“On Christmas day you must have guava berry in your house. It is no Christmas in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) without guava berry liquor! It is no Christmas unless you have cassava bread! It is no Christmas unless you have corn pork.

On old year’s night, it does not matter where in the world I am, I am haunted to find a Jamaican store to purchase Callaloo to cook with some fungi. It is not old year’s night in the BVI unless you have Callaloo and fungi. It is no Christmas without cane rum in your house. This is our traditions that we have in the BVI which must be passed on to the younger generation.”

The above is a statement made by one of British Virgin Islands cultural icon during an interview with my son about a month ago. My son was questioning her about her role in the cultural development of the island as part of his SBA project for the CXC (Caribbean Examination).

Christmas traditions are also firmly rooted in the culture of these islands that I adopted as my home in 2001. My first Christmas in the BVI was a culture shock for me. I was naively under the impression that Jamaica and the BVI shared similar customs because we are part of the Caribbean.

My First Christmas in the BVI

As the beginning of December approached I began to make preparation for my usual Christmas celebration. First I decided to gather my ingredients for my Christmas cake. Usually, we would soak our fruits in wine from the year before but seeing that I had to relocate at the beginning of the year I had no time to do this.

So I hurried to the supermarket to get my fruits and wine. I found all the dried fruits that I needed, but I could not locate the right type of wine and rum. There were other brands but in my opinion they were not good enough for my Christmas cake.

I searched every supermarket on the entire island and could not find the special brand of wine and rum that I needed. These unavailable items were the beginning of a nightmare for me because I could not locate most of the key ingredients and spices that were needed to make my sorrel drink and Christmas dinner.

The supermarkets did not carry the fresh Gungo peas in the pods nor fresh ackee. There were other substitutes available, but I was hooked on natural Jamaican products.

Every Christmas season in Jamaica the houses and yards have to be cleaned and painted. In Jamaica, I owned my house, so it was was properly maintained. However, here in the BVI, I was now renting an apartment, so the Landlord was responsible for its maintenance.

I did my usual spring cleaning of the apartment, scrubbing all the windows and walls while waiting to receive a tin of paint or permission to paint the apartment from the Landlord. I waited in vain. No one seemed concern about the outward appearance of the apartment building. I then realized that painting the fence and buildings were not a priority during the Christmas season for most people on the islands; but for me this was a big disappointment.

I was told that there was no Grand Market in the BVI on Christmas Eve. While living in Kingston, Jamaica, during my adulthood I was accustomed to the huge shopping market (Grand Market) in down town Kingston on Christmas Eve.

Grand Market is the shopping center to shop for all your Christmas gifts and items. Numerous vendors and people from all over the island gathered at the market. The vendors sell their wares from a pin to an anchor, and multiple people purchase their goods in large quantities whether they need them or not.

Many local stores were in the BVI, but their goods were expensive. Since I could not afford to shop at these stores, then there would be no gifts for my children.

So far it appeared as if my first Christmas in the BVI was going to be a big flop. I could not foresee a celebration because:

It is no Christmas without…

My authentic Jamaican fruit cake, Sorrel drink, Jamaican food, a freshly painted house and a shopping spree.

Therefore in my mind I decided that Christmas had to be postponed that year, and I resigned myself to this. However, my children who were two and four years old at the time did not care about Christmas traditions. They were looking forward to their new toys and clothes. With this realization I was forced to set aside my partiality and change my mind set.  The following were my decisions.

Create my own Christmas traditions with my family

Even though traditions are passed down from one generation to the next, there is no reason why you cannot create your own family traditions. Only you can make them unique and meaningful for the entire family. I learned to forsake old Christmas traditions and create my own.

Substitute other ingredients

I decided to substitute other brands of wine and rum to make my fruit cake. Suffice it to say my cake did not taste the Jamaican way but we enjoyed it just the same.

I elected to use the canned Pigeon peas in my rice and peas. The taste, however, had to be acquired.

One of my friend who was studying food chemistry at the time persuaded me to purchase the canned ackee. She assured me that it was safe and tasted the same as the fresh ones. She was right.

Embrace the Christmas traditions in my new home country

I was advised to take my children to Christmas on Main Street on the first weekend in December. The occasion was a two-day event where the vendors showcased their goods, local food, and drinks. These were displayed in booths under tents on the main street. There were also performances during the event such as dances, Christmas songs and local bands.

My favorite band is the Fungi Band. The band played and sang the local Christmas songs on instruments such as the fife, cow bell, claves, banjo, bath pan bass, conga drums, saxophones, mouth organ, squash and the guitar.

My children were excited to receive the blown up plastic toys and the flashing trinkets. Christmas on Main Street became an annual event that they looked forward to attending.

At the annual Christmas dinner at church, my family and I were introduced to the local tarts made from guava Berry, pineapple or coconut, the cassava or coconut bread and the local drinks.  The guava berry is a small berry grown on trees around the BVI. The berries are cooked with sugar to make a jelly then used as the filing for the tarts.

When I arrived on the island I was advised that shopping on the United State Island of St. Thomas was much cheaper. So I decided to take the trip on the local ferry with my children on the weekend before Christmas. It was our first time sailing on a boat and the children were thrilled. We bought toys, clothes kitchen appliances, and household goods.

Hence every Christmas season for eight years found us in St. Thomas doing our Christmas shopping. The trips were very tiring, and you had to pay customs duties on all the goods that were purchased abroad. After a while I realized that the exhaustion and harassment of hauling the large bags and boxes were not worth the cheaper prices for the goods which after computing duties and boat fares did not turn out to be cheap after all. So I abandoned that practice.

Twice the blessings!

In spite of the fact that I was not in Jamaica, I still had a Jamaican Christmas because my Jamaican neighbors invited my family to their annual Christmas party. They served all the Jamaican authentic food to let us feel at home. My friend also sent me one of her fruit cake all the way from Jamaica by FedEx.

So I was blessed during my initial years in the BVI because I enjoyed Christmas in the customs of both countries. The lesson that I learned is that Christmas is not just about a particular food or drink, it is not about the decorations and lights. It is certainly not about the partying or shopping.

The Christmas season represents the time of year where we can focus on giving God thanks for our life and for sending His Son to die for our sins so that we can live an abundant and everlasting life with our Creator. Christmas is about uniting our family and friends together in an atmosphere of love and support.

So it does not matter where you spend Christmas you can still enjoy it when you embrace the real meaning of Christmas.

Make your home a paradise filled with love, warmth, peace and happiness during this Christmas season.