Growing up in the Caribbean has molded me to be the person I am today. Our culture and customs are very different in comparison to Americans, and we take pride in the little things. For one, manners, wisdom, and obedience are just a few of the important aspects of our culture. There is a saying that says “ Who won’t hear, will feel” and a popular scripture “Honour thy father and thy mother.” We show utmost respect to those older than us and are trained on how to conduct ourselves. We grow up knowing life isn’t easy, and that there will be trials to overcome. One cold autumn morning, I woke up groggy, with a slight headache. Looking at my phone I realised it was 6:20 am and I panicked. I usually woke up at 5:00 am every morning, so this was late. I scurried into the bathroom and took a quick shower, what my mother would call a “duck splash”, dragged on my well pressed KIPP blue linen shirt, khaki pants, sneakers, and jacket. I then went to the kitchen to get the stuffing, which I made the night before, for my very first Thanksgiving dinner. I was so excited. Thanksgiving was not a holiday I was used to celebrating. In …show more content…
He started to make fun of me, everyone on the bus laughed as if what he was doing was funny. As if he was doing the right thing. It got worse, he forced himself by me and took my stuffing and rammed it onto my lap leaving it in a horrid condition. So many dents; my stuffing went from a neat aluminum pan to a monstrosity that looked like it belonged in the trash. Tears began to well in my eyes and I had that choking feeling in my throat. I wanted to cry. All the laughter and whispers “What school does she go to?” or “This is funny.” made me feel humiliated, stupid, and alone. When the bus finally stopped at 50th and Parkside, I waited for all the cackling students to exit the bus and then followed with my dented aluminum pan of stuffing and my head held low, suppressing the
“…staring at the sea, beer in hand…Free time is now the luxury, not sugar…or any of the goods that delighted the fickle tastes of Europeans…Such goods are now taken for granted – they came with a price, too, though that has long been forgotten (Gibson, 347).” In response, after reading a passage that states, “What is the earthly paradise for our visitors? Two weeks without rain and a mahogany tan…at sunset, local troubadours in straw hats and floral shirts beating ‘Yellow Bird’ and ‘Banana Boat Song’ to death…every island, is an effort of memory; every mind, every racial biography culminating in amnesia and fog (Gibson, 348).” I am truly in agreeance with Gibson, visitors are devoid of Caribbean culture and history to this
The only ones still awake within an hour of Thanksgiving dinner were me and the dog. The dog sat hopefully underneath the table, waiting for the weight of the food to bring the whole mess crashing down to her. I sat on the back porch and watched my family sprawled across the living room like the aftermath of an inquest.
Knight, Franklin W., The Caribbean, The Genesis of a Fragmented Nationalism. 1990 Oxford University Press, N.Y., N.Y.
When I learned that I would have to do my ethnographic report on what I did during Halloween, I was worried because I live in Turnpike and the most excitement that happens in turnpike is the sound of the garbage truck when it comes to pick up the Wednesday trash. Fortunately something did happen to me and I realized I would not have to write a boring paper of how I woke up and just stayed in my room the whole day. Well the day started off with me waking up and walking to the bathroom to take a shower, as soon as the turned the water on I realized I had left my shower and rather than turning off my shower I stayed in because the warmth of the hot water was too seductive for me to get out and get my towel. In the shower I had my usual thoughts about life, death, and comebacks to old arguments. Afterword I got out of my shower and reached for my toothbrush, which was located in a cupboard behind the toilet, but I grabbed at it too quickly and it fell in the toilet. I stood over my toilet for about five minutes just staring at my toothbrush in the toilet not believing what just happened, after that I started blaming myself for being too impatient. When I was done feeling sorry for myself I went into my room in search of another toothbrush but unluckily I couldn’t find one, so I had to go walk to the local store at around 7:30 in search of a toothbrush. While searching for a replacement toothbrush I realized that not that many people were in the store, I had always thought that stores were busiest in the morning and evening but apparently that’s not true. Once I got my new toothbrush I finished brushing, got dressed and went to catch the 11 to the Transit Center.
Mere words can't describe how happy I was to cook. Tea cakes, sweet potato pie, honey glazed pound cake, Roasted turkey and leafy greens. I get to Make them all. Of course since I'm a spoiled brat I had to get my hair ready with my apron. Then and only then will I be able to cook. We were in the kitchen all day. You could just. Smell the richness of the turkey. I could almost taste the silky cream sweet potato pie. It would make your mouth water . Halfway through cooking Most of our family was already here (They were going to sleep the night) They pitched in to help, without them we would’ve been cooking through Thanksgiving.
