Anyone in little Guyana know what the club scene is like right now? I’ve been craving some Chutney and Soca, but I live in Brooklyn where the Caribbean clubs are much more Dancehall and Soca oriented. I go out in Queens maybe once a year, but I want to put an Indian friend onto some proper Chutney. I normally check out One Bar, Elevate, Maracas, and Mazi, but I think the latter two have shut down? What are the current popular spots for a good time? And is Friday or Saturday better.

Is it true indigenous ancestry is dispersed throughout many groups? Anyone here of Guyanese indigenous ancestry?

I’m not here to boast, but I do want to share a story that often goes untold—of Guyanese individuals like myself who have left our homeland and are actively making a difference in the world.

For the past several years, I’ve been involved in humanitarian and volunteer work in countries that were, at first, in worse conditions than Guyana. I’ve lived in places where poverty is severe, and yet I’ve seen remarkable resilience and growth over time. Through my work, I’ve been able to contribute to improving lives, which is something I am deeply passionate about.

Interestingly, when I tell people where I’m from, the assumption is often that I’m from Africa because of my skin color. Most people I meet have never heard of Guyana. To help them understand, I often have to mention Jonestown, explain that it’s next to Brazil, or even pull out a map. Despite this, I take every opportunity to speak about Guyana with pride, sharing its beauty, culture, and rich history.

What gives me immense joy is knowing that there are many Guyanese out there, like me, making a meaningful impact globally. Whether or not these stories are widely heard, our contributions as a diaspora are powerful and worth celebrating. Let’s continue to uplift and represent Guyana with pride wherever we are.

I’ve created a space just for us—Guyanese who are passionate about Virtual Reality! Whether it’s sharing the latest VR news, showing off epic gameplay, or just gaffing about all things virtual, this is your community.Let’s connect, explore, and immerse together... and Gaff about anything game related.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1574202349890713

I'm Hindu Indo-Caribbean from the US, I was thinking about how we seek blessings from our elders by touching their feet. I learned this as "palagi" and so I looked it up but there was no Guyanese record of it anywhere. I was wondering how you all call it. Thanks

I’ve been living abroad for over 30 years, residing in different countries and working in various roles, often being the only Guyanese in my field or in the entire country, I joined this group to connect with fellow Guyanese, read stories, and stay rooted in my culture.

However, I must say that I’m deeply disheartened by some of the comments and advice shared here. At times, I feel ashamed of how we, as a community, represent ourselves in this space.

Can we aim to be more professional and showcase our beautiful country in a way that reflects our true potential? When people ask questions, let’s strive to provide thoughtful and constructive advice. We are capable of so much more. Let’s do better and uplift one another.

I am a 27M American male who will be traveling Guyana solo. I plan to take the Georgetown-Lethem bus route solo. Also walk around Georgetown soli. Is this safe?

EDIT: title should be "banking" not "baking"

So, I was wondering, how is it banking in Guyana?

1. Does the everyday person have a bankaccount?
2. Is it easy to open a bank account in Guyana?
3. Can you easily perform (wire) transactions online via online or mobile banking (banking app) or is it like the US where you need like an intermediary or be present at the bank itself?
4. Do businesses offer POS (card-swipe in stores) payments?
5. Do many people have a local debit card of their bank institution?
6. Is it easy to open a US$ account? And to own a credit card?
7. Can businesses (foreign) open bank account in Guyana easily?
8. Do many people use mobile payment services like MMG or WiPAY?

So just in general how is banking in Guyana?

I have never been to Guyana, nor do I know any Guyanese. But I see that GDP per capita there is now three times higher than it was just four years ago, thanks to oil drilling. I feel like this must be what the Gulf States were like in the early 70s.

so tell me, do you see signs of growing wealth in your country? how have things changed in the last few years?

I think about this all the time. Why won’t they include us. We are some of the greatest scammers for green cards ever like respect game TLC.

So, somebody asked this question sarcastically in a comment and it was a misguided question to me.

We know Guyana has a problem with being a small country that falls under the cultural and economic influence of larger nations and so we often have to 'go with the flow' and it can feel like we are followers and not creators.

But that feeling of us being 'copiers' is often from miseducation. If we stop and think, we realize we are innovators and creators on our own, historically and in modern times.

So I open the topic for your input and ask in a positive mood, what have Guyanese ever created? My plan is to assemble all these and do a part 2 post based on everyone's answers after I double check them against sources.

I have 3 certain answers.

Cassareep. Despite Cassava being used all over the Caribbean and South/Central America, Guyana seems to be the place that invented cassareep (and thus Pepperpot). We share some cassava inventions with Trinidad and the Caribbean, like cassava bread and cassava pone, but I think we can be given partial credit for those too.

