But to start from the beginning.

Due to my schedule, I have some weekly help at home and I very recently worked out an arrangement where she’d make some bread for me from time to time. The bread you buy here is sooo sweet and soft and I can only manage to bake bread on weekends. And lately, I’ve been on the road and in the air on weekends. Knowing that I do cook, and having seen my mother at work in the kitchen, my helper knows that we care about the food we make and eat, and that we don’t necessarily make things the way she would. So she made to sure to find out how much salt, sugar etc I wanted in the bread and the first time was pretty good.

However, today I get a call from home. She’s mixed the flour with a bit of shortening, the sesame seeds I left on the counter, whole wheat flour etc and then realised there was no yeast…I’d forgotten to stock up. (Another reason I can’t always manage to bake on my limited free time…) No problem though – I have baking powder. So I tell her, ok use some more shortening, add some milk, and mix it somewhat “soft”. The problem came when I started to explain how to bake it. Because I wanted to turn it into bake. Bake bake. But she didn’t quite get it. I tried explaining that it shouldn’t be rolled up like a bread loaf, but flatter. Not rounded, but flat, like a flat bread. And then while I was trying to describe bake over the phone, I realised I’d never seen a bake in Guyana. Fried bakes sure – they make those here, often a bit softer and sweeter than my taste, but it’s here. But not a bake like coconut bake (or for that matter saltfish bake, as my mother will probably comment).

In the end I asked her to knead it and put it in the fridge. While I was waiting for it to bake this evening, I continued reading through the impressive and gorgeous piece of work that is Cynthia Nelson‘s book, Tastes Like Home. And it confirmed my suspicions – there is no bake bake in Guyana. Ahhhh.Of course, I could probably have done a better job of explaining, but there are some things you never think you’d need to explain. Plus, I was in the middle of explaining legal stuff and writing opinions and apparently I couldn’t switch gears into food talk.

I think I shall demonstrate coconut bake and hops in some direct cultural ambassadoring. Plus, I’ll get to eat them

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* I could call it “roast bake” but I never grew up with that term, plus “bake bake” is so much more fun!

Since we’re on the subject of Guyana, maybe you remember when I posted about touristing in Georgetown, I mentioned that I’d been told there were manatees in the National Park, but I hadn’t actually gone to see them. Well, that hasn’t changed.

I have, however, now seen the herd of manatees in the Botanical Gardens in Georgetown. Yup, that’s right Georgetown has TWO herds of manatees. Imagine! In Trinidad, the West Indian Manatee  (Trichecus Manatus) is only now found in the Nariva Swamp, and the size of the herd is closely guarded.

The Botanical Gardens are right next to the Zoo, and are free to enter. In the photo above, the Zoo is beyond that cute bridge. The Gardens make for a great liming spot for locals and tourists – lots of grass to sit, relax or play games. Lovely palm tree lined avenues. Memorials for former leaders if you’re into mausoleums. And manatees!

I saw about 6 manatees in that pond. If you wave grass in the water, they make their way to the edge so you can feed them. They move underwater, silently, smoothly – you can only tell they’re approaching by a small trail of bubbles and the ripples in the water. And when they near the edge, their snouts begin to emerge. And when one comes, another is sure to follow right behind.

And then there’s this big cow on the left. She was the biggest. More than 6 feet long. And calmly basking in the sun, almost entirely out of the water, enjoying the attention of her visitors. How did I know she was a cow? Ah, well, when she moved her massive flat flipper-tail, voila – see the baby manatee? Awwwww.

Did you know that the name Manatee comes from a Haitian word “manati” and their closest living relatives are elephants and aardvarks?

Well…perhaps not out of the blue…but at a fast food restaurant, after you’ve placed your order.

When I first came to Guyana, I was staying at a hotel-type place until I found a place to live. I didn’t fancy cooking in the little kitchenette, so I did indulge in some fried chicken and whatnot. Popeye’s was my grease of choice – the one Popeye’s in Guyana is halal and I was briefly enticed by their seasoned fries and spicy chicken strips. But I digress. The first time I gave my order, I was waiting to be told the total, but instead I was asked:

“Yuh using?”

