We’re back with a new Around The World! This time we’ll teach you a little about the South American country Suriname! Suriname is situated at the northern part of South America, surrounded by 3 countries, French Guiana, Guyana and Brazil. The capital of Suriname is Paramaribo.

The country can be divided into two main geographic regions. The northern where most of the population lives and the southern part, that mostly consists of tropical rain-forest and sparsely inhabited savanna which covers about 80% of Surinam’s land surface. This Rain forest is a part of worlds biggest tropical rain-forest, The Amazon Rain-forest. The nature of Suriname has many great things to offer, like many rivers, marsh, savanna and mountains. Some of the animals you can run into while you’re enjoying the nature are, the Leatherback Turtle, the Jaguar, the Leopard, the Cayman and the Howler monkeys. Of Course you’ll find many more excotic and smaller animals there.

Suriname is made up of several distinct ethnic groups, the most common ones are; Hindustan , Surinamese Creoles, Javanese and Surinamese Maroons. These ethnic groups all have different descendants that goes from Indian, Indonesian, African and a mixture of Africans and European. Even though Dutch is the sole official language, there is a variety of languages are spoken in Suriname. These languages are the main ones and spoken in most house holds; Sranan Tongo, a local creole language originally spoken by the Creole population group, is the most widely used language in the streets. Surinamese Hindi or Sarnami, Spoken by the Hindustan, Javanese and Saramaccaans which is one of the dialects spoken by the Maroons.

What I personally love about Suriname is their food! Because of the many different ethnic groups their food is very diverse. My favorite dish is Roti (a flour pancake traditionally wrapped around a meat and potato)! Roti is mostly eaten with your hands. Other dishes are Nasi, Bami, Moksi Meti and Pom. Their snack and sweet are also delicious, some of them are Bakabana (baked Banana), Bojo, Maizena Cookies (soft cookies that melt/fall apart when you eat it).

One of Surinam’s traditional clothing is the Koto; it’s a dress from the Afro-Surinamese women or Creoles in Suriname. The Koto was developed during the slavery period in Suriname; its special purpose was to protect the woman. Different kotos exist for various occasions like weddings or funerals. With the Koto, women wear a head or body covering called an angisa or anisa.

I hope that you all enjoyed learning a bit about the country of Suriname! Maybe one day you may be able to visit!

Brandon Kane, rising young artist, has just posted his new music video for his song Shine. The video looks nice & fun and the song sounds good as well! Shine’s music video was filmed by Guerrilla Film Junkies director Deji Laray. Brandon has been entertaining for a very long time and is certainly moving on up. Check out the music video above. Visit Brandon Kane on the web via Myspace and YouTube.

Hey YBS Readers!! Speaking of reading, I am currently reading a book titled Saved Folk in the House by Sonnie Beverly. The book is 55 chapters long and so far so good. I’m really liking it! Saved Folk in the House tells the story of 3 women journeying through life while dealing with different issues. As you learn more about their struggles, you also learn more about the women and their characters. I would recommend this book to the teenage age group, although it may be good reading for those of other ages as well!

Are any of you currently reading any good books?! If so, please do share!

If you would like to read Saved Folk in the House by Sonnie Beverly, you can check it out HERE.

Raven-Symoné takes part in “Pepsi We Inspire” as an official icon of the multi-cultural women’s empowerment movement.

Raven Inspires Through Laughter:

“When someone laughs it’s truly one of the most fulfilling feelings. It makes me feel like I’ve done my part in this world.”

РRaven-Symon̩, Quote from www.pepsiweinspire.com

Take a look at Raven’s Pepsi We Inspire video underneath.

Mishon (profile) recently did an interview with JimmyJazz where he talked about peer pressure, falling in love too quickly and his own personal relationship mistakes. In the interview, Mishon had this message for his young fans:

Word From YBStar:

“I think nowadays in our world it’s a lot of peer pressure. People see stuff and sometimes they feel forced to do stuff. I’m just reminding them that if you really like somebody then you don’t have to go all the way. You should really get to know somebody better,”

– Mishon Ratliff, Quote from www.jimmyjazz.com

Read the whole interview now at www.jimmyjazz.com.
Click here if you want to purchase Mishon’s latest single “Rock My Chain” on iTunes. It’s just $0.99!