I was raised in an encouraging household where both of my parents greatly valued education. Although they were high school graduates, neither could afford to attend college; a combination of family and financial woes ultimately halted their path. As a result, my parents frequently reminded me that getting a good education meant better opportunities for my future. To my parents, that seemed to be the overarching goal: a better life for me than the one they had. My parents wanted me to excel and supported me financially and emotionally of which the former was something their parents were not able to provide. Their desire to facilitate a change in my destiny is one of many essential events that contributed to my world view.
As my family and I walked into the plane, we were excited. The plane ride to jamaica stopped in L.A. and, after that, it went to jamaica. When we arrived in Jamaica it was really hot, but it was wet. I immediately took off my sweater I was wearing on the plane. We took a bus to our hotel. Then we started swimming in the water park. Every night there was a show in the main stage. The next day we woke up early to go to chukka. It was awesome. We saw a great house, rode on horses, and did a challenge course. After we came back from Chukka, we went to the water park and swimming pool at the hotel. Then we ate at fresh, which we went most of the time. The next day we woke up earlier to go to the dolphin cove. The bus was an hour late, but the wait
The Caribbean is comprised of a group of island. Jamaica is one of the greatest Antilles. It has a tropical climate. Each country has its own culture, Jamaicans is not an exemption, and they have an assorted and distinctive one. “Their culture is a complex mixture of African, Arabic, European, East Indian, and Chinese roots combining together to create a rich, dynamic heritage” (Gall, 2009).
As a Haitian immigrant, my parents and I would spend our family vacations in our hometown of Port-au- Prince, Haiti. I would enjoy participating in family activities such as card games, cooking, and just the quality time that we spent together. We could play these games and laugh amongst each other for hours, without a care in the world merely telling jokes and listening to the elder parables. Amongst my family I felt untouchable. Like a tree in the wind, my only cares were that of the breeze and the beauty of my foundation. In the sway of the wind I was overcome with a sense of peace.
Throughout the expanse of the whole entire planet, a select few places are able to compete with the sheer natural beauty of the tropical islands that litter the turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. From Puerto Rico to Jamaica, this exotic paradise south of the United States, that has been bloodied by battle, has since become a vacation hotspot open to tourists from across the globe. Meanwhile, many American Corporations have been actively depleting many of the natural resources found in these areas which has created a vast dependence in these monopolies’ productivity. The presence these of foreign entities in the Caribbean has resulted in a staggering amount of poverty from the native people’s inability to capitalize on the abundance of resources that surrounds them, which lead to many brilliant authors such as, David Foster Wallace, Joan Didion, and Nathan Jessen, to suggest that the United States has too much influence in the area. Nonetheless, many people fail to realize that the Caribbean Islands have been under the indirect influence of the United States for quite some time. The empire that the United States established in the Nineteenth Century in these surrounding island territories will continue to exist for the duration of their existence.
It was a nice and sunny day. The sun was shining bright and the leaves on the trees gave a vibrant color of orange and red creating a magical fairy tale. The leaves on the ground dancing every time the wind howled. Families all around gathering together under one roof on this special day creating a delicious feast meant to feed a whole kingdom. The food being cooked filling the air with a spectacular smell of pumpkin, cinnamon, turkey, and other spectacular smells. The magical day that brings families together is known all across the world as Thanksgiving. This Thanksgiving while playing fetch with my owner’s family I learned that not complaining for one day can bring families closer together.
Some people dread Thanksgiving. They hate to see relatives they dislike, they abhor the bloated feeling from eating too much, and they despise all the work that goes into planning such a big event. I am certainly not one of these people, for I adore everything about Thanksgiving. I always enjoy spending time with family, I love to eat all the food I can, and I have no problem preparing for this wonderful holiday. Celebrating Thanksgiving is a lengthy yet rewarding process, and I intend to explain how to make the best of it.
twentieth century Caribbean woman writers, are as complicated as they are vast. These authors show
The Caribbean is often overlooked when the concept of slavery is discussed. However, the Caribbean islands played an integral part in the building of various countries’ economies around the world; primarily European countries. Many of the social stigmas that are associated with slavery are still present in various Caribbean countries’ societies today. Caribbean cultures have very strong African roots as of the numerous traditions carried from Africa by the slaves. This paper will give an overall view of slavery in the Caribbean and go more in depth into the economic, social, and cultural affects that it had and is still giving in the Caribbean using Haiti as a focal point.
Discussing these thoughts with my group members helped me learn about new cultures and helped them out as well. One of the ladies in my group spoke about herself, because she was from Puerto Rico. She had a lot to say about the cultures. She also experienced culture shock due to the climate and the individualistic life in America. She said that the weather in Puerto Rico was tropical and i...