I think I stared. I know I didn’t respond right away. She couldn’t be asking me if I was on drugs right? But that was all I could think of. She repeated the question to my blank face. And so I started to think of what else the question could mean. Was she asking me if I wanted to use a fork with my meal? Maybe she wanted to know if I planned on using my credit card and this was an idiomatic Guyanese shorthand that I should learn. My possibly lengthy internal discussions were cut short when she asked again:

“Yuh using or is take away?”

Ahhhh. I still had no idea what the question meant, but at least I was given an option I recognised. I quickly chose “take away” and left, wondering if my hearing was so bad that I kept hearing “Dine In” or “Eat In” as “Using“.

I soon found out that Guyanese “use” food. Now, I know Trinis probably have equally weird expressions that are incomprehensible to foreigners, but I still haven’t quite come to terms with this expression. To me using implies some kind of continuity of action or to use for a purpose. How can eating food be using? What are you using it for?? I suppose you do use food for nutrition when you eat it…  Does it refer to the temporary nature of eating, which leads me to wonder why would people make such a subtle reference to the…uhm…digestive and excretion process…but I’m overthinking this. It’s not like that other Guyanese expression, “drinking tablets” which makes eminent logical sense, when most people take tablets with a drink.

I am just immensely curious as to how this term arose. I had stopped thinking about it, but while my family was visiting Guyana last week, my brother and sister-in-law heard the term and had the same reaction – “what did they say? what does that mean?” – and I was reminded how you can get used to a foreign language after 5 years:)

Georgia Popplewell of Caribbean Free Radio posted today (with the absolutely perfect title “photos don’t take themselves“) about two Trinidad and Tobago publications using one of her photos, without permission and of course without credit (Newsday even placed their watermark on the photo!). TriniGourmet, with her usual alacrity, updated her Dem Tiefin’ We?!? post (another stellar title! you’ll have to settle for my pedestrian one). This happens at an opportune time for me to write some more on this…since it was just a couple weeks ago that I finally sent the Express formal pre-action letters via my lawyer.

My first post about this was outrage when I discovered the Stabroek News in Guyana had used my photo of Guyana cocoa to illustrate a story. Further outrage when I realised that the story and photo was from an official press release from the Guyana Government News Agency (GINA). This led to further discoveries of photos on the official Guyana tourism page, where my Trini pelau was featured for Guyanese cookup. Argh. Fortunately, I have a lawyer in the family (apart from myself) in Guyana and we wrote to all 3 violators. Stabroek News was the only one who responded, apologising and offering to publish appropriate credit, noting that they were officially provided with the release and photo by GINA. The Government agencies promptly pulled the photos from the relevant sites, but never responded, either to the letter nor the phone calls.

Then, back in October 2008, the Trinidad Express used a photo of Lilandra’s roti and curry for the front of the Lifestyle Magazine (no permission, no credit), for EID no less…and then less than 2 weeks later there was one of my pelau photos (again, no permission, no credit). We emailed promptly and got what are essentially holding responses from the Editor, admitting nothing and stating that the matter was referred to their lawyers. And then silence. We were going to make Hajj a month later and so I compiled the information, correspondence and proof and sent it to my lawyer for action. Due to some technical problems, the letters were not sent and I will admit that when I returned from the Hajj, pursuing action was not foremost on my mind. I did, however, start watermarking my photos. A watermark had not occurred to me back then in late 2005 when I first started posting photos to Flickr. First of all, I like an anonymous presence online and secondly, who on earth would want my photos?

The issue returned to prominence when the Trinidad Express (AGAIN!) used my photo of doubles in September 2009, without permission or credit. This time the response was truly classic, revealing the Express’ lack of understanding of copyright and the internet -

“I have investigated your claim and I’m forwarding the response from the reporter for your information. While we understand and respect your copyright claim, in this instance, the reporter did not source the photo from your website although I checked both websites and the photos are the same.

Meanwhile, I am forwarding your letter of complaint to our attorneys for their comment and guidance.”