Metemgee and Cook-up Rice. Now, I'm no historian, but the story I've always heard is that the captive Africans were restricted in what they could grow and in their access to meat and cooking methods. So they innovated and came up with Cook-up and Metemgee.

I'm sure these are foods adapted from traditional recipes. No creation is just out of thin air, but it seems Guyanese were leaders in 'Fusion Cuisine' back in the 1800s.

Moving forward in time...

Eddie Grant created Electric Avenue one of the most rocking anthems ever. I dare you to go listen to this and not want to dance...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtPk5IUbdH0

Gavin Mendonca is a rock star. Check out his Creole Rock album. He tours the world playing rock versions of folk songs as well as his own original songs.

Writers! Books! We have amazing writers who have created amazing books.

E.R. Braithwaite wrote To Sir With Love, later made into a movie with Sidney Poitier.

Martin Carter was a master of poetry. Some of which he wrote while the British had him in jail.

Wilson Harris was a master of words. He's a bit ethereal, but probably the most creative mind Guyana has ever produced in art. His books are on library shelves all over universities in North America. I've seen them.

Edgar Mittelholtzer was also a master of novels, writing about race and class at the end of the colonial period and created one of the best ghost stories ever written, My Bones and My Flute. The man went literally insane from all the creativity in his head.

I'm going to stop there, but I know tons more to say later when I have time, sculptors, painters, musicians, photographers... and that's just the arts.

https://bsky.app/profile/lumpylouise.bsky.social/post/3lbzg2pxlqs27

I’m into fashion history and was wondering if there’s any particular evolution of trends that’s centered to Guyana. Current or vintage. Also not centered to any ethnic group.

Ik gold is a big fashion statement, I rarely see a Guyanese person without one piece of gold or silver jewelry. I see a lot of Guyanese wear a chain particular to their faith and I’m assuming that’s practice that carried on generation to generation.

Are there any hairstyles/clothing cut that you can think of that makes you think of Guyanese culture?

As a born Essequibian living there now, I have paid a lot of attention to the history of Venezuela's claim to this land. One misconception came up in a recent post here so I want to address it here to my fellow Guyanese who also don't seem to know the reality of the past...

The fact is Venezuela NEVER, EVER had any settlements in the Essequibo region.

NEVER.

The Portuguese did early on. They set up rogue trading camps etc in the area claimed by the Spanish (like Pomeroon) and the Spanish often tried to drive them out.

The records of the Spanish themselves indicate they were unable to settle in the area because the local indigenous people were hostile to them. (And to be honest it was enough of a struggle for them to settle Venezuela itself to the west. There was just too much land for them to administer.)

Again, let me reiterate. There was never any established administrative, commercial or military presence by the Spanish in Essequibo.

Indeed, the Dutch were the only ones to set up any kind of significant European presence for a long time. Then the French got involved and eventually the British took over in the late 1700s.

Through all this time, the Essequibo indigenous peoples entered alliances of necessity with whatever European power they could (Dutch, British, French) AGAINST the Spanish because they hated the Spanish and saw them as the biggest threat.

So the Spanish stayed away.

Even after the British took over Essequibo, however, they themselves stayed only on the coast for half a century.

The vast interior of Essequibo is estimated to have had less than 10000 people (probably even less than 5000) right up until the mid 1800s, 99% of whom were indigenous.

The discovery of gold and opening of trade in Essequibo's interior got the British interested in going deeper into Venezuela's speculatively claimed area in places like Potaro and Mazaruni (which Venezuela was not actually governing and were not ABLE to govern.)

Once the British started mining and trading in the interior of Essequibo in the late 1800's the Venezuelans finally woke up and began a diplomatic dispute over the land they 'owned'. This led to the arbitration of 1899 which awarded most of Essequibo to the British and set the current borders. The Venezuelans accepted this agreement at the time, but now claim it was fraudulent.

But if anyone ever tries to tell you Venezuela 'owned' Essequibo because the Spanish drew a line on a map, ask them to name ONE single settlement or trading station the Spanish/Venezuelans ever had in Essequibo. Even the Spanish language Wikipedia article on Essequibo, which is heavily biased to Venezuela/Spain, is consistent with this. (I translated it using Google)

How many battles does the historical record show the British fought against Venezuela when they 'invaded' and 'stole' it from them? None.

How many Venezuelan soldiers did the British kill when they 'invaded' Essequibo? None.

How many Venezuelan forts and plantations did the British take over and rename in Essequibo? None.

