My first day

I woke up feeling refreshed. I slept until 9:30 having gone to bed around 10:30 p.m. I just explored the city, finding important things like food, the tourism bureau, and more. I did NOT find affordable sunscreen but that's on tomorrow's agenda.

I got hustled by someone looking to mooch off me, but I did get him to give me a few sentences in Creole that I can use for a syntax paper later, so it wasn't a total loss.

I also achieved one of my goals for this visit: finding a previously unavailable text in Guyanese French Creole. It's Matt's souvenir: the one and only comic book written in the language. But, reflecting the linguistic diversity of the region, it includes bits and pieces of French, Mandarin, Spanish, Businenge, Émérillon, Hmong, Javanese, Portuguese, Wayampi, and English. Of these, only French and English are left untranslated.

Perhaps the most important thing to happen to me was meeting Jorge. Jorge (not his real name; I know no one here would rat him out but it's the Internet and you can't control who comes to the site) is a Peruvian immigrant and a fascinating guy. He's been in Cayenne for almost two years seeking political asylum due to a violent border dispute with Colombian rebels in his part of Peru. His French is passable but clearly learned on the streets with little reinforcement. He lives with several other Spanish-speakers. Despite his rudimentary knowledge of the language, he seems to know lots of people in the city, mainly because he's always looking for work. When he greeted me, it was what he was looking for. He had nothing to do all day, so he came around with me, showed me where to buy a cheap phone, and get a cheap, filling meal. He even let me record a conversation with him in French that I could analyze later. In any event, he's helpiung me get accustomed to Cayenne and practice my Spanish all at the same time.

Jorge also flagged down two Mormon missionaries, who gave me their phone numbers and said they might be able to help me find some Haitians who speak the local creole as well. They told me that the apartment I was looking to get was right near the Haitian enclave, which would be perfect for my dissertation project. If I don't get it, my back-up plan is to go to the Haitian restaurant I found today. I'd go a few days in a row at lunch and see if the owners recognize me and perhaps get them to do some recordings.

That's all for tonight. There's a big storm raging outside my window. Please post comments if you're visiting regularly. This, along with brief periods of time on Skype, MSN, and Yahoo, is my only connection with most people back home.