What is Christmas like on Island?

It's funny that this seems like an odd question if you live here, but then I went back to Christmas no. one, and realized I had no idea of what to expect. In short, good question.

The holidays begin just after Thanksgiving and don't end until after Three Kings Day. It seemed to me that pretty much the whole island was in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious celebration. It is not the best time to apply for a job, as a lot gets put off until after this period.

There are street fairs (jump ups), art walks, events of all sorts both during the week and on the weekends. Lights are everywhere on the streets, the music from the bars pours out onto the streets and it seems that everyone is in a good mood all of the time.

I'm not sure of what the local culture does in terms of it being more religious vs more commercial (i.e. gift giving, etc.), but I know that after a month of celebration, this house just had a peaceful but special meal on Christmas Day. Then we went to the beach.

I'm not sure this would serve as the perspective of everyone, but that is how it struck me. All in all, a good time was had, however I chose to participate in only some of the activities. When I looked at the events calendar in the paper, I realized that I could go into a state of exhaustion that might last until March, just in time for the Agricultural Fair and then Carnival. Oy.

Have fun,

Dan

Lena: Christmas is a big season here. Yes, K-Mart will have decorations. But buy them the minute you see them!! Some of the fun things on St Thomas include: Miracle on Main Street, the lights on all the government buildings ("Heck, why worry about the cost? We don't pay WAPA!"), Christmas parties, special Christmas foods like guavaberry, Christmas songs like "How Will Santa Get Here?", Christmas morning caroling at Emancipation Gardens, etc. One very funny thing is that although islanders are typically unabashedly Christian, they are painfully politically correct and will wish you "Season's greetings." Oh, yes there is also Kwaanza, Old Year's Night, Three Kings Day and festival on St Croix. Bamboushay!!!

I had the pleasure of visiting BOTH K-Marts on STX yesterday afternoon. 🙂 And yes... the Christmas items have arrived!

I didn't see any Christmas cards yet though. I plan to send tropical themed cards out this year and am anxious to get started on them. (Yep, I'm a Christmas nut!)

If anyone has any tips on the best place(s) to get nice, but not outrageously expensive, Caribbean-themed Christmas cards on STX, I'd love to hear them.

There is an online store, perhaps associated with this board that sells wonderful cards. They do deliver in about 2 weeks, so ordering I imagine is about to start if it hasn't already. If you cannot find the link or store, let me know and I will see if I can search it down again. Oh, and there are about 12 card types to choose from.

Dan

Thanks Dan. I'll do a search of this site and see what I can come up with.
You are definitely the "go-to" guy for STX info. 🙂

Here's what I found:

On vitraders.com, I clicked on Christmas in the left panel.

http://www.vitraders.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=V&Category_Code=xmas

Message on page:

Virgin Islands Christmas Ornaments & Warm Weather Christmas Cards

Bookmark this site and check back in mid-September 2006 for a great selection of Island Christmas Cards & Virgin Islands Ornaments with themes like Santa on the Beach, Tropical Christmas Scenes, Beach Christmas Cards and more Island Holiday Greeting Cards.

So... I'll check back in... um... a couple of days. 🙂