With the usual referral to their lawyers…

What the response did NOT include was whether they had requested permission from this other site. I contacted the other blogger about my copyright, who promptly apologised and with my permission to use the photo credited me. Now, these particular doubles photos proliferate the internet, particularly Facebook and it’s flattering that people seem to think they’re good to use. However, a media house cannot simply poach images from the internet because they are there. Clearly they never bothered to ask that other blogger for use of the photo. And the fact that the Editor believes this is a reasonable response to my copyright claim is beyond shocking.

It goes without saying that when I explained the legal nature of copyright and permission, my email went unanswered. And so I revived the issue of taking legal action. Or threatening same to get a response.

The delay should not suggest that I don’t pursue the protection of my rights. I post my photos to Flickr, even where I haven’t written a post, because I want to share the views captured in my photos. I had been enthused with the idea of a digital camera partly from my own discovery of Flickr and the great resource it is just to see the world and experiences. Even better to learn about photography! I had considered the options and originally posted my photos with a Creative Commons license to permit use for non-commercial purposes, provided I was credited, and no derivative works were made without my permission. I changed that, to All Rights Reserved, not because I was averse to sharing, but because I wanted to know where and how people were using my photos and at the time, preferred that I be asked. There are others who may not need or want this request and that is fine. The point is, the photos belong to me and unless I release it into the wild for legal capture and free use, I am entitled to retain control over it. That’s the nature of property. It’s a personal choice and maybe it’s linked to some idiosyncrasies of mine about ownership and control, but right now, when photography and blogging are very much personal commercial-free endeavours for me, this is the path I have taken.

What annoys me about the theft of the photos by big media houses in Trinidad and Tobago and the region, apart from revelations of ignorance of the law governing their particular environment, is the disrespect for the online community and the role we play in recording and sharing our history and culture. Complete disrespect. The small Caribbean food blogging community for example has a dedication and generosity that has produced, in a relatively short period of time,* a wealth of information, stories, recipes and photos that rival the archives of local newspapers with its focus on local foods and traditional recipes. And do you know why we do this? Well, for me, it’s the same reason I started collecting recipes from Mom. I wanted to record the foods which are part of my life and history. Food and recipes which may not be easily found online for those Trinis abroad (like I once was). I first started taking photos of food when Lilandra and I were back home after studying abroad and our first Eid back, our older sister and brother were not in the country. We wanted them to share in the usual preparations even though they were not there (no Mom, not just to torture your eldest and youngest children, they appreciated it). This blog is like that, but on a public scale.

The attitude of the more traditional media seems to be that we are nobodies even though they want our product. Prime example – during my first year of blogging and posting photos, an advertising agency in Trinidad contacted me wanting to use my photos for free, since “it is very difficult to get good images of indo-trini food unless we hire a photographer.” I was upset on behalf of the pro-photographers in T&T who actually know what they are doing, but at least they asked. So I am not that mad at them…. But…that’s the POINT. There are certain foods you cannot easily find photos of – I couldn’t illustrate my Bread Van post last month because there are no photos of biscuit cake, jam tart, currants roll etc freely available – not even any I could link to. I had to go out and buy  these items (ok, Dad bought them), take my camera (which cost a bit) and my lens (also expensive for me) and actually take the photos myself. I am fine if people want to use these on their own blogs and other non-commercial sites, but just ask.** And if you are making money from the use of these photos – why should you get them free? They were not free for me – I have invested time, money, effort, lost brain cells to try to take better photos, learn about processing them and then share them here – I also pay annual fees for this site and Flickr. I have thought about what it would take to fill this gap of food photos on a professional level, commercially, but I am not a pro, have no real equipment or training and I already have a demanding job. This is not to say that I have not granted permission for possible commercial use of some photos, with/out payment but with credit. This is my choice and not to belabour the point, but my right.

I salute those publications who make the effort to showcase food and culture (hail out to the current Caribbean Beat food issue!), and create or pay for original content, including photos. From my brief interactions with the Trinidad Express, it seems clear that the food related content is hurriedly put-together with limited planning and thought, and as galling as it is to my ego, with no realisation that there is a world of people online who do a better job. At least we look out for each other!

