Fresh fish

Jose Guadalupe spends his nights very near my boat waiting for small fish to tangle their gills in his net. Then first thing in the morning he heads to the fish market to sell his catch. Sometimes while he is waiting we talk "platicamos" and share the details of our lives. One night I went with him to "Levantar sus chinchurros" (raise his nets).

While he waits for the fish he sleeps in the bow of his "Panga". The other night he tied up to Liberty and during the night it began to rain pretty hard. I checked on Lupe and he had simply wrapped himself up in a tarp and gone back to sleep.

The smoke in the background is the power plant.

A few days ago he stopped by and borrowed my knife (his had fallen in the water) and cleaned a couple of fish which he then gave to me, insisting that I cook them now. It would have been rude to refuse so I cranked up the stove. He told me this type of "pescado" were called "muñecas", which means doll or wrist in Spanish. I'm not sure which the fish is named for... doll or wrist.

I find it interesting that the word for fish is pez, and that's what they are until they are caught and then they are pescado, which translates literally as "fished".

Jose Guadalupe "Lupe" a pescador.

Lupe scaled and cleaned the fish and I fried it in oil. It was delicious.