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THE MAIN BIG LIME IS NOT BIG AT ALL!

Nov 20, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

There are thousands of Guyanese who live overseas, who have booked flights to return to Guyana for the holidays. Already many of them are preparing for the journey back home. And boy is there a need for preparation.
No Guyanese living overseas dare return empty handed. Guyanese back home look forward to the gifts that they usually receive from the visitors and they therefore expect that something will be packed for them before the visitor leaves his foreign base.
With the restrictions on luggage this complicates things. The average stay of Guyanese returning home for the holidays is two weeks. Some, of course, stay longer while others pay a whistle-stop visit, but the vast majority spends at least two weeks in Guyana.
And because of this, they need to travel with sufficient clothing to last them through the holidays.
This means that at least fifty pounds of clothing and footwear have to be packed; meaning that there is not much weight left to bring all the goodies and presents that family members in Guyana may want to expect.
The way around this is to pack a barrel well in advance and post it down. Many overseas-based Guyanese have already done this, so that by the time they arrive in Guyana, their barrel would have arrived and in it would have been quite a few things needed for the holidays.
Last year, there was a black cake and pepper pot airport welcome for returning Guyanese.
This year we are not certain what will be served but it is indeed a nice touch when visitors come to be greeted in the traditional Guyanese atmosphere to music, food and drink. It sets the mood for the remainder of the holiday, that is, if the luggage arrives.
In recent years, the traditional luggage problems have been reduced. The airlines have become much more reliable but there are bound to be a few glitches now and then. Guyanese, however, have a way of not letting this get to them and if they have to stop at the nearest store to buy a few packets of undergarments, then this is a small sacrifice for the good time they will have back home.
And what a swell time all returnees have at Christmas. There is no better time to come back to Guyana than over the Christmas season when everything is so hectic and everyone is so nice and welcoming, and the liquor and food are flowing freely.
It is time of great partying back home; nothing matches a Guyanese party. Very few people turn up to Guyanese parties in Guyana with a bottle or dish.
This would raise eyebrows. The host is expected to provide all the refreshments. So for those returning, there will be no need to dig into their barrels to see what is there to take to a party.
But after the parties, what? Well there is time to spend with your loved ones and to visit friends. But after that, what? This is where the promoters and the government come in. There is a need for more entertainment. But not everyone wants to go to a mass concert where thousands are.
Some of the older folks may require a quieter and sociable form of outgoing, such as piano recital, a production at the theater or some other simple form of entertainment that reminds them of what Christmas in Guyana is all about.
A few years ago, Guyana hosted the Caribbean Festival of Arts (Carifesta). That event was expected to boost local stage productions. But it has not, nor has the refurbishing of the Theatre Guild changed anything much in terms of the performing arts.
And this is real tragedy because one of the things that Guyanese who live overseas are starved of is a regular diet of good plays, which connected them to their homeland.
Those coming back home bring a lot of things and they should also leave with something, the most important being is a good memory, a worthwhile experience of their return home.
Main Big Lime may be memorable because of its size but it really has grown into something that is too big to really help people reconnect with their country and their past.
Something traditional is needed; something that will allow those coming for the holidays to want to return or to tell their friends about the great time they have visiting Guyana.
That something can take many forms, and it is for those who are keen on developing tourism to recognize the tremendous potential that the forthcoming Christmas Season holds and to do something more than just organizing a lime and saying that it is big.

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