At theTakutu Hotel in Lethem, Guyana
Jessica's story as an adopted Guyanese or English woman who has adopted Guyana is interesting. Jessica has traveled and worked in Guyana. Her blog will take you on her trip.
Jessica is a 24 year old graphic design artist who made a trip to the Rupununi with her grandparents. They have a tradition of visiting an unusual place once a year. One year it was Guyana and Jessica returned to London and found a way to volunteer. She taught in various places and now she supervises at the Hotel Takutu and works as a graphic designer. Jessica does this with a Guyanese accent so real that when I met her I was absolutely sure she was a GT girl working in Lethem.
Roger, who prefers Regina, was an unexpected and additional delight to my stay at the Takutu Hotel. Regina has an incredible singing voice and she also cooks. And, I love cooks simply because I have no intimate relationship with kitchens, but I do have an ongoing love affair with food. Regina also contributed to my incredible take on Jessica's accent. I must tell you that story.
Jessica walked into the hotel and I swore she was Guyanese. Surprisingly, Jessica told me that she was born in England and made her first visit to Guyana was two years ago. She had visited other islands in the Caribbean, but only for a week or two. It was immediately obvious to me that she was in love with the country and I suspected that she was also in love with a Guyanese. Of course, I was right, but it was still incredible to me that she had adopted a Guyanese accent. I was impressed. Jessica is twenty four; she explained that she moved a lot as a child, but I still felt that her willingness to use the Guyanese accent told a special tale. More often than not I've found that foreigners maintain their accents even if they've been in the country for decades. In contrast, I had to tease Regina.
Regina arrived in Lethem and found freedom; it was in Lethem that she found the freedom to express herself as a talented singer, performer, and artist. Regina hopes, or should I say she dreams daily of the future and sees herself as a successful singer and recognized in the global community. While waiting for this opportunity she expresses her creativity in the kitchen.
My first interaction with Regina was when she walked into the Takutu Hotel in Lethem and I heard what sounded like a cross between an American accent and a British accent and I naturally thought that she was from one of the two countries. Regina has never visited either. She simply loves the cultures.
MORE PHOTO STORIES
Takutu family in the morning. Joyce, â Johnson daughter and Mrs. Johnson.
Joyce has been my guide and to the right is a new bride to a Guyanese husband. She is Chinese and now in Guyana to live. It has only been 6 months.
Joyce and Claire grew up in Lethem.
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