Fishing Extravaganza

In my 22 years on this earth, I haven't done much fishing. Let me rephrase that... I have been fishing many many times!! But I've never caught a fish, unless a baby shark counts. What I've always wanted to do though is catch a fish, clean it, and eat it! Like a boss. It just sounds like some kind of milestone in life that must be accomplished.

Hmong Fishing

Last week, my friend asked me to go fishing with her. I said sure! Why not? We piled on to her motorbike (3 people on one bike) and headed to the pond/lake with a bucket full of termites (bait), some fishing line, and some hooks. I'm thinking to myself... What about the fishing poles? Next, we ditched the motorbike and walked about a mile to the pond. 

In this moment, folks, I felt for the first time in my life as if I was living inside of a National Geographic magazine. Straight up. All the guys were standing knee-deep in the pond. In their tighty whities. Fishing. My friend's boyfriend comes up to us to say hello and talk for a bit. Now, I'm no expert, but if I had to make a guess, I'd say that it takes a certain amount of skill to talk to a man who's standing less than a foot away from you in that garb. Wet. My definition of Swagg has been re-defined. Officially. 

Another National Geographic moment was learning which wild leaves, berries, and fruits were edible. I think I could survive in the woods for life now. My friend would just walk to a bush and say, "You can eat this." She handed me a ton of things, and I ate them. Haha. Since I'm still alive today, I'd say they're safe to eat. 

Anyways!! Fishing. We have one huge spool of fishing line, and about 12 hooks on 2-foot long strings.  This is how it goes down. One guy holds the spool. The other guy takes the line and walks really far away. So, we have this line that runs the length of the pond. We then take the 12 short strings with hooks and tie them on to this line sporadically. Bait the hooks. Then, the guys walk to the pond, one on each side, and lower the hooks into the water. This, my friends, is Hmong fishing. Aint nobody got time for fishing poles! 

Moral of the story? It didn't really work. We got 6 fish total. All about 4 inches long. But my goodness, it was so much fun! 

Broke some rules, as usual

These people don't have many toys. They don't have much money. They wanted to swim, and I swam with them! Which is a cardinal health warning that the doctors tell you not to do. He he he. Don't swim in slightly polluted water. I had a blast though! We tossed around a piece of Styrofoam that we found and played money in the middle. I taught the kids how to do hand-stands, flips, and freestyle swimming instead of doggie paddling. It's the little things that bring so much joy here, and the relationships you make while doing them.