Countdown: 9

I'm leaving for Guyana August 8th.  Each weekday, I'll post some information about the country.

The 1763 Monument (Cuffy)

T

The 1763 Monument in Square of the Revolution in Georgetown 

In February 1763 in the colony of Berbice in present-day Guyana, an uprising began at the Madgalenenburg plantation on the upper Canje River.  As news of the burgeoning rebellion spread, Cuffy, a barrel-making slave from a nearby plantation, came to serve as the leader.  Under what I'm assuming was Dutch rule, Governor Van Hogheim (with a name like that? definitely Dutch) mobilized his troops - all 24 of them.  At the time, the colony had only 346 whites compared to 3,833 black slaves.  Slave state population dynamics are great, huh?  Unsurprisingly, the rebellion picked up steam, as well as guns and gunpowder, and Cuffy's men were bearing down on the capital, Fort Nassau.

On March 3rd, 500 men attacked the last remaining colonial stronghold in Berbice, forcing the colonists to retreat to their ships.  Cuffy declared himself governor of Berbice.  As many rebellious leaders discover, governing is quite a different animal than rebelling.  Many former slaves were now unwilling to obey any sort of rule, and disorganization ruled the day.  Meanwhile, with the help of English forces, the Dutch were reclaiming territory.  After many unsuccessful attempts to both turn back the colonial forces and bargain for the peaceful resolution with the Dutch, Cuffy lost his power.  He was supplanted Atta, a former deputy.  Cuffy then killed his close supporters and then himself.  By this time further Dutch reinforcements had arrived and the revolt was doomed.

The Berbice Slave Rebellion, led by Cuffy was the first organized slave revolt in Guyana, and the first in the Americas.  It lasted for 10 months and established the first Guyanese revolutionary heroes, of which Cuffy is most prominent.  The anniversary of the slave revolt, February 23rd has been celebrated as Republic Day in Guyana since 1970.  Cuffy himself is honored in the Square of the Revolution in Georgetown, with the 1763 Monument.

source (and more Guyanese history)

Countdown: 10

I'm leaving for Guyana August 8th.  Each weekday, I'll post some information about the country.

Umana Yana

Umana Yana in Georgetown

Umana Yana is an Amerindian phrase meaning "meeting place of the people."  The 55-foot high cone-shaped structure was constructed by a team of about sixty Wai-Wai Amerindians, one of the nine indigenous tribes of Guyana.  The Umana Yana was built from entirely native materials, no nails were used.  The structure was built in 1972 and served as a lounge and recreation center for the Non-Aligned Foreign Ministers Conference in 1972.  The pavillion covers an area of 460 square meters, making it the largest structure of its kind in Guyana, and is still used today as a conference and exhibition center.

source

Countdown: 11

I'm leaving for Guyana August 8th.  Each weekday, I'll post some information about the country.

Stabroek Market

S

Stabroek Market clocktower in Georgetown (source)

Carrying on with some more sights in Georgetown brings us to the Stabroek Market.  The market was officially recognized in 1842 by the Georgetown Town Council.  It is one of the busiest places in the city, and serves as a transportation hub (taxi, minibus and ferry) in addition to 80,000 square feet of the market itself.  The current structure, including the clocktower, was designed and built from 1880-1881 by the Edgemoor Iron Company of Delaware.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find many pictures of the market itself, but I hope to remedy that problem upon arrival in Georgetown.

source

Countdown: 12

I'm leaving for Guyana August 8th.  Each weekday, I'll post some information about the country.

St. George's Cathedral

 St. George's Cathedral in Georgetown (source)

 As mentioned yesterday, St. George's Cathedral is in Georgetown. From a small church originally built around 1810, the wooden cathedral was completed in 1894.  It is claimed that the cathedral is the world's tallest freestanding wooden building.  

The cathedral is Gothic in style, and the majority of the wood used in construction was sourced in the country (though North American pitchpine was imported for the ceilings).   The building still serves its original purpose as a functioning Anglican church.  

Like all wooden buildings, fire poses a great threat to the cathedral.  Georgetown has lost many historical wooden buildings to fires.

source

Countdown: 13

I'm leaving for Guyana August 8th.  Each weekday, I'll post some information about the country.

Georgetown

Georgetown City Hall (source)

Georgetown is the capital and largest city in Guyana, with an estimated population of 239,227.  Its located on the coast and is about 3 feet below sea level, necessitating sea walls and canals.  The city of Georgetown began as a small town in the 18th century under Dutch administration.  It was captured by the British in 1781 but became the capital in 1782 after French capture.  After a brief period of Dutch reclamation, the city was officially named Georgetown (after King George III) in 1812 by the British.

