Thanks for the replies, all. No, I do NOT, by a long shot, consider Guyana a "shit hole." Man, see sooooooooooo much potentential in that country. If cards can be played right and leaders take a deep interest in equity for its citizens, that country can be a power on the world stage. No, I don't mean militarily, but on par with a Denmark or Iceland, for its size. Even better, it's current small population, in relaton to land, would make it even easier to get EVERYONE to share a piece of the pie.
As for the Putagee joke, interestingly enough, like my [Guyanese] wife, we are both descedants of, though we come from two different ends of the "Caribbean." My paternal great, great, grandmother (de Jesus) was from Madeira and my maternal great, great, grandfather (da Costa) was also from Madeira. My wife's maternal great grandfather (Texeira-Doria).
Ok, be aware that I am a person who, upon landing in ANY new place and even my own home (St. Thomas), I immediately begin observing and taking in the place. I am not necessarily first interested in the clubs, bars, drinking, the beach. I start observing the vibe, the people, the everyday, the missing things, the things that could be better, done better. I look at the existence and state of the children. I read the local news and, as I do with Jamaica's (a place I've visited many times and at length, at times), St. Kitts-Nevis' (my roots), St. Thomas' (my birthplace) and now Guyana's. I am interested. I am, at least for now, emotionallly and mentally invested in these places. I try to be as educated as I can possibly be when it comes to places I visit which is one of the reasons people (from these countries) often joke that I know about the country than many o fthe people living in the country. LOL....
Interestingly enough, my wife and I have a son and his middle name, a name of an Amerindian village on the upper Essequibo and it is the name I use here for my alias/handle. I scoured the Guyanese map for a name for him and Makari it was.
Anyway, I truly love Guyana and its people. I love my Caribbean people, no matter where you are from. I know of our problems, our tensions and our issues, but I REFUSE to let them define ANY of us. This is mo repressing to me now that I know "vultures" loom to gentrify the hell out of our countries so we can sit and fight, argue and mill one another and take our lands for granted or get together as a unified wall and defend against the Wight Walkers.
