Exploring the City of Georgetown, Day 1

So, after we got ourselves situated in our apartment, showered up, and took a breather for about an hour, the Deputy Solicitor General ("Deputy") came to pick us up and take us to lunch. He gave us a little drive around tour of the city and showed us where we will be working, along with many other landmarks, then took us to an Indian restaurant to sample some of the local flavor. Much to his surprise, he must have forgotten that we were Americans who had just gotten off of an overnight two-part flight, for he watched in amazement as we decimated our chicken curry wraps. He insisted that if we were still hungry, we should go get seconds, but his terms were different and I really wish I could remember what he called, "getting seconds," for it was not something ever heard in America, and I would rather enjoy incorporating that into my regular dialogue just to mess with people.

This drive around once again gave me some more observing time of the craziness of driving in Guyana. I swear, these people have to possess some incredible skills. Stop signs are merely polite suggestions, police officers are simply encumbrances, and lanes, ehh, why bother with them. Oh, and horns, whoever makes horns must make a killing because these people must go through two or three a year in their cars.

As for more exploring, after Deputy dropped us back off at our apartment, we decided to go try to find a supermarket. We found one close by, but decided to keep walking around the city. This was rather entertaining and we managed to find the seawall, which has probably become my new favorite spot of the city. It is a wall built along the ocean to keep the city from flooding since Georgetown is six feet below sea level and it is wide enough for people to walk and run on. This wall at dusk is rather peaceful as the sun is dropping, the temperature is very desirable, and there is a nice breeze to go along with the crashing of the waves.

So, after visiting the seawall, we decided to venture our way back around and go back to the supermarket (granted supermarket here is about the size of a QT and a half, just with more foods and stuff crammed into it) and stock up on some essentials like water, cereal, interesting looking local fruit juices, and most importantly, local beer and rum.

So, after getting home and crying over the new blisters that I developed on my feet due to my ingenious idea of touring the city while wearing flip-flops, I decided to eventually try some of the local rum, and for paying the equivalent of only a little more than 4 USD, it is quite tasty.

-Michael