E is for Electricity and Ecotourism

... Electricity

It was surprisingly easy to get used to no electricity during the day. Roger has a big generator that produces electricity for Mahdia from 6pm to 6am. Thanks Roger!

I had never given it any thought before deciding to move to Guyana, simply because I was used to having electricity any time any place; But the truth is that one needs electricity mostly at night, which is when I have it, generally.

I have some lamps and torches around the house, ready to be used when electricity fails. When that happens, I close the book, find my way to the closest lamp, turn it on, turn on the ipod and wait. It’s great to take a break!

Talking about ipods, I’ve wasted all the batteries I brought for the speakers. The ones on sale here are as powerful as the ones you throw away (what do you call a battery disposal place, like the “pilhão” in Portugal?).

All in all it’s easy to live with controlled electricity. It’s all about managing the electric points.

Before arriving, the biggest mystery to me was the fridge; I wondered if people could live without one in such heat. It turns out that most of them do, but I am part of the lucky bunch who has a fridge in the house. Well, fridge during the night, big cold box during the day. Keeping bottles of water in the freezer overnight does the trick for having cold water during the day and even some ice. Neat, ha?

... and Ecotourism

Tourism in Guyana is like Sundays: you can either have a beautiful, unique, magical experience, or you can end up disappointed, frustrated and finding all doors closed. To me, that is the biggest problem in doing tourism here, especially when you’re used to the idea of “satisfaction or your money back”. The only tourist experiences I have had hear were amazing, but I am aware that I was lucky.

Here are the contacts of the places I visited, and which I highly recommend. These people work hard and want you to have a good time.

1. Parishara Village - David Ng-A-Fook

+592 6974608

Dan and I were the guinea pigs in David’s experience. He participated in a workshop dedicated to tourism, got enthusiastic about the possibilities, got some neighbours together and prepared a wonderful couple of days, pretty taylor made. When you decide to come, please don’t ask him for too much, because I’m sure he will try his hardest to make it come true!

We stayed in a concrete house, but we had taken our hammocks and told him that generally eco tourists enjoy sleeping closer to nature. At the time (March 2010) a benab was being built, so you might get to sleep in one.

At dawn we went looking for the giant ant eater, but it decided to stay low, so we didn’t get to see it. I loved the savannah’s silence: no bird, no wind. Just the immense silence and a gigantic sky.

We learn how to make cassava bread, we ate delicious fresh water fish and we heard stories about the savannah’s people and animals. 

2. Maipama Eco-Lodge – Guy Frederick

guybalatacraft@gmail.com

+592 6969789

+592 6968461

This eco-lodge has been up and running for almost 10 years. It’s in the middle of the jungle and there is no electricity, but you can enjoy some vodka with freshly pressed orange juice on the rocks… ok, I’ll explain: at the lodge they are aware that the foreigners like to listen to the sounds of nature, and also enjoy the luxury of modern days, so they turn the generator on while the guests are away. Isn’t that sweet? 

When you visit Maipama Eco-lodge, you can either stay around, enjoying the lovely swimming-pool-like creek, or go for a 14km walk to the Jordan Falls. We did it the lazy way: went on one day, enjoyed the falls, relaxed, stayed overnight, went for a walk around the falls and came back to the lodge, but you can visit the Jordan Falls and get back to the lodge on the same day.

I highly recommend what we did: a couple of days in the huge-skied and perfectly silent savannah, at the Parishara Village, and some days in the mighty jungle, where the sky is tiny and nature’s soundtrack never stops.

D is for Dancehall

Hello again Raquel's blog. How's things? Here with a late D for you...

Now I can understand at least some of what people say in Guyanese Creolese, I can eavesdrop on conversations on public transport. Always a good pastime, and in guyana there is an extra advantage that it takes my mind off the terrible driving and various road hazards. 

