French Polynesia - Sometimes It Pays To Be Social

Well, the rain stayed out at sea and several of us went out to dinner at a fabulous French restaurant.  I wasn’t in the mood to go – as per usual, my hermitlike tendencies were starting to come out and I wanted to just hole up in the bungalow, but I’m really glad I went.  It was fun, with good wine (apparently everyone I am here with is a wine snob) and excellent food.  Most of the meals I have had here have been excellent, with lots of delicious coconut curries and lots of fresh, mostly raw fish.  We had some smoked swordfish as an appetizer, which by itself was worth the trip.  The other reason I was me glad I joined was the puffer fish.  Yet another googley eyeballed animal that I love!  The restaurant was over the water and a few steps lead down into the water where overhead lights illuminated all the passing fish.  There were several sting rays, lots of flying fish, and several enormous puffer fish.  I love puffer fish not just for their googley eyeballs (though that would be enough), but also because I used to use the puffer fish toxin to block voltage-gated sodium channels in my preps when I was an electrophysiologist.  Though I’ve seen them dead and washed up on a beach, I’ve never seen them out and about in the ocean and these guys were huge.  A moray eel and a lemon shark also stopped by for a visit.  The wildlife viewing opportunities really added to the whole dinner experience.  Sometimes it pays to be social!  Go figure…