Some Caribbean homes 'glow' with the Christmas spirit

How some people observe or even celebrate the season, has a lot to do with traditions in their home country.

"A thorough house-cleaning with furniture placed, in some instances at the roadside, when there wasn't enough yard space", is one recollection.

A further jogging of the memory brings out: "Colour-coordinated decorations sometimes so dense that when they are eventually taken down, the rooms seem bigger."

House-lighting is another: an electricity-bill-defying explosion of lighted colour that bathes the property in an eye-dazzling resplendent glow.

For others Christmas is simply about "the carols".

Smells

	No Christmas without cake in the Caribbean

Mention Christmas and it also conjures up the aroma of Christmas cooking and baking.

Think of ham laden with cloves, rumcake soaked for months with a kick that threatens to last just as long, coconut bread and home-brewed sorrel to wash it all down.

Sights and sounds

Then, there are the sounds and sights of the season: carols and parang; string bands and masquerades; sewinalling (that's carolling in Creole) to jumpy seasonal calypsoes - and carols given a soca treatment.

Traditions

In some places there's the 'jumbie table' (a banquet for the deceased). Some of what's laid on generally gets eaten, just don't blame - or credit - the jumbies (ghosts).

Ever heard of Vyann Pafimen? That's a Creole smoked meat delicacy in Dominica served at Christmas.

Religion

	Some people only attend church at Christmas

In some Caribbean societies attending Christmas Eve Midnight Mass is de rigueur.

For many people it's the only time for the year (other than perhaps at funerals) that they would have 'gone to church'.

Equally compulsory for some is a full choral, which-much-gusto rendering of the carol Christians Awake, to end the 5am service on Christmas morning.

Caribbean-American Christmas special

So what's your Caribbean Christmas experience?

Is the Caribbean losing its Christmas traditions?

Is the season losing its meaning?

I left my home land thirty-five years ago but when ever December comes around, I am so miserable thinking of my beautiful island, St.Lucia. What is Christmas without my home? The food, people, music, drinks, cakes, and Assou Square, that is why every two or three years, I got to make it back for Christmas. There is no other place in the world like back home for the holidays!
Marie Baptiste
Hollywood, Florida

Christmas time in Trinidad is maybe a little different from other countries. Our traditions span years - mostly a five day holiday of parties with family and friends from December 25 (or 24) until the 1st of January. Five days filled with fun and laughter and by the end, everyone has visited everyone's houses and eaten delicious food etc. So maybe it's not so different from other people's Christmas holidays... we just love to relax.
Steffi
Trinidad

I am from Jamaica and have been in the U.S. over thirty years. It's been that long since I saw a Christmas away from the U.S. I think Christmas is more fun in the Caribbean. We carry on with the traditions of the homeland with our Caribbean AND American friends. What is missing though, is the warmth of living among the thousands of very warm and genuinely friendly people.
Lana Brown Berridge
Cerritos, CA, USA

If there's one occasion I hate spending away from my home land St Lucia or away from the West Indies in general, its Christmas. There's nothing like a Caribbean Christmas. The sights and sounds are ever present. Whilst its continually being embraced religiously, Christmas is more about the music, the rum, the stew- pork or beef, the black cake, the sorrel and ginger beer and of course the signature house to house celebrations. The spirit never dies. It brings everyone together. You'd be surprised at the number of people who would appear at your house uninvited for drinks and to celebrate. It lots of fun. Rich or poor, around this time everyone is equal. It's our tradition that continues to live on. A meaning that can never be lost!
"Drink ah rum on ah Christmas morning!!"
Sidebar: I write with excitement because I know what am missing this Christmas morning
M Harry
Toronto, Canada

Creative thinking is the answer. It is all about survival. The educational system must be proactive, innovative and progressive. The characters at the head of tourism should try thinking outside their comfort box. Invest in making each person in their respective island an ambassador for their country. TOURISM DEVELOPMENT MUST BE DECENTRALIZED.
Ask yourself if I have $600.00 why would I come to your island? They all look and think the same. I think someone said Cuba looks more interesting.
Chris Boston
USA

Here in the Bahamas, Christmas is synonymous with Junkanoo held during the early morning hours of Boxing Day and continuing until well after the year's most glorious sunrise on a Bay Street filled with brilliant colour and rhythmic sound. Somewhat sadly though, our proximity to the USA's overbearing cultural influence have led to more and more of my countrymen associating snowflakes and snowmen (of all things) along with Santa, and things that have nothing to do with Christmas in the Bahamas OR with Jesus' birth, as indispensable parts of Christmas. The sad thing is no one seems to notice - and the tourists all expect it, so it stays.
Tamico Gilbert
Nassau, Bahamas

It has been almost thirty years, since I was in Trinidad for Christmas. My most distinct memories are of smells, those of apples and grapes, which to me as a child had the most wonderful aroma.
Also, I grew up in a cocoa -panyol family and area and Parang was synonymous with the festivities.
Albert Bethelmy
Newburgh, USA

Christmas, apart from the religious aspect, it is the season to be jolly. In St. Lucia we start with National Day on December 13th and end it with Assou Square - that's two whole weeks!! And of course it's house to house, drinks, food, music, party and a good lime.
Solly
St Lucia and UK

Christmas is a very social time in Trinidad and Tobago with most people having parties. Both children and adults go from house to house between neighbours and relatives for food and drink.
The radio stations play Trinidadian Christmas carols and songs as well as traditional and contemporary carols from the U.S.A.
A special Trinidadian music, Parang, is also played. Parang is an upbeat Venezuela-Trinidad hybrid.
Most people paint and make repairs to their houses and hang new curtains and decorations (especially lights) for Christmas. Often, this is the time that most people buy new electrical appliances and furniture. Most families spend Christmas Day at home with friends and family members.
The Christmas Day meal is usually prepared throughout mid-December, and into the New Year! The traditional Trinibagonian Christmas meal includes apples and grapes, sorrel, ponche-de-creme (a version of egg nog), ham, turkey, homemade bread, ginger beer, pastelles (a version of tamales) and local wine.
Trinidadian Christmas fruitcake is traditional and is eaten in most homes. The fruits (such as raisins and sultanas) in the cake are usually soaked in cherry wine, sherry and rum for several months before Christmas!
New Years Eve is known as 'Ole Year's Night' in Trinidad, and thousands of people gather together in the Queen's Park Savannah in the capital of Trinidad, Port of Spain, for an amazing fireworks display.
Tony Mark Ramjewan
Port of Spain
Trinidad and Tobago