— how they will be spending Christmas

By Vishani Ragobeer
CHRISTMAS is the time of year when everyone celebrates the season in his/her own special
way. Most commonly, persons spend the day with their friends and families and enjoy the special Guyanese Christmas cuisine.
Speaking to some folk of the younger generation, they highlighted what this season means to them and how they would be spending Christmas, today.

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Sixteen-year-old Sarah Dos Ramos says, “Christmas is most definitely my favourite time of the year. I always start anticipating it from October.”
Sarah highlighted, “For me, Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ and focusing on why he came into the world,” but joked, “That’s not to say I don’t want gifts, though.”
“My family normally begins our Christmas in late November by playing music and cleaning, so by the first week in December we would have already finished decorating,” she said.
Similarly in her church, she noted that they try to decorate early because there are a lot of activities in December like a Christmas concert, Sunday school party, church party and caroling.
“Even though my Christmas is busy, I always try to make time for the most important thing for me… my family.”
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Teenage cousins, Felicia Collins and Chelsea James, say despite living and going to school in Georgetown throughout most of the year, they would be spending Christmas in their home community of Port Kaituma, Region One.
They explained that people from neighbouring mining communities such Arakaka, Matthew’s Ridge and Baramita flock the ‘Waterfront’ to shop their goods to make pepperpot, ginger beer, cassava bread and other Christmas treats.
Giving insight into Christmas Day celebrations in Region One, Collins said: “Here in Port Kaituma, we hardly eat pepperpot with bread, as cassava bread is a tradition for all,” while James said, “Then as night settles in the real party begins, every disco is packed and music plays until the morning light. Everyone goes home in broad daylight to prepare to do it all again on Boxing Day!”
“Christmas in Port Kaituma is one big party,” they both chimed. “Everyone knows everyone, there is so much togetherness; the festive atmosphere of people laughing and joking with each other is so contagious, that you can’t help but smile with everyone,” Collins told Guyana Chronicle.

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“Christmas is that time of year when Guyanese unite to celebrate two of the most important things in life: Jesus Christ…and food,” said Joash Gobin, 17.
Today, Joash said that he would be spending the day with his family– his mother, father, two brothers and sister.
He said his family usually spends Christmas Day revelling in a Guyanese Christmas manner — enjoying the scrumptious dishes only found in Guyana such as the black cake, pepperpot and the ginger beer and watching the classic Christmas movies- like Home Alone!
Joash also highlighted that this Christmas will be especially enjoyable to him and his siblings, as his mother will be returning home after teaching abroad for some time now.

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According to another 17-year-old, Ronaldo McGarrell, “Christmas is a time of celebration. Celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ is special, since He was the one to come to earth and die for my sins. He made the ultimate sacrifice of giving His life for me, so His birthday means a lot to me.”

Today, he disclosed that he will be attending church to start off his Christmas Day celebrations before spending the rest of the day with his family.

“Christmas is a time to come together and be happy without forgetting the real reason for the season,” he underscored.

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“Christmas is a religious and cultural day meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. This holiday is important to me as a Christian and as a youth, because it signifies the birth of my Lord and Saviour. Christ was born to die for my sins and a sacrifice like that deserves to be recognised,” Rebecca Geer said.
In addition to attending all of her church services and spending time with her loved ones, Geer noted that this season she intends joining with the youth group of her church and the Queen’s College Interact Club to give back to the community.
She feels that any such act of giving back, no matter how insignificant you may feel it is, will have some great impact.
“As youths we often feel that our efforts may not be significant, but this isn’t so. The Lord sees every baby step,” she contended, adding “Making someone happy gives a greater feeling than getting that new phone you wanted. It gives a greater feeling to see someone’s tears of joy.”

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“Christmas is that one time of the year where all your relatives come back and everyone is just always in a good mood. It’s like this one season where everyone is just family,” says Renuka Tiwari. “There’s so much laughter and good fun and of course, the usual Guyanese bacchanals.”
This year, Tiwari said she’ll be spending her Christmas a little different. “I’m being an elf for the Guyana Red Cross annual Christmas party, so that is guaranteed to be fun,” she exclaimed. Besides that, she intends on spending the usual family time sharing good stories and just having sheer fun.

For Cristal Lam, Christmas is about spending time with family and some friends, it’s about peace, love, harmony and the sharing, and it’s a time when we’re reminded about the birth of Jesus Christ.
“Over the years, I think we’ve lost the Christmas spirit,” she reflected, noting “It’s not the whole big, festive season as it used to be.”
She recalled that as a child, masqueraders would come around in her village or groups would pass around caroling. “Last year I didn’t see any of these,” she said sadly.
Despite all of this, she remains optimistic that today, on Christmas, her plans for Christmas is nothing big.
“I plan on spending it very quiet and simple with my family. Nothing big and fancy; just the regular cooking and baking that Christmas usually entails.”