Fishing?

I used to go fishing sometimes with my Dad when I was little. I don't remember going a lot of times, but I do remember going once or twice with him. I really enjoyed going with him and my older brother, but I don't think I actually liked fishing very much. At least, not from what I remember. I didn't like to touch the fish. And I very specifically remember one fishing trip where my younger brother, Stephen, caught a little sunfish, but when we went to get it off the hook to throw it back, it was bleeding. Not something that little girls like to see, no matter how much of a tomboy they might be.

In any case, I got to go fishing here yesterday. You might be surprised to hear that there's fishing here in Chad, but believe it or not, fish is actually one of the favorite foods. Of course, there aren't really any salmon, trout, or bass. But there are fish. Sometimes you can see kids going out with their little poles to try to catch what they can in big puddles during the rainy season. Amazingly enough, they do sometimes catch things in the puddles. How the fish get into the puddles, I have never been able to figure out. The other mode of fishing is to stake two poles in the river with a net attached.

What kind of fishing might I have done, you wonder? Well, a very special kind of fishing, domestic fishing. Yesterday I was at home with Hawaa and Bezalel, the two year old. Hawaa was washing clothes, so naturally, she needed water drawn up from the well. Bezalel is ever so helpful, or at least wanting to be as helpful as any two year old can be. Hawaa would draw up the water with our water bag, and then let Bezalel hold the end of the rope after she had dropped the bag back into the well. He thought this was great fun, and he would pull on the end of the rope like he's seen everyone else in the family do, but inevitably it was too heavy for him, and he couldn't hold it long.

As he was playing with the rope, I thought to myself, "I hope that he doesn't let go of the rope." No sooner had this thought crossed my mind than Bezalel did just that. Hawaa turned around at the sound of the plunk in the water. She quickly went to find our grappling hook, but the rope attached to it was way too short. So I went and found the long cord I had bought as a jump rope for the kids. We attached the two together, and I began to fish. It was actually kind of fun, though short-lived. Hawaa was funny though, because as soon as I had hooked the water bag (which was conveniently still floating near the surface of the water) and began pulling it up, she started saying, "Quick, it's going to fall again!!" So I pulled faster, hoping that nothing would rip or fall again. Thankfully, we were able to recover our water pouch without any problems, and I think it may be a little while before Bezalel will be allowed to help in that way again.