First, it was named Longchamps by the French colonists who initially settled here. Then, after it was restored to Dutch control, it was renamed Stabroek. Then it fell into British hands, and they saw fit to honor their king by re-renaming it Georgetown. Now, with the British having packed their bags and left, tens of thousands of Guyanans call it home.

Yet the stain of centuries of colonialism have not left Guyana in practice, even if they find themselves independent in name. The American occupation was brief, but its legacy has tied the nation into the OFN and into America's economic hold on the nation. The British are gone, but their money and their businessmen remain. Despite the ocean between themselves and Europe, the concerns of the Cold War can't help but drag themselves through Guyanan concerns, a specter looming over their ambitions. Finally, over the border looms the Venezuelans, arrogant enough to claim nearly half the country for themselves and powerful enough to see it through should America ever cut loose from the country.

And yet... Georgetown itself sees peace, or at least an uneasy form of it. The wide boulevards and canals host witness to economic growth, and the streets are lush with vibrant plantlife while citizens go on with their lives. The legislature may be sharply divided, the country may be balanced on knife's edge, but the city itself seems frozen in a bubble of tranquility. Time will tell if it ever pops.