When your Eyewitness heard about the visiting Louisiana trade delegation, two things come to mind – Bourbon St in New Orleans’ French Quarter, and the classic ballad “American Pie”. As Trip Advisor advises, “The partying never stops on Bourbon Street, the French Quarter’s liveliest and wildest thoroughfare, where the rhythmic sounds of jazz, country western, Dixieland and sultry blues permeate the air. Brimming with life, you’ll find everything from shopping to music to Cajun food to nightclubs.”!! No wonder it’s one of the favourite destinations of American college kids on Spring break!!
In “American Pie” – the definitive statement on the loss of American innocence – the chorus belts out: “We started singing bye-bye, Miss American Pie/Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry/Them good old boys were drinking whiskey and rye”. The “levee” is akin to our seawall, albeit the one in New Orleans keeps out the mighty Mississippi while ours does the same for the mighty Atlantic!! And like on our seawall, folks drive up to it to hang out and down whatever sorrows they may have in the “spirits”!!
So, your Eyewitness wondered whether someone from our Tourism Ministry thought about giving the Louisianas a tour of our (newly refurbished Georgetown) sea wall and offer them a rum-and-Coke!! The other thing that intrigued your Eyewitness was – believe it or not – how similar Louisiana and Guyana are apart from the levee and sea wall! First of all, we’re both seen as backwater kinda people who’re not quite up there with the high flyers in NYC or California. To be kind, the Louisianas are considered “good-ole-boy” rednecks while we’re – at best – “natives of a sh*thole country”!!
They’re also comparatively dirt poor – almost at the bottom of the barrel in the US – and depending for half of their budget on Federal Government handouts. They could teach us a thing or two in lobbying for aid!! Like us, they have oil off their shores – theirs is in the Gulf of Mexico – and maybe they could be asked to offer advice on oil refineries and manufacturing of plastics and what-not from natural gas. Exxon are big down there, and ship most of their crude from our Stabroek Block to their refinery in Louisiana. Pollution’s a big thing there, in addition to the fact that New Orleans is slowly sinking, and will eventually be inundated like Georgetown!!
But what’s interesting is that they’re big in rice and soya – the first in which we’re also big, and the second wherein we wanna be big!! Most important of all, they like their food HOT, HOT, HOT – whether it’s the Cajun (White) or the Creole (Black and Creole).
Hot peppers, anyone??
…for UK trade
Coincidentally, while we were hosting the good old boys (and girls) from Louisiana, a Trade Pact was signed between the UK and little ole us!! Imagine that!! Once the Brits just shipped in whatever their colonists wanted from the “Motherland”, and shipped out whatever they produced here with slave and then indentured labour!! Pact??
The colonial office decided on their lonesome what was good for us. Like potatoes, salt beef (and condensed milk!) for which we acquired a taste we’re yet to throw off!!
Your Eyewitness was intrigued that while for centuries we had to schlep up to Britain for our educational needs, the Pact caters for providing “educational technology to support the Government of Guyana’s vision for a world class, cutting-edge education sector, bringing EK Ed-Tech companies, and UK educational providers”!! There’s gonna also be “a joint plan to increase links between Guyana and the UK Agri-Tech business”.
Does this mean we might finally get a sugar refinery – even for the long-promised “Plantation White”??