Why none? Because there was nothing Venezuelan in Essequibo to begin with.

When I have asked Venezuelans to give me the name of a single Spanish settlement in Essequibo, the closest they ever came was naming an island that is closer to Trinidad than Essequibo.

They can't do it. Because it never happened. And thus Venezuela's claim to Essequibo is nothing more than an imperialist wish they made.

N.B. Nothing I say here is meant to justify Britain's occupation of Essequibo. That was imperialism too. But we're in 2024 and the British aren't claiming Essequibo belongs to them now, so that's not relevant.

Hey besties, so I MIGHT get engaged next month with a wedding in the midst. I’m Indo Guyanese with my dad following Sanatan Dharm and my mom following Arya samaj. My mans is catholic non practicing so we’re most likely going to do the Hindu wedding then do a catholic ceremony before the reception. I want to honor all faiths.

I live 800 miles away from my family and I’m just semi stuck on how to start planning all of this without my mother and her sisters completely taking over. My mom was about to start saying it was SHE wedding fi plan and I was like “oh!” I don’t even got on a ring yet and it’s SHE wedding? Love her though but yk how mothers in our community can be at times.

The closet puja store for me would be East Indian based so I would need to go to Queens?

Personally I’m okay with a backyard wedding but idk HOW to go about planning the full 5 day ceremony.

My father is British Guyanese, and his brother, my uncle, told me that Britain looted Guyana of its gold and that it now belongs to the British royal family, and that this might have been kicked off by Walter Raleigh's expedition to Guyana.

My understanding is that Raleigh was only in Guyana because he thought that's where the mythical city of El Dorado lay, and that the gold they actually expropriated from the region was in Essequibo, and thus is Venezuelan gold.

Does this ring true? What's the real story?

I'm of guyanese descent and really love visiting guyana. I've traveled to the country 4 times in 3 years.I've seen a lot of improvements with sea wall area and roads. I'm wondering if the government is going to address the exposed out dated Sewage. I'd love to move to guyana in about 4 years, but the Sewage is a bit of a turn off

The jungles in Central and South America have been found, using LIDAR, to have a ton of hidden archaeological sites that are obscured by the forest. That includes pyramids, roads, and other stone structures that have been overgrown by the forest over time.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/12/americas/ancient-city-uncovered-amazon-upano-intl-scli-scn/index.html Are there any available LIDAR scans of Guyana's interior rainforest? Someone could do this and set up an archaeological tourist site.

Are there any easy to find sites in the interior, let's say ones that are elevated or higher than the surrounding forest, that may actually be ancient archaeological sites?

Has anyone here / does anyone know of people that have stumbled across potential archaeological sites while in the interior? Or any major cave systems?

As an example, the Venezuelan side near Roraima has extensive cave systems: https://ideas.ted.com/deep-in-an-ancient-cave-an-unexpected-form-of-life/

Hi, I'm traveling to Guyana and was asked to buy a few things for friends and family but this is my first time going and I'm not sure where to go. I'm looking for bookstores.

Somewhere to get Dungeons and Dragons books mainly but also history and poetry books as well.

Hey everyone,

I’m a Guyanese-American grad student living in the Midwest, and I’m hoping to get some advice from anyone who’s been in a similar situation. I’m the only Guyanese person in my program, and I’ve been feeling pretty disconnected from my culture lately. While I was raised in the U.S., my family has always kept our Guyanese traditions alive, but being so far from home and surrounded by people who don’t share my background makes it harder to stay connected.

I wanted to ask:

1. Guyanese Communities: I know Guyana is super diverse with Afro-Guyanese, Indo-Guyanese, Indigenous, and other groups. How do these communities come together in Guyana? How do you stay connected to your culture when you're away from home?
2. Staying Connected to My Culture: As a grad student, it’s hard to keep up with things like food, language, and holidays. Does anyone have tips for staying in touch with your Guyanese roots while living far from home? Are there any online groups or events that have helped you stay connected?
3. Cultural Isolation: Being the only Guyanese person in my program can be isolating at times. I’m wondering if anyone else has dealt with that feeling and how you’ve found ways to stay connected to your culture, even if no one around you gets it.

I’d really appreciate any advice or stories you all have to share! Just trying to figure out how to keep that connection to my roots while balancing grad school life here.

Thanks in advance!

Which is the better option to use in Guyana, eSIM or a physical SIM card? Can I get a physical SIM card in New Amsterdam?

What are your thoughts on it?

From what I gather, East Indians on social media just now find out they not ugly so they’re calling this “revelation” the “Great Shift”.

Are Indo - Guyanese people also experiencing this? Tbf I hope not

im Guyanese btw