Arriving back in Guyana

While I was waiting at the airport to board my flight to Guyana, I watched a university student hug his parents good-bye as he left for school. His dad was all sniffly and so was the young man after he turned his back. I wanted to give him a hug and tell him that it was gonna be all right because chances are that many adventures await him, not just at university but in life! Because you're eighteen and you haven't discovered hangovers and heartbreak and heartburn and hemorrhoids yet! Man, remember when I discovered those? Most at the same time, pretty much?

Me, I was excited for my trip, despite my anxiety about whether my luggage was actually going to make it with me. I always get this weird vibe when transferring between Air Canada and Caribbean Airlines, who don't seem to be friends. Air Canada personnel will make some kind of remark about how Caribbean Airlines won't pay them to print extra boarding tickets so I better hold on to my baggage claim tags, and then Caribbean Airlines staff will sigh at the baggage claim tags and mutter about how they hate the way Air Canada does it, and they'll let me know if they can't find my luggage....What? Can we please check for my luggage now? I haven't packed any underwear in my carry-on...

(What was in your luggage that you were so concerned about, Gloria? Work? Diaries? Valuables?
....my Korean skincare product.)

Nevertheless, the flight was as smooth as an overnight flight of sleeping upright in a chair could be. This time I didn't have a man vomiting behind me, and the one baby on board didn't cry. A. picked me up at the airport with a big smile and hug, welcoming me back. It was hot and muggy.

Good morning, Georgetown

I enjoyed the drive from the airport to Georgetown, which is on a road that winds through dozens of small villages with colourful names like Garden of Eden and Land of Canaan along the Demerera River. A lot of commercial shops and restaurants are closed on Sunday's, but the fruit markets were bustling, people spilling all over the roads to grab their groceries for the week. Men stood on the side of road, selling iguanas on a stick. We passed by the fish depot and the enormous Banks brewery complex. It was exciting to be back.

But I was tired. I checked into my hotel and spent the rest of the morning napping while leaving the TV on Animal Planet where the host was spending the night in a pitch black cave looking for the world's largest cave animal, slowly going mad.

When I woke up again, the Animal Planet host had found his way out of the cave and I was ready to face the world again to run errands.