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* TriniGourmet and I first started in 2006 – I am not sure who preceded us.

** One reason it’s good to require permission – people using my photo of say, Trini pelau to illustrate a Guyanese cook-up recipe. Or I am looking right now at a bara recipe on Facebook with my Doubles Bara photo (which was made from a specific recipe that is very different). These things annoy me.

Georgetown was planned as a garden city, with wide tree-lined avenues, framing perfectly the canals that are part of living below sea level. The city itself is laid out in a mostly easy-to-navigate grid with main streets, like say, Main Street a perfect place to view those wide roads, old shade trees and the wooden architecture that is characteristic of Georgetown. Of course, the city is not in its prime now, and people who knew it from say, the 70s, will rave about the beauty that isn’t always readily apparent to a current visitor. But it has good bones. I keep meaning to go around taking photos of the garden city, but I am waiting for that free weekend thing…in the meantime, Nicole of A Caribbean Garden, visited Guyana recently and posted some great photos of the Promenade Gardens.

The photo at the top is of the National Library in Georgetown, on one of the busiest (and complicated) intersections in Georgetown, corner of Main and Church Streets. It’s a nice example of one of the styles of architecture in town, and nicely festooned for Republic Day (in February 2010). Just a little up Church Street is the reason for the street name – the St George’s Cathedral, which is one of the tallest wooden buildings in the world. It is a truly impressive building and I took shots from many different angles as I walked around it. This was one of the rare occasions when I was actually being a tourist in Guyana, courtesy a visiting friend (TB) and having the day off for Old Year’s. I was such a tourist, after this shot, a car stopped for me to cross the road (almost unimaginable on Church Street) and the driver happily called out “Enjoy your holiday!” If only she knew

St. George’s Cathedral is an Anglican church, that is a beautiful building inside and out. There are ornate wood features, ornate metal features – and in black and white it exudes a somewhat gothic look that I quite like. So, I have no pictures of the Clock above the Stabroek Market, but I do have several of the cathedral!

Speaking of markets, Guyana is also known for these – there are several big markets around town – Stabroek being the most famous, but there’s also Bourda market and others. Markets in Guyana are not just for fresh produce – you can get everything there. And I mean everything. Dry goods. Stationery. Clothes. Souvenirs. Shoes. Anything. On the left is a fruit stall in one of the offshoots of the Bourda market and on the right, a popular (ahem…some say elitist) stand on Church Street…if you don’t want to head into the depths of the market. Nicole also posted on the market fruit.

On the north(ish)** side of Georgetown is the Atlantic Ocean and all along the Atlantic Coast in this below sea level country, is the Sea Wall (pronounced WAAH-L).  The Sea Wall is a remnant of the Dutch-designed system for keeping the city safe from the ocean and extends for much of the coast as a wide solid wall upon which the denizens of Georgetown congregrate to walk, run, fly kites for Easter, buy/sell food, have the annual Diwali Motorcade, fete and lime for any occasion and basically spend the weekend nights. Parts of the wall may be less wall like depending on the particular section, and may resemble artfully piled boulders, but it’s all the sea-waahl. And it is to Georgetown what the Savannah is to Port of Spain. These photos of the sea wall were not perhaps taken at its most pristine, as the high tides had been buffeting the wall, sending the silty saltwater over the top and cascading down the sides to the highway.

Along the East Coast (although not quite next to the sea wall) in what is known as Greater Georgetown, is a more recent iconic building of the city – the CARICOM Headquarters. Guyana has been home to the Caribbean Community Secretariat since 1973 and while for much of the last couple decades the Secretariat has been scattered through different buildings in the city, in 2005, the Government opened this new building which looks particularly impressive with all the flags flying. This particular photo was taken in July 2009 while the Heads of Government of CARICOM were meeting.

