Hi Everyone, The August holidays are over and it’s time to get back to ‘reality’.
Growing up in Guyana, my August holiday was marked by spending time in the country. It was like going to a whole new world, a place of freedom and exploration. Freedom meant no strict bedtime but late nights of sitting on a verandah breezing out and ‘gyaffing’. Freedom was having all day to play, trees to climb, exotic fruits to eat, afternoons to snack, with vendors to patronize, and hammocks in which to swing. Exploration meant backdams to discover and trying new things like eating snails, and black shrimp that turned red when cooked. Chores meant feeding ducks and chickens and chasing them mercilessly around the yard, well, if you could call that a chore.
There was no going to market; everything came right to the doorstep via vendors plying their trade with baskets on their head or a tray atop the handle of a bicycle. Apart from the vendors, everything else could be found at the back and side of my relatives’ yard – fruits,