Ole Year’s Night

Today, I woke up and walked down Republic Road along the back dam of New Amsterdam all the way through Stanleytown. Daddy was about 20 paces  ahead of me looking back and slowing down every few minutes lol. I haven’t walked in months… Which is sad. I’m so out of shape. But it was nice to get out early in the morning around 6:15, when not too many people are on the road and it’s still on the cooler side.

Later, that day we drove to Upper Corentyne! Again driving along the coastline, but this time the opposite direction away from Georgetown. Apparently my great grandmother on my dad’s side lived in that direction and used to plant rice. We passed her old lot but the house is demolished now. We passed soooo many rice fields along the way. At one point even my dad used to plant and harvest rice back in the 80s but in West  Coast Berbice. So many houses with tractors, excavators and other machinery in the yard along that road. Some villages are mostly Indian and others mostly black. Historically villages in Guyana tend to be that way for various reasons. But Guyana is about 40% Indian, 30% black, 20% mixed race, 10% Amerindian and a nominal amount of other races including Chinese and white (British and Portuguese). See https://www.embassyofguyana.be/about-peoples.php

We passed a bustling market at Rosehall where we stopped to say hello to one off my cousins who had a stall selling shoes. My father’s father was also a police officer in Skeldon which is another village we passed through. 

Then we travelled all the way to the end of the road at Moleson Crossing where oeiple can take a ferry over to a Suriname at a port called Paramaribo. I would love to visit Suriname one day!

On the way back we stopped at a childhood friend near Port Morant and had a great conversation about primary school days, God, work life in America, life in Guyana, etc. 

On the way back we slowed down in front of  my dad’s primary school so I could take a picture. 

We arrived home to smells of curry chicken and curry duck. There was also a pressure pot of cook up made from fresh coconut milk! Delicious! 

Every year on Ole Year’s Night, the term for New Year’s Eve in Guyana, my aunt makes cookup rice. Which is a delicious blend of seasonings and various meats like pigtail, chicken foot, chicken, and/or beef with black eye or other peas. Much like in black American culture the peas signify blessings into the new year. I can say for a fact, that cookup was soooo good! I plan to make some using my Instant Pot when I get home! I’ll be taking green seasoning, cassareep, and tamarind home and might even make it this weekend… 👀 no promises though! 

Now I’m off to visit some old friends of my uncle. Should be fun. I think we’ll be back by midnight though. Didn’t even fill in my brows, haven’t been doing them as much here. 

Later at the friend’s house… 

Cookup round 2!