10 Things You May Not Know About Guyana

In a BuzzFeed style post, here’s a list of ten things you might not have known (bonus points if you have) about the country I’m currently serving the Peace Corps in (Notice Jim Jones didn’t make the cut because his famous Kool-Aid recipe is all anybody knows about).

~             1              ~

It’s not Ghana. It’s not Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, or French Guiana. It’s Guyana. Let’s say it together na? Guyana. ‘Guy’ like, “hey David you’re such a cool guy serving in the Peace Corps.” And ‘ana’ like, “hey Ana, have you read David’s new blog post on how to say the country he’s serving in?” Guyana. Good, now that we’ve got that taken care of, let’s look at a map to see where the heck this place is? Guyana, believe it or not, is not even on the same continent as the places I just listed (ok you caught me, French Guiana is), Africa. It’s located in South America in the magical gap in our minds (“The Guianas”) with Venezuela to the west, Suriname to the east, Brazil to the south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. So next time you mail ANYTHING to me, make sure in big capital letters you put SOUTH AMERICA under the address; otherwise it WILL end up going to the other PCVs in Ghana or the other African PC posts.

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The country changed its name after independence. Guyana used to be called “British Guiana” before its independence on May 26^th 1966. Since independence the country has been Guyana, an Amerindian word for “land of many waters.” Because for many years Guyana was a colony of the Queen, English is the official language of the country, a point of pride for international marketing. But me know why dem bais say duh, dem bannaz speak real brux here, ya understand na?

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The world cup is finally over, with an exciting overtime goal by Germany. So in the spirit of international football, here’s a FIFA fact for you. Guyana has the worst football team in South America. Not surprising when you think of the football countries here, but still, Guyana is the worst (155th place in the world)). Although on the bright side of things they’re only in 11^th place among the Caribbean countries, and Guyana is much more a Caribbean country than it is South American so it’s all good.

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On the upside of sports, Guyana has produced some of the best cricketers in the world. Cricket, after football (thanks to the British Empire) might be the 2^nd most popular sport in the world, and Guyana has supplied some of the best players on the international stage. For you Yankees, cricket is pretty much a combination of running bases with a bat, but don’t tell anyone who knows cricket that, they might get super offended.

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Being a Caribbean country, Guyana shares many of the same aspects as the islands in the surrounding sea like reggae and soca music, a laid back sense of time, and a delicious culinary blend of all the ethnic groups that make the Caribbean their home. In its commitment to the Caribbean, Guyana was one of four founding members of the Caribbean Community or CARICOM. An organization similar to Europe’s EU, CARICOM is a group of various countries in the Caribbean that forms political, economic, and social groups and institutions. And guess where CARICOM is headquartered? You guessed it! Right here in the capital of Georgetown is the CARICOM Secretariat. Now who says we’re not a Caribbean country?

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So you’re tired of The Man taking away more and more holidays that you used to get off of work or school? Well move to Guyana. Here the government recognizes all the holidays of the three main religions in Guyana: Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam, on top of secular federal holidays. You’re not Hindu? No problem. Enjoy the day off on Phagwah and cover your friends in dye and colored powder, or just hang out and enjoy the day off. Never been to a mosque or masjid? Don tek stress, enjoy the day off while your friends celebrate any of the “Eid's.” And after all these holidays off, everyone can get together for a “celebration after hard work” for Guyana's Mashramani, celebrating the country becoming a republic.

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Ready for an American female president? Guyana beat Americans to the punch. The 6^th president of Guyana was an American woman, a nice Jewish girl from Chicago in fact. Janet Jagan went to school at Northwestern University where she met a handsome man named Cheddi from Guyana, fell in love, and the rest is history for this First Lady, Prime Minister, and President.

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Forget Niagara, Victoria, or Iguaçu, Guyana’s got the highest single drop waterfall in the world; or something like that. No one is exactly sure why Kaieteur Falls is so awesome, in this country of superlatives, but come see it for yourself! I’m hoping to get to go by the years end.

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We’re gonna rock down to… Guyana? Want to know what song will play when you call me? Electric Avenue by Eddy Grant, who’s a Guyanese. Pretty cool huh? All this time you’ve been listening to this song you never knew he came from Guyana (or knew of Guyana).

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As you know, I live in Guyana. But believe it or not, half of the PCVs in Guyana actually live in Venezuela. Do they have a long commute you might ask? No not at all. Venezuela claims that all the land west of the Essequibo River is part of Venezuela and not Guyana, in an area they call Guayana Esequiba. That is equal to half of the country! I’m sure it has absolutely nothing to do with the majority of the gold and diamond fields in Guyana are located west of the Essequibo, they’re just claiming it for pure historical reasons. So have I been to Venezuela? Well, it depends on who you ask.