[great photo - internet is too slow for it]

Today's eavesdropped conversation covered kids of today, parents of today, how back in the day they couldn't even afford a bus fair to school and would get thrashed if they weren't back 5 minutes before school ended, despite having to walk for miles barefoot, and the terrible music these days that is poisoning the minds of our children. It was basically a Guyanese version of the Four Yorkshiremen sketch. One of the Guyanese Yorkshiremen proposed an answer to all the problems with the youth of today - the government should outlaw all 'this music', and throw anyone caught with it into jail for six months without trial.

'This music' that is poisoning the mind of Caribbean children is Dancehall.

Dancehall is basically Reggae's younger brother, who moved to the city, got in with a bad crowd and fell into a life of crime, drugs and sex with anything in a tiny pair of batty riders.  Musically, Dancehall can be incredible - Gwen Stefani, Major Lazer and others have collaborated with dancehall artists to good effect, and the pure stuff can be even more striking.  As with Reggae and Soca music, producers compete to make rhythms that are then used as the basis for any number of tracks by different artists.  Lyrically however, the concerns are justifiable - explicitly sexual or violent lyrics are commonplace, and often heard here blasted out in minibuses half full of school children.

Another big concern in Guyana and elsewhere is that a spat between two dancehall artists, and their respective neighborhoods in Kinston, Jamaica, is sowing the seeds for a developing gang culture across the Caribbean. This has reached Guyana, evidenced by graffiti springing up in schools and on the streets and increasing rumours of various kinds of criminality gang activities, often involving school children. News of the so called 'Gaza/Gully' feud has even reached the Guardian newspaper in the UK.

I'm not sure the answer to any of this is to throw dancehall fans in prison for months,  although many Caribbean islands are refusing some of the artists involved permission for concerts, and dancehall artists have been refused permission to perform in the UK and US in the past for violently homophobic lyrics.  There are also artists with much more positive messages, and I've even heard full on christian gospel dancehall, but the most popular songs are often the most controversial.  The economic and social conditions in Guyana seem ripe for a gang culture to continue to grow, so this is a real area of concern for the future.

On the plus side however, some of the music is ace.

Dan

C is for Chutney

Dear all, today we have a guest, Dan:


Wow, I'm a guest blogger. I feel important!

(I am very easily pleased)

Anyway, on with the alphabet . . .

C is for: Chutney

Not the edible kind (although as an aside, achar, a spicy mango pickle/chutney type thing is one of my favourite food discoveries here, spicy/sweet/sour/tangy deliciousness, let down only by it's rather offputting dark grey colour).

Chutney is in fact devoured through the ears.  It is, simply speaking, East Indian Carribean music, a baffling collision of calypso, soca, bollywood songs and traditional indian styles.  The singing can sound whiny to western ears, and the music can sound cheaply produced and rough around the edges, but it certainly has an energy, style and flavour all of its own.

Together with the baffling mix of musical influences is a strong emphasis on storytelling in the lyrics. Almost all songs tell a story, and some even come in a series of tracks based on the same backing music, telling different aspects of the same story.  A popular series at the moment 'Catch me Lovah' tells the story of a man finding his girlfriend in the car with another woman, who as the series progresses is revealed to have been his best friend, wearing a wig.

Nearly all Chutney songs are about either infidelity, drinking rum (generally the men drinking rum, and complaining about the women telling them off for it) or whining.  Whining means dancing like you are having sex.  Again with Chutney this leads to a thundering collision of cultures, with twisty bollywood hand movements and side to side shaking hips combined with the low down and dirty grind of typical dancehall/soca dancing.

So altogether, a unique and spicy flavour, but it can be an aquired taste.

Video for 'catch me lovah' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFtUZ




[Me again: Just to say thank you for your emails and text messages; I really appreciate reading about what you are up to, even though I often get over nostalgic when I realize that "my world and people" are changing without me being there.
Haven't received any snail mail yet, so it takes over a month to arrive...
Loving hugs to all]

B is for Bai & Bumper

B is for Bai & Bumper

You read it “bye” and it means “boy”. People like describing you as they approach you in the road. So if you’re a guy, you’ll hear:

Wappenin whai bai? (How are you white boy?)

