonga.
Here is what fishing in Tonga looks like:
Jump out of boat to get fish caught in net. Laugh when the palangi screams in horror because the boat almost capsizes. When you find a fish in the net, to detangle you put the WHOLE HEAD OF THE FISH in your mouth. Yep, that's right.... clamp teeth behind gills and hold on tight. This leaves two hands free to manipulate and work the net. Once fish is free, toss it as hard as you can into the boat. Laugh again when the palangis scream because you accidentally hit them when they weren't looking. New lesson... always LOOK at the person throwing the fish. The person in the boat has the task of trying to bail out the incoming water from the boat, cleaning some of the really old looking fish right away, and stringing the other fish. This was Ryan and my job. One boy showed us how to clean the fish. Bite off head with teeth.... rip skin with teeth, take a quick bite if you are really hungry. Here is how Ryan and I managed our task: duck when fish was thrown our way, let it flop in the bottom of the boat, put feet up on sides, continue to tell boys how amazing at fishing they are in hopes they will take you back to shore. Oh yeah, and keep bailing water.
After about an hour of this one boy pointed at us and told his friend..."Palangi kulokula taimi ni!" (The palangis are red now!) True statement. They quickly finished emptying the lines and told Ryan and I to paddle us back to shore. We singlehandedly had to paddle our boats while the boys had a heated argument about who would take what fish.It started to rain heavily, and the amount of water our boats were taking on became rather alarming. The boys didn't seem to be bothered by this. But, we made it safely to shore, and the boys proudly asked if we wanted a picture of them. The great thing is this will provide their families with Sunday lunch after Church. So...who wants to come visit and do some fishing?
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