Blogmas // A Caribbean Christmas pt 3

Hey Guys!

Guess what??? It’s the last installment of the “Caribbean Christmas” series! Woohoo. First off, I’d like to thank each and every one of you who replied to my messages and participated. This would not have been possible without you and I really appreciate it. Hopefully we can all do a Caribbean blog collaboration some time.

Next up, more Christmas spirit from Crista and Devonnie, repping the Bahamas and Jamaica respectively. Both now reside in different parts of the USA.

Bahamianista ~ BAHAMAS
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1 // What does Christmas mean to you?

Christmas to me, means family time, celebrating with loved ones, reconnecting with old friends, giving as well lots and lots of food haha. I love that there’s a festive feeling in the air and it also signals to me time for reflection and keeping things close that keep me grounded.

2 // How do you celebrate in your country?

I’m from the Bahamas but I live in the U.S. currently, however back home Christmas was always spent with my entire family, cousins, 2nd cousins, great uncles and aunts, parents —every person that I can think of who is related to me by blood. I just remember going house to house visiting relatives, delivering gifts, “toting” food haha.

Then most Bahamians will either stay up or wake up around midnight – 1am on Boxing Day to head to Downtown Nassau for the annual Boxing Day Parade. Some opt to watch it at home but the feeling of being in Rawson Square in the midst of the energetic Junkanooers and their amazing costumes is unreal.

Here’s a great example of Junkanoo in the Bahamas:

Defining Devonnie ~ JAMAICA
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1// What does Christmas mean to you?

Honestly, not much. I had to think about it for a while but its the truth. For me, Christmas represents a season that I’m not really a part of. I was raised Rastafarian. Christmas and Jesus don’t come up a lot in that environment. And since I was never raised in a church, I don’t have the same attachments to what Christmas actually means to followers of Christ. Also, now that I’m older I question everything. I may be a bit too cynical for Christmas. My dad let us know that Santa wasn’t real and I’m not mad at that. If we ever got anything, Santa was not there swiping his card or pulling the cash out of this wallet so it’s completely unfair to have your kids grow up believing that this large caucasian man is the reason they got a toy or new shoes and it all comes down to whether or not they were ’Naughty’ or ’Nice’. No, that was mommy and daddy. Or grandma and grandpa. Whoever it is that loves you, did that and they should be praised. For me, Christmas just represents a very significant seasonal change that will be gone in a few weeks.

2 // How do you celebrate in your country?

I didn’t grow up hosting or being with our extended family during this time. Especially since I spent most of my Christmases in New York. I find that Jamaicans really only celebrate Christmas the same way we do every holiday, there’s a very large dinner menu that probably contains oxtail and rum cake. It’s more about seeing and being with family than anything. There might be presents but it’s not the focus of the celebration. If I close my eyes and picture how we celebrate Christmas, I can easily apply the same image to Easter, Thanksgiving and even the New Year celebration.

Hope everyone enjoyed!
Thanks again for participating.

Happy Holidays!
XOXO