Random

This is kind of a bizarre post - from one extreme to the other... kind of a random assortment of happenings in the past twenty four hours.

Last night I went to the National Stadium in Providence to see Morgan Heritage (Jamaican reggae group), Natural Black (Guyanese reggae man) and a collection of local artists (that I never actually got to see because we arrived late!) The show started at 8pm which means it doesn't really start until at least 9-10pm so we left Georgetown around 9:30ish. A new friend drove us down to the stadium, a twenty minute ride that took atleast 45 minutes because of traffic. No offense, but Guyanese don't know how to drive in traffic. They don't have traffic so no time to practice except for at events like this one. The show must have actually started on time because by the time we got there, Natural Black was on stage. There was an assortment of people in the stadium stands, but the real party was on the field of the stadium. We tried to work our way to the front and in a group of three, I was the middle person - when the last person fell behind, I waited for her to get caught up, but the leader did not. Another one of those times when I am very conscious of the colour of my skin as I find myself near the stage at a reggae concert. Trying to look for your driver (a black woman with dreadlocks) at a reggae concert also becomes a challenge.

We wandered out of the crowded part of the field to find drinks. My friend was a bit tired so we thought we'd sit for a bit and then go back onto the field. While we were standing waiting to get our drinks, my friend reached for her purse as we both thought a little boy had been trying to get into it. We got our drinks and then realized that he hadn't been trying to get in - he had gotten into her purse and taken her wallet with money, national ID and an assortment of other cards. The evening didn't get any better when she went to report the theft to the police (thinking the boy would take the money and ditch the wallet - of more value to her because of the cards) who told her that they hadn't brought their log book with them so she would have to walk to the nearest police station. What!? Great idea to send a young woman walking out on the street alone... Needless to say it put a bit of a damper on our evening. I enjoyed the performance, but was obviously upset by what had happened - what was most upsetting was that it was a child. And you know he didn't get there alone and you have to wonder what kind of situation he is in and where he will go from pick-pocketing...

At the end of our show, we found our driver. (I had jokingly said that if anyone gets lost, we'll meet at the "tree" - which was barely a stick in the ground in front of the stadium, but a nice attempt at improving the scenery - and it worked! She met us there, exhausted and with a sore throat from being front row). The parking lot was chaos. It took us an hour and a half to just get out of the parking lot - again with the not knowing how to drive in traffic jams and not understanding traffic flow, but definitely knowing how to pause traffic. We actually had to go the opposite direction to turn around and head back to the city. I must be getting old because I got home at 4:30am and proceeded to sleep half the day away.

I now find myself at Oasis, enjoying the air conditioning goodness and reading the paper to see that the funeral of 'Fineman' took place today. Half way through Carifesta, the police in Guyana were successful for their hunt for 'Fineman' and his gang - those believed to be responsible for the shootings earlier this year in Lusignan and Bartica as well as various other shootings and the assasination of a Minister a few years ago - shooting him and his "second-in-command", called Skinny (I think). I chose not to read the paper during this time especially (not that I usually follow the news) and heard of pictures of the dead men in the newspaper. I did catch a news clip showing two bodies with feet hanging out on the back of a flat bed truck under the benches with police officers sitting on the benches, weapons ready. I feel the country probably breathed a sigh of relief that those responsible were caught, though it is a different tactic than I am used to at home by police.

Regardless of anyone's actions, a mother has still lost her son and is burying him today. Her quote to the media was something along the lines that "now that my son is dead, all the crime in Guyana will stop" (paraphrased). The media seemed to say it as a statement, but I suspect sarcasm. There is still crime in this country - drugs, violence and corruption... She knows this and hopefully the police and defence force continue to work hard to improve the situation. Hopefully someone will start to take better care of the children who are started out on the wrong track...