Here’s another of my favorite things: My shark jaws. During that childhood trip to Baja (see below), we motored our panga to a barren island where shark-fishermen had set up camp. Here I acquired a set of shark jaws, which I still have today. I remember climbing out of the boat and having to step past the bodies of three sharks hooked on a line and resting in the soft sand where the tide could keep them fresh. They were still thrashing around a bit, which made me fear for my ankles. I also remember long strips of shark meat draped over a rack to dry near the fishermen’s campfire. Nearby there was a pile of shark jaws, which had been boiled to remove all the flesh. From this pile came my set of jaws, for which I paid about twenty pesos–or one American dollar. For thirty-five years I’ve held on to these jaws, and I realized while showing them to yet another class of students, that of my material possessions, it is probably my most treasured.