CHRISTMAS IN JAMAICA
Refreshingly Secular and Non-Commercial Alternative
to Over-stressed, Over-hyped Holiday

by Terri Mandell
(for more on Jamaica, click HERE)

Be warned... this holiday article is brought to you by a set of parents who have run out of tolerance for the American winter holiday season. We're tired of being bombarded with warm fuzzy images of stable, nuclear families living warm fuzzy lives in snow-covered suburban homes where happy, healthy children open expensive gifts while a pair of married, biological parents look on. We're tired of tv sitcoms --already mindless enough -- that bring us "special holiday episodes" complete with miracles and personal transformations for characters who develop a sense of social responsibility for a few minutes once a year.

But what really pushed us over the edge was when we learned that Americans spend two billion dollars annually on Christmas gifts and accompanying paraphernalia. That's when we had to draw a hard line. Since our life is nothing like the lives of sitcom characters or the people in the Hallmark commercials and the religious elements of Christmas don't really resonate for our family, we made a point of looking for alternatives. We found one of the most delightful ones on the island of Jamaica.

AN ECLECTIC MIX OF EUROPE, AFRICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

Christmas in the Caribbean can be confusing to say the least. Much of it hearkens back to the plantation days, which paralleled our own shameful slavery era in the U.S (there was one big difference... the Africans who were enslaved in Jamaica actually freed themselves, but that's another story). In those days, slaves were given three days off for Christmas, usually beginning on Dec. 24th. They'd spend those days preparing a feast of chickens, pigs and whatever was on hand, and entertaining themselves and their masters with music, dancing and revelry. The more benevolent masters gave extra rations for the feasts, and on Christmas Eve, the sounds of music and joyful voices carried through the mountains and coastlines long into the night. There's a lot of speculation as to why the masters would allow such frivolity to continue for days on end, and one theory is that the slave owners were afraid that if they didn't, the slaves would revolt. The slaves revolted anyway, but that's another story.

In modern Jamaica the tradition of Christmas dancing has held fast, and has been translated into something called Johnkonnu, an event in which hundreds of costumed dancers form parades through the rural streets. And this is where it gets really interesting. Caribbean Christmas is melded together with something similar to our Halloween. The Johnkonnu dancers wear lavish, grotesque costumes and give themselves exotic names like Devil, Belly Woman, and Horse Head. Children get up early on Xmas morning and go house to house asking for treats, and the rural folk tell tales of ghosts and ghouls that come out this time of year. Touring streets, neighborhoods and villages is an essential part of the celebration as well. Friends move from party to party, and the religious chart their route to accommodate a midnight mass or early morning service. Contrary to American-style Christmas where everyone is nestled inside their homes, in Jamaica, everyone hits the streets. There are also firecrackers. It's a very eclectic holiday.

Although the religious element is in the background, it does exist, and Christian churches offer Christmas morning services and midnight mass. There are carolers, Christmas music is played on the radio stations, and even the requisite advertising is in place, reminding shoppers that there are only so many days left until Christmas. Many of the European food traditions are in evidence, including plum pudding, a Christmas goose, fruit cake, spiced punch, and a bread shaped like a duck with ducklings. But Jamaican cuisine is also an important part of the feasting, with local staples such as ackee and salt-fish, and Johnny cakes. Family and friends gather to share food and exchange gifts, and much of the gift giving traditions stem from an old British holiday known as "boxing day," on which the slave owners boxed up leftover food as gifts for the slaves. Boxing Day is a national holiday in many Caribbean countries,

WHERE TO STAY... CHRISTMAS OR OTHERWISE

During our Christmas visit, we stayed in two different resorts, both of which offer excellent programs of supervised activities and child care for kids. But the truest Christmas spirit was found at the Half Moon Resort in Montego Bay, where proprietor Elisabeth Simonitsch goes out of her way to create a memorable holiday experience.

Among other things, Elisabeth is the chairperson of SOS Children's Village, a home for abused, abandoned orphaned children. She genuinely cares about kids, and it's obvious when you witness her in the midst of Christmas preparation. Elisabeth makes her own hand-crafted ornaments out of local materials like dried fruit, seeds and shells, and uses them to decorate the 50-plus Christmas trees that she puts up all over the Half Moon property. The children's area of the resort is thoroughly decorated, and Elisabeth makes sure that kids receive a little gift every day through the month of December. Santa makes an appearance on the 25th, and in fact, Rastafarian Santas -- with red suits, white beards and dreadlocks -- can be seen on the beaches and in public places all over the island.

The Half Moon resort is pure elegance, as its sister resort, Round Hill Hotel and Villas in Montego Bay. At Round Hill, families occupy the 29 privately-owned villas on the property, and the whole place becomes one large extended family during the holiday season. Chorale singers serenade guests on Christmas Eve, and Christmas dinner is an international feast. Santa comes in on a boat with gifts for the children, and two big Christmas trees from the Blue Mountains grace the lobby and dining areas.

At both properties, as with Jamaica's many other family-friendly hotels and resorts, supervised children's activities -- crafts, movies, ecological adventures, talent shows, beachcombing, water sports and more -- are in full swing year round. And speaking of children's activities, there are several other resorts in Jamaica that cater specifically to families and cover a wide range of prices and packages. Over the years we've visited several of them, and return with our family year after year. The FDR Resort, Boscobel Beach, Beaches Negril, the Renaissance Jamaica Grande, Wyndham Rose Hall and Holiday Inn Sunspree are the most notable, but more and more of the hotels are catching on to the idea of providing child care so parents can enjoy some much-needed alone time. Travel agents or the Jamaica Tourist Board can help direct you to one best suited to your needs.

A Jamaican Christmas is not to be missed, particularly if you and your family are adventurous and enjoy seeking out new experiences. A tropical vacation with all traditional Christmas trimmings may sound a little odd to some folks, but for us, it was an imaginative and fun-filled way to get into the spirit of the season.

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