Talking about bais brings me to the next word. They like a good bumper!

The dictionary gives 2 explanations:

1 - a horizontal bar fixed across the front or back of a motor vehicle to reduce damage in a collision or as a trim.

2 - archaic – a generous glassful of an alcoholic drink, typically one drunk as a toast.

It also includes a phrase, that does seem more close to the point: “bumper-to-bumper: very close together, as cars in a traffic jam”

I suppose that from the above phrase you might imagine what a bumper is: buttocks.

All the Chutney, soca and dancehall musics (Dan will further explore these when the time comes) have to have this word in them. Or at least almost all of them.

So, nothing better than giving you some music: hold on to my bumper baby!

The other day Pam said that this word reminds her of me. She was my roommate at the Rima during the In Country Orientation and put up with my soca music. It was great fun sharing with you!

A is for armadillos & airstrips

Armadillos
The Bradt Guide to Guyana says that “Armadillos are easily identified by their protective bony shell”. You can find 2 types of these animals: the Giant armadillo, and the Great long-nosed armadillo.

I’m not expecting to see any, or at least not too soon, because they are nocturnal creatures and I can’t yet imagine myself going out for walks in the forest during night.

Airstrips

From what I know (and I shouldn’t be writing this without being sure), Guyana only has one airport: Cheddi Jagan International Airport. It’s in Tamehri, about an hour drive (41 km) south of Gerogetown.

If you’re visiting me, you’ll probably be bringing me things; In that case, the Bradt Guide advises the use of a taxi (20 USD) instead of the minibuses.

So, because it is not easy to get around by car – in many cases it’s impossible – there’s a lot of other ways of getting around. Namely: on foot, by boat, on an ATV and on an aircraft. These are small, allowing for up to 12 passengers and generally speaking, old. Getting into detail, you can find some that are old, quite old, or extremely old.

My first trip from Georgetown to Mahdia was on the best aircraft and it was pretty old. I was lucky enough to sit next to the pilot; As you can imagine I was like a kid, wearing a huge smile on my face and wanting to ask him trillions of questions during the flight. Of course I asked none at all: the man was piloting, for goodness sake, let him concentrate!

The view is amazing. Again, I need the modem to upload some pictures; I’ll do so as soon as Guyana gets more! But so that you get an idea, imagine never ending fields of broccoli and long wide rivers. Oh, when you imagine the rivers, think of brown water, clay coloured. My brain kept telling me it was the wrong colour, but is slowly getting used to it.

Every now and then you see a clearing and lots of colourful (I saw brown, yellow and blue) puddles. Probably gold mining camps and/or abandoned mining camps. Unfortunately this is still a problem, nothing too surprising, of course. There has been a lot of discussion going on between the miners and the government and they are trying to make mining more sustainable.
So, a little about "my" airstrip, the one in Mahdia. No duty free shopping, no building at all. Just a rough, bumpy and good enough strip. Right now some sort of building is being built: I saw the cement blocks!

[This post is dedicated to Sandie, you can imagine why :-)]

Story recommended: Goodnight Gorilla, by Peggy Rathman. For a set of activities simply follow the link.

Redesigning

Dear all,

After beginning to write lots of posts and not finishing any one of them; After having family and friends asking me for blog updates, I have now decided to do this blogging business in a different way. I love Carol Read's blog and hope that:

a) You check out her blog and pass it on to all the teachers and parents you know. It's packed with wonderful do-able, realistic and practical ideas about education and language learning

b) Carol Read doesn't mind me copying her a, b, c idea.

So, I'll be back with the "A is for..." soon!

Cheers from a very hot Georgetown

Hi there again! The weather is just perfect for snoozing. Another thing I've found quite enjoyable is doing the laundry and being careless enough to take a shower at the same time! Pretty refreshing. This  is the washing machine I've used at the Rima Guesthouse: