sugi

Wednesday, December 2

Yesterday, Felta and I went hunting for bait, or "sugi" (the "g" is a velar fricative, for you linguists).  We trekked a little way through the bush and past gardens until we reach a mangrove swamp close to the shore on the northern side of the island.  The tide was just beginning to come in, so little trickles of water ran in between the old coral.  Felta showed me where to look for the shell, and we split up to find bait for our fishing trip.  She was surprised at how few of the shells we found, but told me that there is a place on the southern side of the island where we can take a canoe next time to find plenty more.  From her description, our spot was just picked over because it was an easy walk from the village.

 

Felta should be here in just a few minutes to take me fishing in the canoe.  She told me that we'll bang the shells on a rock to expose the animal inside, but we'll leave some shell on to serve as weight.  So, we'll take a bag of shelled critters into the canoe with us and hopefully bring back a canoe full of fish (if I don't dump the boat!).