Georgetown is home to St. George's cathedral,and Stabroak market, the Demerara Harbour Bridge, and the Pegasus hotel. Georgetown receives over 450,000 tourist a year, that is almost 86% of Guyana's total tourism.

Source

Countdown: 16

I'm leaving for Guyana August 8th.  Each weekday, I'll post some information about the country.

The Coat of Arms

The design consists of an Amerindian head-dress symbolizing the indigenous people of the country, two diamonds at the sides of the head-dress representing mining industry, a helmet (monarchial insignia), two jaguars holding a pick axe, sugar cane and a stalk of rice (symbolizing Guyana's sugar and rice industries), a shield decorated with the National Flower (Victoria Regia Lily), three blue wavy lines representing the waters of Guyana and the National Bird (Canje Pheasant).

source

Countdown: 17

I'm leaving for Guyana August 8th.  Each weekday, I'll post some information about the country.

 The Flag

 

The Golden Arrowhead, Guyana's National Flag has five symbolic colors:

Green represents the agricultural and forested nature of Guyana.

White symbolizes the rivers and water potential of the country.

A Golden arrow represents Guyana's mineral wealth.

Black portrays the endurance that will sustain the forward thrust of the Guyanese people.

Red represents the zeal and dynamic nature of nation-building which lies before the young and independent Guyana.

source

Looking Forward: Food in Guyana

Looking Forward serves to highlight some of the issues and events I'd like to investigate while in Guyana, as much to provoke thought now as to remind me later.  Today: food.

 

Over the weekend, I watched Food Inc.  It was, predictably, disturbing.  For those unfamiliar with the movie, it's basically an investigation of where our food comes from.  That idyllic image we almost all have when we're in the grocery store, the idyllic small farm?  It mostly doesn't exist anymore.  It has been replaced by large companies who, as corporations have a right to do, worry about their bottom lines first and foremost.  I could go into horrifying detail, but I think the bottom line is that everyone has the right to know where their food comes from, and how its grown.  I think everyone should see it, though it might make you question your eating habits.  Also recommended for those interested are the fine books Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan and Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.

Anyway, when I was busily re-evaluating my life choices after viewing the film, I began to wonder about how people get their food in Guyana.  Guyana is a very poor country, which usually doesn't bode well for luxuries like organic, locally grown foods.  According the CIA World Factbook, Guyana's main exports are sugar, gold, bauxite, shrimp, timber, and rice.  One of the major commodities imported is food.  I have also heard that the cost of living in Guyana is (relatively) high because most goods have to be imported.  To an outsider it seems like Guyanese citizens would likely have little say over where and how their food is produced.

Geographically, Guyana could likely support a wide variety of farming.  There are both savannahs and jungles with abundant rainfall and rivers.  I will be interested to see if local farming occurs on any scale.  I doubt I will get the opportunity, but perhaps there will be an opportunity to visit a sugar plantation or shrimp farm, and to see how people living near these operations feel about their operations.  I should have the opportunity to ask local produce vendors and grocers about the source of their food.

Fund-O-Meter 7-5-2010: Holiday Weekend Edition

Click to enlarge

Funds Raised ($425) Status: No longer Norman Rockwell vagabond

Well, I'm nearly 1/4 of the way to raising enough money to cover the entire program cost.  That means I can bid adieu to hopping railcars, heating canned food over a burning trashcan and generating nostalgia for Depression-era Americana.  I'm still not quite within shouting distance of Scrooge McDuck moneyroom status, however.

Overall Mood: Up like Screaming Peony Followed By A Spider-Horsetail Combo

 Image via

In the spirit of our nations birthday and also the wholly American desire to set things on fire (though hopefully not your house), spirits are high here at the 5th Parallel.  Its been a little over a week since I sent out a massive mailing, e-mailed all my friends and fired up this blog, and things are progressing nicely.

Next Steps Towards World Domination: Umm, wait for more letters to arrive?  I really didn't have a grand plan beyond contacting all my family, friends and friends of my family and asking for money.  So hopefully that works out.  I'll be putting some more time into the blog to perhaps encourage people to donate.  No way to make money by giving away something for free, right?  Good ol' American capitalism.

This Feature Sucks How Can I End It?

Donate Here.