Sunrise, sunset

Tuesday 10/11/11

The sun came out to greet us early on. We spent all morning in the ocean and all afternoon in the pool. It seems as if we blinked and the sun went down. Laura and Jenny made incredible jerk chicken and cherry cheesecake for desert.

Today was Amonns fishing day (this is his living- the tourist thing is only a side gig) and he invited us to see the catch. He laid a blue tarp on his front lawn and dumped his traps of fish. He and his crew quickly started dividing the fish. As he explained to grandma and REM as I went to get the camera was that they put the good fish (he sells these to the market for $350 Jamaican dollars/lb) in one pile, the ones for his family in another (tonight they will be enjoying 5 lb angelfish) the trash fish in yet another and then leave several of the "very trash" (which just means very small, and less tasty) on the tarp. He weighs the ones to be sold and then he turns to the crowd. He gives the local families who are waiting patiently the rules for the fish on the tarp "no pushing or shoving and no man leaves here hungry". He then declares the can have the fish and he humble villagers bag the catch. Amonn wants to be remembered as a good, fair man- which indeed he is.

Shane, Amonn and Laura's son, and Matthew his cousin took us down to the beach to go lobster hunting. The moon was bright and the tide was to high. So instead he showed us crabs and sea urchins. We are blessed to meet this family and share in their world.

CEM taught me to how to play chess tonight. How is it that I am almost 40 and never learned the game??

PS apparently the parrot fish we had yesterday would be categorized in the trash category.