Christmas in the Tropics

My Christmas decorations

     This year, Christmas had a different feel to it. Apart from the huge crowds at the shopping mall, the extra long lines at the post office, and the uncontrollable excitement of students, it was hard for me to believe it was Christmas already.  Maybe it was because of the 85 degree weather, and the lack of real Christmas trees and "winteresque" Christmas music.  However, holidays such as Christmas are also the best way to learn more about a culture and its traditions.

At the Chanté Nwel

A student made his stocking for me

     In my classes, I shared what Christmas is like in my city, and my students told me about their Christmas traditions in Guadeloupe.  With the 6th graders, we made Christmas cards and stockings to give as gifts, and with the 9th graders we sang American and Guadeloupian Christmas carols and ate sweets. One of my favorite parts about teaching abroad is this type of cultural exchange.  I learned that one of their main Christmas traditions is Christmas caroling, or as they say, "Chanté Nwel." Christmas caroling parties are either held at someone's home and shared among friends and family, or there are public ones where you can pay a small fee to attend. There, people eat, dance, and sing traditional Creole Christmas songs or French ones that they have adapted to a Guadeloupian rhythm.  The sounds and beats are not what I would typically associate with Christmas, but I like it.  The upbeat music and the lively atmosphere makes everyone want to dance. I attended a Chanté Nwel, held at the airport, with my Bolivian friend and a Guadeloupian couple. To experience this traditional celebration, you can watch the video at the end.

     I was invited to spend Christmas with a teacher I work with and her family. On Christmas Eve, four other professors and I gathered at her house to have a traditional Guadeloupian  Christmas meal on the patio: Christmas ham, boudin (black pudding), stewed pork, rice, pigeon peas, red currant juice, and log cake. Dinner started at 10pm and finished around 1am with a cup of tea. But by then, the party was just getting started. The night continued with dancing and singing and lots of conversation in Creole that my brain could only attempt to keep up with. Even their five-year-old son stayed up and played with all the toys Santa had left under the tree when he wasn't looking. I spent the night at their house, going to bed just before 5am. Christmas morning I had breakfast with them and watched their son open the rest of the presents Santa had left him during the night. I eagerly joined in playing the games he received, remembering some of them from my childhood.  It's always hard being away from family during the holidays, but I am grateful to have had the opportunity to take part in another culture's celebrations and experience a different kind of Christmas spirit.

Video: Christmas in Guadeloupe

A strange sighting of Santa's sleigh