Christmas is one of the most important holidays of the year around the world. With heaps of snow settled on rooftops, ice skating rinks in the park, and snowmen standing tall, a Canadian Christmas is almost idyllic. However, Christmas traditions are a little bit different over in the Caribbean. Along with being just a tad bit warmer than Canada, here’s a few ways Christmas in the Caribbean is way different from Christmas in Canada:
1. With the year-round 30ºC weather, a “White Christmas” is only a song to us.
We’d rather the heat, thank you very much.
2. FOOD, FOOD, FOOD.
Pastels, sorrel, sweet bread… there’s just some things you can’t find at Loblaw that makes the holidays bright for a Caribbean soul. Sometimes mashed potatoes just doesn’t cut it.
3. Christmas music is more than just Mariah Carey and Michael Buble in the Caribbean.
Steel pans drum out a contagious riddim, a singer croons an old calypso melody, and the jumping twang of Spanish guitars with lyrics of double entendres fill the airwaves. These aren’t songs to curl up by a fire and listen to – it’s music that turns Christmas into a party.
4. Christmas decorating is much, much more than just icicle lights and Christmas trees for us.
The home you left in October is an entirely new place when you come home in December. Moms, dads, and grandparents come together to basically tear your house apart and put it back together in time for the 25th. Furniture gets replaced, walls are stripped and repainted, tiles are redone, new appliances are bought, and the list continues until your house no longer looks quite like your house.
5. We make sandcastles instead of snowmen.
We may not have snow, but we do have beaches. You’ll probably find us on a boat or on the coastline, having a cheeky drink with our family while dreading coming back to school in Janurary. Save a hot chocolate for us!
6. Christmas is more than just a day in December.
In both America and Canada, Christmas prep officially beings at the end of Thanksgiving in either November or October, respectively. With no Thanksgiving holiday in most of the Caribbean, and no sudden snow to signal the on-coming winter, Christmas preparations can begin as early as August – which can leave you feeling a little bit like this by the end of the holiday season.
However, after everything’s said and done, you can’t help but count the days until next Christmas vacation when you get to come home and experience it all over again.