Saturday I got up, got dressed in my playera and khakis and headed to breakfast where I was immediately informed by my girls that they were wearing their nasty clothes because we were going fishing after breakfast! Okay, I thought, fishing's not that messy. I can totally handle it in these clothes. No big deal.
Turns out, my version of fishing and NPH's version of fishing differ slightly. First off, the boys' version of fishing involves completely draining one of the fish farm lakes and shoveling the fish into baskets. They were walking around in boots that seemed pretty pointless to me. Most boys were then taking off the boots to pour out the water which had filled them.
A view of the fish ponds and the newly drained one. (Tour guide mode.) The fish farm was a project started by a volunteer and enables the kids to eat fish about once a month. They are fed from the leftovers of the pigs who are in turn fed from the leftovers of the kids therefore creating a reasonably closed cycle.
Secondly, and more importantly, the girls' version of fishing only includes the cleaning part of the traditional fishing procedure. I was therefore a little surprised to find our fishing a little dirtier than I'd expected. All the girls from my section up (so secundaria and Grandes A) are required to help. Each section basically creates its own assembly line with a few girls doing each step: de-scaling, slicing, gutting, and washing. Fish parts were flying everywhere and ratty clothes were a good idea.
I especially loved the disgusted expressions on some of the girls' faces. Here's the best one I could capture.
A view of most of the area. Eventually, someone brought out a stereo and turned into a real party even if a little smelly.
Live action of the assembly line. Enjoy!
I even joined in and spent about two hours gutting fish myself. I don't have any photos of me as my hands were black from fish guts and everyone else was in a similar situation. Sorry! You'll just have to imagine. ;-)
Needless to say, after fish gutting I almost bolted for the shower and threw my clothes in the laundry. It was a small load, but I think the sacrifice was worth it to keep the scales from spreading. Eventually I found my girls in the school yard attacking the trees with rocks, sticks, and shoes in order to get some fruit which is pictured below. A little dangerous to be near, but hilarious as well.
We spent the afternoon hanging out near the multi-canchas and the pool. I didn't do much but sit and observe. I took my role as pillow pretty seriously.
Some of the chico section boys drying out after a swim in the pool. A lot of the kids just dive in fully clothed so swimsuits are really necessary here. Welcome to Mexico!
The rest of the night went by in kind of a blur. Dinner, Beauty and the Beast (:-D, I bought a pirated copy and it's gotten a lot of action), chicharrones, Rebelde, and finally bed for the girls, chill time for me. And that was Saturday!
