Thoughts of a minibus traveller

I minding my business, eating the ice-cream which cost two times the minimum wage in Guyana but which could be eaten slowly because each spoonful generating sensations - vanilla from madagascar and orange and chocolate and I not going into the politics of how much the girl who selling get paid to sell and to guard because of the tourist in front of me ask if he could get a two dollar worth and she said no.. she can only sell in the amounts given and I thought I could give him an ice cream but is not that he poor, just that he don't have cash ... So I enjoying the ice cream.. waiting in the plaza for the time to go in to hear the Mozart concert, conscious that I keep this classical music thing on the downlow because for some, it make me seem pretentious, for others it becomes a kind of buddy pretentious thing because if I like classical music then I must be civilised somehow and then for others, it make more of an outcast than I already am. And a man come up, older white man, g...

The old time churches they say had all the frescoes on the ceilings with the semi-nude figures. This church though, has a mural on the ceiling, painted by an artist in the 1970s , about people around the church. The mural has two men holding hands. The first time I came to church was in May 2010. The Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church has history. They speak about welcoming people regardless of their sexual orientation - and this kind of inclusivity is not about the kind in which people want gay people to come to church so they could stop sinning and turn straight. A woman who came up afterwards to say she never saw me there before said yes, it was a nice church. She said the lesbian minister had asked her to be an official and that another minister had told her when she admitted to also having Buddhist alliances, that why do Christians believe they have the monopoly on Truth.  The mural on the ceiling, interspersed with the stained glass windows, is supposed to repres...

(This is a write up from Sherlina Nageer about the groundings event held on Friday 18th July, 2014 in Georgetown , Guyana ) The theme was still revolutionary love. But it was death that was on my mind. Just a few days earlier I’d found out about the unexpected death of an old friend and former co-worker of mine- someone my age, our birthdays just days apart. His was a good passing though- albeit tragically untimely- painless and quick, under the open sky, surrounded by loved ones.  Too many others aren’t so lucky. Ron Somerset 18, Shemroy Boyeau 24, and Allan Lewis 46 had been in their community, surrounded by their neighbors, peacefully expressing themselves and resisting abuse by the government when they were shot and killed by the Guyana police farce. I’m sure there was a memorial service or something in Linden, but a skim of the daily newspapers on the morning of July 18th 2014 showed nary a mention of the events from two years ago- not one article nor letter. Ap...

Lina texted me to say that she forgot her box of quotations at home. I was able to print some quotations to start the discussions about love and the Linden martyrs. I had a problem with finding boxes though. My lesbian sensibilities took over and I thought, right.. I will make a box.  I remember Natalie in a meeting folding boxes from flyers she had picked up around the place. She uses the boxes in her workshops. And I went online and found some Newspaper origami pots  and tried a few until I got a box/pot just right. It was Friday 18th, the fourth groundings .. and we were back on Main Street. So I went out - proud of my newspaper box with quotations inside for people to pull. Box folded from newspaper with quotations inside Lina had some people she was gaffing with. I  started asking people to come up and pull quotations and read and people passed looking away and two tourists looked at me with the polite.. we don't have time now. Some persons remembe...

Two people who do not know each other included the word 'writer' in their description of me for work related things. I jumped and said Gawd no no.. that is the last thing I want to be described. I not sure why though so rambling through some thoughts. 1. Who, me? Who is a good writer/bad writer?  I like to be perfect and good in everything I do and well, writing is one of those things which either good or bad - I guess it depends on who is reading.  There is a vulnerability in writing and exposing yourself. 2.  The power thing.. There is great power in writing and I like when I hear people say they read books and articles which 'changed their lives'. Way back in 1997, the first article I had ever written on Domestic Violence was published in Andaiye's column in the Stabroek News. I should have kept Andaiye's editorial red inked comments on the drafts.   The Monday after the article was published, I received a call from Help & Shelter that...

(Sherlina Nageer writes about the groundings event on Friday 11 July, 2014 in Georgetown Guyana ) I’m no expert on love. As a matter of fact, I struggle regularly to love, to not let anger and despair overwhelm me, to still see the good in people. One thing that I have come to know over the years however, is that it’s a thing you can practice and hopefully, get better at over time. It’s not easy though and many days, I don’t do so well and end up staying in my apartment with Pumpkin instead of venturing out to face the world and its tribulations. I seem to do better with non-humans- am able to love Pumpkin unconditionally for example, even though she had a serious shitting problem, leaving deposits all over the floor (thankfully that issue has since been resolved!). But one cannot avoid people/the world forever and as the last therapist/friend I went to recently when I was feeling particularly lovelorn told me- I needed to connect with people more. So there I was last Fr...

Lina said that she don't want too much madness so I had on my nice blue shirt, khaki pants, black shoes and socks and my hair was combed and my laptop in the bag over my shoulder so that nobody could tief it.  I had just come from a meeting where the gaff was about how Guyana so polarised and generally hopeless so it was nice to come out on Main Street for Groundings 3 on the avenue. But Madness cannot be disguised for long and some people look at me funnily when I say - Would you like to come and talk to us about love?"  followed by 'We are not religious' followed by 'We have free books' .. and you get some nice.. not now, I in a rush and the usual 'like these people aint have wuk to do' kind of looks. But some people stopped - two women took out a quote from the box about love and self love.. and read it and asked to keep the quote. Another woman laughed when she read the quote about the Erotic and she kept it too and we told them about bell h...

