Paget's Belize Journal
The Preliminary Trip-
It Begins The Actual Stay-
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Dec 21, 1999 Is is really Christmas?Several of you have had the experience of trying to get into the Christmas spirit in a tropical clime. Just doesn't work for me. I put up my Christmas lights and got out my presents, wrapped and sent off some others (but not soon enough I fear), helped Tony and Therese and the kids put up their tree, but I'm just not there. No tree of my own or cookies or parties or meeting for a holiday lunch and not much shopping. Tony says (he's from Minnesota)that even after 15 years, it doesn't seem like a REAL Christmas to him. The trees are all artificial, but I have to tell you some of them look very good. Decorations on houses and stores are very similar to the states, except there isn't much in the way of Santa and reindeer, just lights and swags and so forth. The carolers have been out and I've seen whole pick-uploads of them drive by, they haven't caroled in my neighborhood. And, of course, the religious aspects are more central because the entire country isn't a big enough market to have been deluged with the buy, buy, buy advertising approach. Maybe that's what I miss. You think? One set of preparations that many people here seem to make is replacing floor coverings. Many floors here are covered in a plastic material called Marley. This is a sort of super-heavy contact paper that comes in many, many Formica-like patterns. There are probably 2 dozen places along the main street that have major rolls of this stuff out front and people are really buying. I gather you don't usually stick it down, though, because you need to pick it up to sweep under once in a while and also because the cockroaches like to live under it if you don't move it around every week or so. Lots of people also make new curtains and paint the house (not as major a project as you might think) so the town is looking quite spruced up. At Christmas time it's very clear that we have two different cultures operating here the Garifuna and the Latin. All the little Guatemalan and Mexican girls had beautiful new elaborate dresses for church last week and the stores that cater more to the Hispanic community have much more in the way of toys. And of course, secular Mexican Christmas decorations run to purple and blue sequins, so the street vendor displays are VERY bright. Wrapping paper is the same for everyone though. You can only buy it at the markets run by Asians so it's surely an Asian import. All of the paper is that plastic metallic, silver or gold on one side with a Christmas pattern on the other side. And it's quite expensive -- BZ$1.50 (US 75 cents) for a sheet about 3' by 3'. But it's the only paper I've found. I haven't been in many houses, but the ones I have been in, there are no presents under the tree. It might be one of those routines where all the presents show up on Christmas Eve. I have been invited to Tony and Therese's for Christmas breakfast. And told by Rebecca that I shouldn't be late, because they don't get to open presents until AFTER breakfast. Tonight we're going to Southwater Caye to spend the night. Some friends of T& T from Belize City and their visitors. I may be a third wheel, but T & T asked me and I want to go. Might end up being the nanny, but that's okay I guess. I'll let you know how the moon looks from out in the Caribbean. Sorry this isn't very inspired today. I've been working very hard and feeling homesick. A few Christmas greetings would surely help. Hope you all are having a grand holiday season. Everyone give each other hugs for me.
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