Christmas in Trinidad and Tobago
“When Santa Clause arrives in Trinidad and Tobago, it is to the rhythm of Parang. The climate is warm and the flowers are in bloom, which makes for a colorful season.”
This quote from writer Bill Egan wonderfully describes Christmas on my twin island home of Trinidad and Tobago where the holiday is celebrated in a most unique way with many ingrained traditions.
By mid-November, the stores of the capital city, Port-of-Spain, are flooded with early Christmas shoppers. The most popular places are textile and drapery stores. I remember coming from school one evening and seeing women, whose faces were beaded in sweat, hauling big white bags toward the bus terminal. For me, this was a sign that Christmas was just a stone’s throw away.
Hardware stores thrive during the Christmas season. As a custom, a house should be re-painted or touched up. If you were to drive through any neighborhood the Saturday prior to Christmas, your eyes would meet quite an amusing site. You should expect to see men and women alike, some on ladders and others seated on stools all painting houses and fences. For some neighborhood children, this provides an opportunity to earn some extra money.
I loved to walk through my neighborhood at night. The entire atmosphere is one of merriment and quiet anxiety. I could see Christmas tree lights twinkling through open windows and icicle lights draping the galvanize roofs of some houses. The smell of freshly applied paint and floor varnish often lingered into the night and was carried by a warm breeze.
It also becomes hard to avoid the infectious rhythms of parang. Parang is the Christmas music of the twin island. It has solid Spanish roots and comes from the Venezuelan...
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...ns. Punch de crème is a thick drink made from blended scotch, evaporated milk, eggs, spices and condensed milk. The dish that reigns supreme is ham. Many parang songs have been devoted to just this one dish: songs such as, “Ah [I] want ah [a] piece of ham” and “Neighbor bring out de [the] ham.” Christmas would simply not be the same without ham.
Surprisingly, when the big day arrives, it is often a quiet one, with the exception of visiting family, friends and the neighborhood parang group. These parang groups go from house to house singing with the expectation of receiving food (preferably ham). These groups are similar to North American carolers. Christmas is truly a highlight in the life of a Trinidadian. It is greatly anticipated and filled with many humorous traditions. Most importantly, it is a season when the true Caribbean spirit of togetherness emerges.
The description of the clinic and his observations create a sense of artificiality and lack of individual significance. The reader is first introduced into the waiting room of a clinic: “just after Christmas”, “artificial limbs” and “packages wrapped empty as rattles” (Cuadros 120). The descriptions of the decorations create a sense of artificiality and temporality. Before Christmas there were significant and valuable decorations, after Christmas they become trash.
Christmas is a holiday filled with tradition, family, and happiness, but what most people don’t know is that Christmas is celebrated all over the world, not just the United States. Latin American countries are especially passionate about Christmas. The way Hispanic people celebrate changes throughout each country. Each one has its own unique Christmas culture. In this essay I am going to write about some of these different countries, and tell how each one is similar and different in showing their Christmas spirit.
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What about other countries though? Is the Christmas season all about giving and receiving gifts? Are children in Spain rewarded by Santa with gifts and toys on Christmas Eve? In this essay we will look at what Christmas season means in Spain, and what traditions are prevalent in their culture. We will also look at the Christmas related traditions of Americans, and how those compare and contrast to those in Spain.
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Wrightson, Paula, “Christmas Past- Paula Wrightson, Brighton & Hove Museums Describes A Regency Christmas” Preston Pages 2014 http://www.prestonpages.com/history_christmaspast.php
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While there are many other components to culture on the island of Trinidad, these can be named as the most defining aspects. Carnival is a celebration and display of all aspects and diversities of culture on the island. Trinidad's culture is defined by a merging of many. The fact that this sort of integration in able to strive and be celebrated in such brilliance, is an example of how diversity can be celebrated and accepted.
Hamlet by William Shakespeare is one of the world’s most revered literature. The main character, Hamlet, is arguably one of the most intriguing characters the playwright ever developed. Hamlet is daring, philosophical, mentally unstable at times, and clever. Throughout the play though, these characteristics change and/or diminish as Hamlet is put through a plethora of unfortunate events. His father is murdered by Claudius, his mother soon after marries Claudius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern betray him, and his girlfriend most likely commits suicide. While Hamlet is incredibly philosophical, indecisive, and full of resentment in the beginning of the play, he becomes violent, instinctive, caring and sympathetic towards the end of the play.
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Christmas to me is a celebration, which includes spending time with my family, decorating the entire house, inside and out, and shopping, for the people I love. Doing this with the people I love is what means the most to me. Spending Christmas with my family is very important to me. We usually gather and celebrate at my parent’s house, in East Tennessee. My husband, our three children, and myself travel from California. My two sisters, their husbands, and children come from a nearby town, for our celebration.
Ever since I could remember, I have spent Christmas at my grandmother’s house, a house which is full of comfort, warmth, and happiness. At Christmas, I have always been able to escape the cold and dark real world allowing myself to truly enjoy just several moments in time. These moments have left impressionable memories from my childhood making Christmas a holiday that is special to me and my family. It is a time for my family to get together, share stories, laugh, and even cry.