If you leave Georgetown from the other side of the city, you will soon get to the Demerara Harbour Bridge, which is a 6,074-foot (1,851 m) long floating toll bridge. When you cross this bridge, you get to the West Bank Demerara, and from there you can head to the “West Coast”. The bridge opens for river traffic every day, during which the road traffic lines up on either side waiting. The Demerara isn’t even Guyana’s biggest river, but for those of us from Caribbean islands, it’s impressive enough. Guyanese love to tell us Trinis, “Caroni River? You mean Caroni Trench!” or…”Trinidad could fit inside the Essequibo River!” On a recent drive in Georgetown, where my 2-year old nephew was happily pointing out any and all bodies of water, the 4-year old niece asked of one, “Daddy, is that a trench?” Her Guyanese father replied “Yes…but be careful, in Trinidad they would call that a river.” To which I responded “When you grow up on an island surrounded by oceans and seas, the size of the rivers are inconsequential.” But back to the Guyanese rivers – for a small island girl, the rivers are an incredible natural feature and worth a drive over the bridge. If you can, drive to the stellen to cross the Berbice, or take a ferry from Parika on the Essequibo River.

Georgetown is also home to the National Zoo with (freakishly) unique creatures such as the Harpy Eagle, monkeys, jaguars and very large caimans. The Botanical Gardens are worth a visit. And I hear the National Park has manatees, but I have yet to see them. There are other photos of Georgetown I do not have. The tree-lined streets. The canals and trenches which are filled with the lotus flowers, adding an unexpected touch of beauty to what might otherwise be large murky drains. More of the buildings. And even the herd of apparently wild horses that seem to live outside my apartment complex and roam the sea wall.

See more of Georgetown in my Flickr set, and of other places in Guyana.

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* Well, except for that 5 month posting in Barbados. And the 6 week trip for Hajj. And the 7 week absence during my bout of typhoid fever. And the traveling…You get the idea…

** Guyana’s peculiar geography and it’s notion of “East Coast” and “West Coast” as divided by the Demerara River, are almost as bizarre to my linear-thinking mind as the Trini Geography concept of “East Trinidad”!

Given it’s location, the easiest way to get there is by plane, where an hour’s flight on a small plane will land you on an airstrip just a few minutes walk away from the very top of the Falls. Otherwise it’s several days hike through deep forest, and I hear it takes days just to get from the base of the falls to the top. That’s more for a trip when you have some time to kill…and are of an intrepid spirit. Not to mention well equipped and trained. Given that the average trip to Kaieteur (if you can get a tour just to the Falls and not to any other resort stops) can cost US$150-175 (up to US$250 or $275 for the longer trip) it is not perhaps surprising that many Guyanese have not yet visited the Falls (of course, we should all wonder what homeland wonders we have yet to get around to visit in our own countries!). Chartering a plane may work out cheaper for a group and then you’re not locked in to any tourist extras. In either case, prepare for a 8-10 seater plane…some shy away from such forms of travel, but just keep in mind that the views you get are unsurpassed, especially when they circle around the top of the falls. Get ready to hold on to the seat next to the pilot for the best view!

The official website:

Kaieteur National Park occupies a prominent position in the center of the Guyana Shield. The Guiana Highlands or Guiana Shield being roughly 2 billion years old is the earth’s oldest surface. Located in north-eastern South America, it includes a large mountain plateau and rainforest system that is part of a vast watershed between the Amazon and the Orinoco rivers. Specifically, it covers 75,000 square kilometers (30, 000 square miles) and is bounded roughly by the Amazon River to the South and the Japur- Caqueta River to the southwest, the Sierra de Chiribiquete Mountains to the West, the Orinoco and Guaviare Rivers to the northwest and the north, and the Atlantic to the East.One feature of the Shield is its distinctive plateaus or table-top mountains, called tepuis by the Indians.