Ansa McAl has engaged in sexist and racist advertising campaigns in Guyana and the Caribbean. The most recent bill board near me proclaims 'the man's beer, it is a man's world'. I wrote a 'complaint' to the Women and Gender Equality Commission. They have agreed to engage Ansa McAl Dear Commissioners Re : Ansa McAl's misogynistic advertising campaign for 'STAG' beer The private sector in Guyana has no controls on advertising. As Guyana strives for gender equality and for overcoming the violence and other forms of injustice manifested as part of that equality,   Ansa McAl is pursuing a campaign for its Beer product which asserts “It's a man's world, Rule it  responsibly”. One bill board is at the corner of David Street & Sheriff Streets . Ansa McAl is known for the way in which portrays dominant masculinity and submissive femininity in the advertising of its alcohol products and in the way the marketing campaigns are held. I ...

There is no routine any more, no certainty and things seem constantly changing and it is wearying having to rapidly adjust The here and now they say is important. There is restlessness which is not calmed by the yoga, the back and the spine keep hurting when you are still, you get up in the mandir because for the first time in your life.. it is painful sitting down. A woman says the mind and the body are connected and wellness is there... So even it not in the plan.. eddo leaf in the fridge. Something about grating the coconut in the humid afternoon, the chopping of onions, and thinking creation as geera in the oil with the garlic and onions which are too much. The bhaji probably steam too much as it loses the green.. and coconut milk, ginger carrots, tomatoes and wiri and everything thrown in with a sense of I dont give a damn what happens.. but I do give a damn and so the anxiety about how this will come out is there .. even as I think of the things which I am anxious about.. ...

The alcohol industry has great power in the way it uses sport to market a product that is destructive to many persons FIFA GS Jerôme Valcke from http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/brazil2014/fifa-official-amazed-by-brazil-world-cup-drunkenness-1.2694273 One of the side stories about Brazil's hosting of the World Cup Football is that Brazil had to lift an 11 year ban on alcohol sales in its stadiums - causing violence. Budweiser is a sponsor of the football. There are no reports available of any of the violence, but last week in Brazil , Fifa’s Jérôme Valcke r eportedly told a media outlet that he was unhappy with the amount of alcohol in grounds. ‘’I was amazed by the number of people who were drunk and the level of alcohol. It’s a surprise.”   This apparently must be good for Budweiser and others because Brazil also has to waive the taxes on the alcohol sales for the Partners. And In Guyana , Limacol CPL management tell us that "The LimacolCPL is the B...

Two diplomatic receptions last week in Guyana, similar players, similar topics, one polite, one not so polite Riot Capitol News journalist Mark Murray reminded viewers in his report about the Canadian High Commission Pride celebrations that Pride was an event which commemorated the Stonewall Riot in New York of  June 1969. Pride events now are hardly riots. Many cities in many countries have them if they get permission, and there is community and private sector support. The last minute or so of this clip reflects the shift from the riot of 1969 to the receptions of 2014. Politicians like Pride, and in Guyana, as well, politicians were reportedly at the reception. Reception Speaking politely from the Government was the woman I call President Gail Texeira, a woman who is one of the architects of Guyana's dysfunctional governance and who repeatedly defends Guyana's human rights aberrations in Geneva . President Texeira noted in what Demerara Waves journalist Kw...

How does a person who can't recognise a musical note describe any production of songs -  the "skin growing" at the powerful percussion and the chorus of voices of the 8 singers; the foot tapping and clapping at some of the qawali and other songs; the water coming to the eyes listening to a forgotten man's poem being brought to life almost a hundred  years after he wrote it; the slight annoyance at the late start (coolie time) or when sometimes the sound mixing was a bit off and you couldn't hear the voices of the singer; the joy at hearing the saxaphone and tabla and djembe improvisations .. or just feeling after Guyana's normal polarizing and divisive politics and civil life - the deep cohesive energy among people who came together to make music. A little over a year ago, Amar and Rena Ramessar produced the first Raagas and Rythmn . Their second production on 5 July, 2014 reflected a year of realizing dreams, learning and commitment to ...

Nice ting bout Guyana is dat if you get a sick or anyting like dat, is dat everybody gat a cure. And somehow I get caught up in de cure ting now fuh some of de sick. And is so I end up wid different different oil pun me bedroom ledge and now I using de bottle fuh mix me own. Crabwood oil good fuh mosquitoe and when you mix it wid lil eucalyptus oil, it doan smell too bad. De eucalptyus and de peppermint oil pun de pillow does help wid some nice sleep, except dat I does get some strange dreams . Castor Oil.. long known as a laxative.. my friend Karen swear by it fuh pain and fuh heal skin and suh- and she knows as she has artificial limbs which are sometimes not properly fitted. So I had some castor oil and I put some nutmeg in it (Karen again.. nutmeg is a good pain reliever) and every now and den I put the castor oil on de knee and de foot bottom and it does wuk good - I nevah try it pun meh heart fuh see if gun cure heartache ! And again you mix wid lil peppermint or eucalyp...