Licensed to Kill

I've mentioned that I've pretty much given up on the Lionfish hunting, but we recently became licensed TCI Lionfish Hunters. The DECR created official regulations for catching Lionfish and so the School put our names down on the application for permits.

It looks like somebody forgot what year it is because the expiration date preceeds the issue date.

The Sacred Queue

Being a British Overseas Territory, I would have thought that the Turks and Caicos Islands would have mastered the art of line standing. The British, as well as us Americans, will instinctively form lines whenever the opportunity presents itself (sometimes for no reason at all). Apparently the Empire failed to export its appreciation for the orderly "queue" to its Caribbean territories.

Standing in Line

Here in the Turks and Caicos, when important business needs to be conducted by many at a single point of service (say when banking or visiting the clinic), people form more of a mass or cluster than anything from which a system of priority can intuitively be drawn. Instead, who has priority seems to be based upon one's own self-assuredness, sense of entitlement, or the audacity to step forward before others. This presents an array of anxieties, frustrations, and downright confusion among those of us unaccustomed to such methods.

Standing in lines is ingrained so deeply in our social code of conduct that we find ways of simulating it when it becomes impractical to physically do it. When there is the potential for an inordinately long wait (e.g. at the DMV) or when layout does not lend itself the formation of a line (e.g. at the Deli), we use numbered ticketing systems that allow for virtual queueing. Absent of such technological aids, we will carefully take note of each individual that arrived before and after ourselves, creating mental queues according to length of time served standing in wait. "I'm sorry, yes, you were here before me. I believe it is your turn to go next." In the Turks and Caicos, however, there appears to be no such socially agreed upon self-ordering. Or, at least, I have not yet figured out how such things work here.

This morning I went to the bank (which, by the way, is only open for half a day each week). For weeks I've been trying to get a $5 money order so that I can renew my driver's license. The Washington State Department of Licensing will not accept cash or credit payments. In my opinion, checks are out-dated and I don't use them. All but once or twice a year, this isn't a problem. But we're still in a technological transition period where some are slow to let go of antiquated systems. Until paper checks become completely extinct, I'll have to deal with these periodic (though increasingly infrequent) headaches over their necessity.

Western Union and the Post Office don't sell money orders and, after waiting for nearly an hour in line-less chaos, I was simply told at the bank that they won't sell them to people who are not "customers." Apparently, the desire to purchase a money order is not sufficient qualification for the title of customer. I'm not sure at what stage in the process of purchasing something one becomes a customer, but I seem to have missed a very important step this time around. With my failure to earn the credentials necessary for the purchase of a $5 money order, I simply went home. What's next? I'm not sure. But I miss my bicycle, and I'm happy to say no driver's license is needed for that.

Fishing Licenses

Lately we've been a little lazy about updating this blog. It's not so much that nothing is going on, but more it really takes an effort to keep it up to date. And also, it would probably bore the audience if we wrote about every snorkel, every dive, every Eagle Ray, every shark, and every turtle. I have to say though, I quite like a life where those things are the mundane!

Over a week ago now, we finally got around to getting our fishing licenses (even though open season began on 1 August). We're now cleared to catch lobster, conch, turtles (!), and fish. So far we haven't caught anything (but we've only tried once). But after seeing one of the staff cleaning fresh fish last night for a meal today, I'm newly motivated. Catching lobster should be pretty easy and, of course, catching a conch is simple.

I didn't particularly want this photo circulating the internet, but oh well.

Our one fishing outing so far, however, wasn't for the purpose of food. We're both signed up to help one of the faculty in his fish research project. He's joined up with the Smithsonian and is collecting genetic samples for a broader, Caribbean-wide project. We went out one morning with him to test out a couple of seine nets. What we learned is that they're actually very difficult to use, especially when there's a strong current (which there happened to be). The flowing water pulled the net with such force that it made it almost impossible to walk with it. We didn't catch anything, but seagrass and some sargassum weed!

We'll be hosting a few people from the Smithsonian in October and they'll be bringing some other supplies for us, including Hawaiian Slings and a spear gun. Any sort of spearing of fish is (technically) banned in TCI, but we've gotten special approval from the DECR (Dept. of Environment and Coastal Resources) to use them for this project. This way we'll be able to target the specific fish that are needed for the project instead of pulling up ones that aren't necessary.