When you land on the little airstrip, you take a short walk over what used to be the seabed a long long time ago, try to spot the birds and golden frog they say can be seen and then you arrive at the top of the falls. Before you even catch sight of it you can hear it, and see the mist rising above the trees. And then, there you are next to the river just where it starts its 741-foot drop. The better photos are from the viewpoints a little further away, but you can’t stop snapping away in awe at being this close to this natural wonder. And then you turn to see where the water goes and there are the mountains. I love the image of those repeating plateaus as you stand next to the falls and look toward where the river snakes through those mountains. When you browse the photos you may see as many different shots of the tepui as of the actual falls! The volume of the falls also means lots of water in the air, sometimes in the form of annoying mist blocking clear shots and very often rainbows everywhere. The first time I went, I felt I was in some sort of magical rainbow world. Lovely Oh, and in case you worry about the description of the water as reddish-brown, never fear, it’s not dirt – the water is actually clear, but coloured by minerals in the soil the river passes through up there.

Kaieteur is a great experience, because for such a large waterfall, you can walk right to the edge of the falls, sit on the ledges, and look down into the valley. There are no ropes or barriers at any of the viewpoints, and until recently they haven’t had any reason to rethink that. For the first time anyone can remember, there was an incident last November where a depressed young girl jumped to her death at the falls. And just before that, the tour guides saw this dog sitting by the side of the river, staying there for days. Those who knew he belonged to a miner, figured out the miner had somehow gone over the edge at that spot and the dog remained. They located the boat and the miner, but up to a month ago, the dog was still there, part of the Kaieteur landscape and history now.

I have been twice to the falls now – in January 2006 and then a few weeks ago in late December (2009). Both times the falls were fairly full, although I believe January 2006 was not as dry as it is now, and so the photo on the left (coolpix E7900) shows a somewhat larger volume. As it has been dry recently, the falls would have dwindled significantly, so I was fortunate in my timing both times. So visit Guyana when it has been raining – not enough to flood Georgetown, but enough for an impressive falls. The timing might not be as difficult as it sounds…

This last trip I had my D80, and after many months I put back on the 18-135 mm lens because I wanted some wide shots. I’ve been so enamoured of the Sigma 50mm I have been using that I wasn’t sure anymore how the old lens would perform, but fortunately a lovely bright day made for good photos for my first D80 trip to Kaieteur. I went a little overboard in capturing the froth and splash and water droplets, but I love those photos. Where else will I get endless streams and gushes of coloured water splashing onto rocks just so I can try to get sharply defined water shots?

Kaieteur Flickr Set for the whole experience!

Please remember that the people of Haiti are still in need of assistance. My previous post gives some information that may be helpful.

On a flight from Guyana to Trinidad last week, the passenger behind me seems to be in possession of exciting new technology.

Pilot: Good afternoon from the flight deck. We are just awaiting air traffic control clearance and should be taxiing off in about 5 minutes, so we are on schedule to arrive on time in Piarco. Flying time is estimated to be 55 minutes this afternoon.

Purser: usual spiel about closing doors, turn off all electronic devices, turn off cellphones etc

Passenger: on the phone Yeah, ah have to turn off the phone now, so call me back in about 20 minutes. Yeah, yeah, I going change the chip, but call me back in 15 minutes, I have to turn off the phone now for takeoff.

I would have thought that in 20 minutes we would have been high above the earth, over waters. He must get excellent reception with that other chip.

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Please remember that the people of Haiti are still in need of assistance. My previous post gives some information that may be helpful.

Now, I don’t celebrate Divali, but it is a tradition to receive the goodies Unfortunately, in my small compound in Guyana with mostly itinerant ex-pats I don’t think anyone will be ringing my doorbell to drop off treats tomorrow night. Mind you, I did ring a couple door bells for Eid, and one of the Trinis was oh so happy since she grew up in a village like me where even though she wasn’t Hindu or Muslim she was used to these little deliveries. So…no opportunity to sample the different styles of saheena and sweets tomorrow. Ah well. At least I know that my blog is serving the needs of those last-minute “Indian delicacy” makers, especially the ones outside who look forward to the reminisces at these times.

So, what are people searching for? Ah, well, Kurma tops the list. Barfi is very close behind, and as I left work this evening they were actually dead even, but Kurma is back on top. After all there are 2 types to look for I guess, fat and thin. Gulab Jamoon was 3rd, but only half the number of hits as Kurma. So readers, you know what you going to get this Divali!

