One of the first songs that come to mind when looking at the title is that Slingshot hit ‘Spending We Christmas In Guyana.’ It is by far one of the closest embodiment of what Christmas is actually like in Guyana. From cleaning and decorating, to masquerading and then the variety of treats on Christmas day. Some like ginger beer and pepperpot, synonymous with the festivities in Guyana.
In Guyana, the main reason for celebrating Christmas is to have the best home ready for the Christ Child. From mid-November, new curtains and chair coverings are made or, old ones are cleaned and ironed. The same is done for bed sheets and pillow cases. The furniture is also stripped of varnish and polish from the previous year, sandpapered and refinished to get rid of any marks and spots that it would have gathered throughout the previous year.
No Christmas celebration is complete without food and drink. Usually, two types of cakes are made, one with the red cherries and raisins, the normal sponge cake as we call them and then of course the more popular one, black cake. Local drinks are made separately from ginger, sun-dried sorrel, and the mauby bark, and wine from the jamoon fruit.
Ham is imported and, as such, is purchased especially only at Christmas. If the ham is smoked for shipping, it is boiled for several hours in a huge pot or tin can. If it is pre-cooked, it is baked in the oven. In both cases, after the ham is cooked, it is decorated with cloves which add a pleasant flavor and scent. On Christmas morning, the first meal is eaten with freshly baked bread which is served with ham and Worcestershire Sauce and/or mustard. Also served with bread are pepperpot and garlic pork. Pepperpot is made primarily of beef and pork which are cooked with casareep, an extract from the cassava root. This dish is indigenous to the Amerindians who are native Indians in Guyana. Garlic pork is made by marinating pork in garlic and other spices mixed with vinegar, then fried.
Starting early in the afternoon of Christmas Day, in many villages of Guyana, there are the traditional masquerade bands and steel bands which provide entertainment along a four or five mile stretch of road. The masquerade bands consist of people, dressed in colorful costumes, who dance to the beat of drums. Some of these costumes include “Mother Sally,” who is someone in a long dress with straw hat and dances on tall wooden stilts; and “the Cow,” worn over the shoulders of someone, who dances as well as charges at children jumping out of the way for the fun of it. Later on, the steel band with people playing the steel drums come and are followed by a crowd of people from the villages as they dance in the street.
Occasionally, members of the masquerade and steel bands would stop in front of the home of someone they know well to get some rest. They usually go into the home to have a schnapp of rum and a “cutter” which could be a piece of ham or cheese or something with a little bit of salt. Then off they would go again.
To Guyanese, Christmas is symbolic of new birth within one’s soul as well as the remembrance of the birth of the baby, Jesus. Consequently, there are resolutions that are made to live a more Christ-centered life. Now, how long these resolutions remain in effect is another thing. Maybe, that is why we also make New Year’s resolutions.
(In photo: Christmas Village on Main Street)
