The student residence that has been my home for the last month is connected to a bar. This bar is frequented by those staying at the residence, outsiders, residence workers and their friends. One of these friends is named Ismael.
Ismael (a fitting enough name for the story to come) is an 18-year old gaditano (a native of Cadiz) with a Southern accent thicker than molasses and a penchant for fishing. He is a wonderful young kid, welcoming to all of us and excited by the opportunity to teach (learn, as he says...as in, "I´m going to learn you how to fish") me and others about the Cadiz culture, fishing customs, tide patterns, etc. He is also constantly trying to make me get together with a Bolivian girl that is twice as tall and three times as wide as I am. I´m not sure I understand this last project of his, but his local knowledge is always welcome, and I consider myself an apt pupil.
So, last night, Ismael invited me to go fishing and crabbing with him and his friend. I invited along Vanessa, a fellow teacher here, and off we went at 1 am for a gaditano fishing adventure. Now, for those ignorant non-fisherman out there (as I was until last night), let me detail a few things of interest and importance:
1. Oftentimes one fishes at night because of tide patterns. Last night the plan was to fish off of certain rocks along the beach. These rocks are only exposed when the tide is very, very low. This occurs around 2 am.
2. When fishing at night off of rocks, one needs to make sure of the following things. First, you must have working flashlights. This is very important, as the rocks are filled with treacherous pitfalls and deep crevasses. Secondly (and this one seemed really weird to me)--you apparently need to wet your feet before going into the water. This might just be some weird Spanish thing (in Spain they still think that you can get sick walking barefoot in the house, and sleeping in a room with plants is considered dangerous). I´m not sure. The explanation given to me was in this way your body gets used to the change in temperature. Third--regardless of the state of your sneakers, you must wear a pair of socks over your sneakers. I was suspicious of this at first, thinking that the locals might just want to laugh at my expense. Oddly, the socks really do help to avoid slippage on the algae-covered rocks.
3. Fishing is a sport here that involves patience (as it always does) as well as a willingness to accept defeat and change your location. We moved three or four times last night (not just a few feet or so, we are talking about at least a 10 minute walk) until we finally caught a fish.
4. Glow sticks stuck in the bobber (is that what the floating thing is called?) help fishermen to see where their hook is and when a fish has taken the bait.
Okay, so with this information out of the way, I continue with the story. We left the residence and arrived at the beach, moving constantly to find a good place to fish. When we had finally settled on a fishing location that seemed to offer good catch, Ismael and I left Vanessa and Santi (Ismael´s friend) to fish while we headed off in search of crabs. Now, I have crabbed before, but my experience had always involved a large, non-pointed hook, a hot dog, and a net (i know, it sounds weird, but this works) and had never actually had to touch a crab. Here, the method of catching crabs is particularly effective, albeit rather primitive. Basically, you find a crab, reach down, grab him tightly holding the big claws in towards his head, and throw him in a bucket. After Ismael had caught 4 or 5 crabs, I finally had my chance to prove my manliness by sticking my hand directly on top of an animal that is born to use claws to inflict great pain. The crab I had found was small, but a mean little bugger he was, and I grabbed rather ineffectively, basically letting him grab me (instead of me grabbing him) and then flicking him like a booger into the bucket beside. Regardless of my method, I had scored a crab, and Ismael was proud, repeating time and time again that for an outsider, I really had a way with crabs...I am not lying when I say that my heart swelled to hear this.
After a few more minutes of practice (grabbing crabs already in the bucket in order to learn how to do so), Ismael and I headed back to the fishing rocks, joining up with Santi and Vanessa. Soon after we arrived Vanessa decided to go home, and Ismael offered to accompany her across the slippery rocks.
As soon as they left, I casted with Ismael´s fishing rod, watching the bright glow stick glide through the air and fall into the rough waters. Within a minute or two, I felt the pull of a fish and watched the glow stick disappear under the water. I pulled back hard, reeling in the little sucker and pulling up on the pole. He was big--I could feel his strength. We fought hard, and the battle was epic. In a few short moments, however, I had beaten my slimy nemesis and found myself holding onto a damn big fish.
My elation was obvious, as I stood there yelling and screaming "HOLY S--T this is a big sucker," letting the world know that I, an OUTSIDER, had caught a damn fine fish. My teachers were proud, and let me know it. I had caught myself a BORRIQUETE, known in English as a "rubber-lip grunt" *see above photo
Soon after, I decided to leave, figuring that my exhaustion the following day (today) would outweigh my excitement if I didn´t call it quits soon. Nonetheless, I consider this mission a success, and I´m looking forward with glee to frying up my nemesis this evening and enjoying every last delicious bite of my first Cadiz catch.
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