This might be a good time to point out that I am trying to organise my Recipe page. I have actually collected 24 recipes! Didn’t really want to separate the categories into different pages, but who knows. It’s a work in progress.

Our (sister-the-elder and I) prep for Eid started earlier in the week with discussions on menu and making lists. I’m doing Eid with her family here in Guyana and not in Trinidad. So, we basically have to cater for the mosque crew tomorrow from lunch onwards (which will NOT be curry since that’s the primary food group they’ve been enjoying all month long at the masjid). And then another big do in the week for other friends, which will be curry (alhamdulillah, because it means less I have to actually cook!). And then, super ambitious this year – I am going to have a few people over next weekend for a small Eid dinner. Haven’t done that since my student days in Edinburgh. I usually just am part of a larger family thing either at home in Trinidad, or here in Guyana with my sister. So lots of menu planning and cooking.

All 3 events will need some sweets. And after our years of experience with Mom, we try to set aside some nights in the week before Eid to make large batches of sweets. This was somewhat hampered by lack of essential ingredients (NO Nestle’s cream? Can you imagine?? I can only surmise the distributor in Trinidad just kept all there!). But 2 nights ago we made gulab jamoon – 206 of them, fried in batches of 13 and then sugared in a quick icing sugar glaze. We had planned to make one of those large cartering size sheet pans of barfi…but no cream and no desire to be creative and experimental with such a core sweet. So tonight we made halwa – 1.5 lbs of semolina halwa! All this while fending off 2 little ones and with the varying helpfulness help of a pre-teen and teen.

We also did some prep for the more savoury courses – boiled 5 lbs potato for the potato salad, ground 3 lbs of channa and lentils for falafel, cooked the 4 lbs of minced beef for lasagna, someone cut up and season the 20 lbs of chicken and made sure we had more than enough green seasonings and other ingredients. We also made a macaroni pie with lots of cheese and mustard…and minced beef (which won’t pass Lilandra’s standards because of that one little addition). It made a good dinner for the night of Eid, followed by ice cream (and goodness, the places little ones can drip and drop ice cream is amazing…and they don’t go for the no-stain coconut…no, it has to be chocolate…)

So for those who are interested, our menu (a la Lilandra’s usual style)

Eid Day

• Falafel
• Tahini dip (darn got to remember to dig out the tahini from my fridge!)
• Lasagna
• Yellow Rice
• Stew Chicken
• Potato Salad
• Green Salad
• Halwa
• Gulab Jamoon
• Sawine

(It may not sound particularly exotic, but we’re looking forward to it, so it’s festive enough!)

Wednesday
Curry – which should be roti, rice, curried meats, punpkin, bhagi…you get the idea)
Plus the sweets

Saturday Night

• Falafel
• Bulgur Pilaf
• Trout Filets baked (perhaps stuffed) in a sour cream/lime sauce
• Chicken Biriyani OR
• Chicken Kebab inspired dish (with Middle Eastern seasonings – time to break out the sumac I brought from Hajj)
• Potato, Eggplant and Feta dish
• Usual sweets (whatever’s left)
• Baklava (if I can find filo pastry)

It’s already close to midnight and I still have to sort out my clothes, so I won’t even try to put more photos in this post. You can browse my Flickr stream for Eid photos and enjoy!

Ok, perhaps this might sound like another “paranoid’ warning about the nefarious alien bovine plots for the Earth. But people in Guyana must clearly be in the know more than I knew!

For here is a sign that has tickled my interest and raised goosebumps. “No Cattle Allowed” at the entrance to a residential area just outside Georgetown. Now, you can read this anyway you wish, but I choose to believe that these people know that cows can READ, hence the sign (because cows generally roam the area unfettered by human accompaniment, so who do they expect to read the prohibition?) AND they are afraid. Very afraid. They need to warn the cattle away!

Don’t believe me about the underlying menace behind this sign? Then what is the bird of prey doing lurking about? Sure, it’s just a chicken hawk, hardly the largest or freakiest looking bird in Guyana, but it’s the perfect setup for the horrors to come, to have a bird of prey looming overhead…

Be warned.