More than any other holiday Christmas is a truly multicultural
celebration in Belize. It has to be, with over 10 ethnic groups in a population
of around 300,000 people. Christmas traditions are freely shared and borrowed.
So while Belizeans share the European or North American rituals of
decorating Christmas Trees , hanging lights outside their
homes, exchanging greeting cards and baking fruitcakes, they also look forward
to homegrown festivities. For what is a Belizean Christmas without a sip or two
of country wines, picking up a fork and grater and singing traditional "Brukdown"
songs like "Good Morning Miss Lady," and other favorites from
the Ole Time Creole Christmas "Bram"? Belizeans still wait to
greet the Garifuna Jonkuno dancers on
Christmas day, are enthralled by a performance of the Maya "Deer Dance" or a re-enactment of Mary and
Joseph looking for an inn as part of "Las Posadas."
Whatever
ethnic group or combination thereof, a Belizean may consider himself or herself
to be, one commonality is that Christmas is traditionally a time to visit family and friends. To prepare for all these
people making the rounds, weeks go into making everything like "new."
Everyone pitches in to clean the house from top to bottom, hang new curtains
and lay fresh "marley" (linoleum).
There
is a frenzy of baking, searching for fresh ingredients for
holiday meals, stocking up of rum and flagging down the coca-cola trucks
circling the neighborhoods to load up on cases of soft drinks.
The
typical Creole "kriol" Sunday dinner of rice and beans and potato salad is spiced
up at Christmas with the addition of turkey, stuffing AND ham in place of
stewed chicken followed by rich black fruit
cake laced with rum or brandy. The Mestizo specialty is white relleno,
a delicious soup with pork stuffed chicken or mechado olives, raisins, saffron,
or pebre roast pork with gravy all served with hot corn tortillas. Christmas dinner for the
majority of Mayans might be tamales with
chicken while families who raise pigs or turkey might use this as a substitute
for chicken on this special occasion.
Spirits
are an important part of the Christmas season, which in Belize lasts for two
weeks, longer than in some countries, yet considerably shorter than the
Belizean Christmases of the old mahogany cutting days. Back then, African
slaves, free laborers and more recently, in our grandparents' time, the Waikas,
an Amerindian group from Nicaragua, used to end their season in the forests
with a month-long "spree" in Belize Town, now Belize City.
Although
the settlement's men no longer find themselves separated from the womenfolk for
months at a time, the festive atmosphere and the free flow of money and rum,
remain.
So
does the pilgrimage to Belize City, specifically to downtown Albert Street to
buy their fancy curtain material, toys for the children or Christmas candies.
The buses are packed, and the streets are elbow-to-elbow as shoppers squeeze
their way past street vendors selling
special imports of apples, grapes and pears.
Central
American immigrants sell all manner of glassware and Christmas ornaments
on the street-side while the more permanent merchants, the descendants of
colonial families, or recent arrivals from India or Taiwan do a brisk trade in
everything imaginable, from clothing and shoes to porcelain figurines, television
sets and cd players.
Of
course it is not just about food, or shopping. With over 70% of Belizeans
considering themselves Christians, the celebration of the nacimiento (birth
of Christ) is well established throughout the country and across the various
cultures. Most celebrations from the Las Posadas to the Deer Dance include prayers, vigils and a midnight Mass or "Misa
de Gallo" on Christmas Eve.
So
as you can see, Belizeans still love their Christmas, and the various cultures
all contribute something unique to the holiday mix.
It is a great time of year to share in these traditions that have been handed
down for generations. Join us in Belize this
Christmas.
by Karla Heusner
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