Entertainment in Guyana

Trekker has had to change his thinking about what constitutes "fun" because in the entirety of Guyana, there are no movie theaters, no bowling alleys, no water parks, no public swimming pools, no television, no iPads or iPods . . . no anything! An evening out with friends involves people gathering to visit along the side of the road after dark, when it cools down, or for noisy fun, playing board games around a broken down table in their apartments with fans blowing at high speed.

New Convert night at the Georgetown Branch draws a hundred people who sit around for hours playing “Monopoly,” “Chutes and Ladders” or “Jenga”, but Guyanese – no matter their age - LOVE, LOVE, LOVE dominoes and play with unbridled enthusiasm, slapping the tiles down so hard you almost think they will shatter in a million pieces.

For these impromptu get-togethers, food of any kind (except pineapple or coconut which most Guyanese have eaten all their lives and find disgusting) is always welcome – especially the chocolate cake with ooey-gooey thick chocolate frosting I made for Family Home Evening tonight at Jewel Baccus’ home down a dark alley in a scary part of downtown Georgetown (Our Traveling Tiger was a little nervous). She had prepared a lesson on “differences” which made us all laugh since the differences among her guests were pretty darned obvious! Jewel’s 4-year-old Sherwin fell in love with Trekker and with Grandma Linda and wanted both of us to stay. As we started for the door, he begged his mother to let us sleep “on the sponge” upstairs.

At home, we rarely get more imaginative than dinner and a movie on Friday night or seek fun in some other “canned entertainment” but these wonderful people - who have very little in life - find their most simple pleasure is in spending time together. Isn't there a lesson in this?