Thoughts of a minibus traveller

 Hugs "Give auntie a hug" the woman told her child.  He was wearing a Christmas crown and had a big smile as he hugged auntie, Lina. Lina had a sign with Free Hugs and was calling out Free Hugs to people walking on the pavement. Another woman told her ward to go and hug Lina. Some people walked , did not look or gave sideways glance like when you looking and not making eye contact. Some people walked past, changed their minds and walked back and hugged. Others collected books and hugged, others collected books and didn't hug. I was not giving free hugs. I had the 'free books' sign as a shield in front of me.  Another time a man had come up behind me and given me a big hug on Main Street. Then asked me for a hundred. I gave him the hundred , and he didn't hug me again. One man said .. " Free Books, this is good , books are knowledge".  He took an autobiography from a white male survivor of fraternity hazing and violence. We talked a bit, he hugged L...

Extracts from Left Morning on the River by Cosmata Lindie; right top - Toco Toucan: Psychosis Series by Roberto Teekah; Right bottom Golden Sun by Elodie Cage Smith Komorebi (木漏れ日) Rickeisha Perreira stands on dry bamboo leaves in front of blue butterflies and reads her poem Komorebi.  She explains that Komorebi is a Japanese word meaning 'sunlight leaking through the trees'.   The room is bright,  but the work around features different amounts of sunlight related to the jungle. We are at Immersion:Into the Jungle  ,   the jungle represented by 35 different artists.   The jungle imagined with jaguars, different birds, not too many people, rivers, waterfalls , plants , snakes, underwater, above ground , dark, light, flowers. And the experience of looking at Morning on the River and standing up and imagining what it would be like coming down the river watching the deer watching the people. The painting kind of draws you in,  but I woul...

    Katahar seed "I have breadnut seed, you want? the man asked me.  Sun cooling down, Kumaka Santa Rosa on Friday afternoon. Some stalls setting up for the Saturday market.  Last place I expected to hear breadnut seed and thinking that I never really hear anybody in Guyana call katahar.. breadnut. I had come over to check out the oranges. A whole set of oranges spread over the stall. And some other packs of small vials - 'thing for pain.. all kind of pain'. I had asked for one orange. He had peeled for me, one with a rough skin.  I was to make sure the outside of the rind did not come into contact with my mouth as I sucked out the juice. "Breadnut.. you mean katahar ?".. I asked him with orange juice at the side of my mouth and on my fingers .. 'is where you get katahar seed from.. how your katahar get to ripen, when everybody say it scarce." Katahar lil scarce and price gone up and so. People always asking where have, and peeling and frying and freezin...