By Svetlana Marshall
Whether it’s the sweet aroma of the pepperpot, the tantalisingly delicious black cake or the laughter of family members, few things are more reminiscent of Guyana, to Dr. Terrence Blackman, than Christmas time.

He, like thousands of Guyanese, left these shores to pursue higher education, and though it has been more than 30 years since he migrated, Guyana remains his first love. Nothing brings out the Guyana in him like Christmas – his favourite time of the year.

“I grew up in North Ruimveldt and at Christmas time we could look forward to a brand new house: new curtains, new furniture, freshly polished floors, fairy lights, clean windows, the smell of black cake and freshly made pepper pot and baked bread. Pickled onions, black cake and ham,” Dr. Blackman told Guyana Chronicle as he took a walk down memory lane.
The soon to be 51-year-old, who now resides in Jersey City, NJ, ensures that his Guyanese Christmas traditions are upheld – after all there is nothing like a ‘Guyanese Christmas.’
“We gather at my parent’s home in Brooklyn for food and family. My father, Terrence Blackman Sr., is one of the best makers of pepperpot in Brooklyn,” Dr. Blackman said with a smile on his face. “My sister, Mrs. Nichelle Davis,” he added, “had taken up the Black Cake making mantle that has been passed down from my grandmother and my aunts.”

Unlike, the Christmases of yesteryear, the Associate Mathematics Professor at the Medgar Evers College, CUNY will not be spending this Christmas in Brooklyn but rest assured he is taking his Guyanese traditions with him.

Christmas in Oslo

“This Christmas, I will miss some of the celebrations in Brooklyn with my extended family; my immediate family and I are heading to Moscow via Norway. We will spend Christmas this year in Oslo, Norway and break the New Year in Moscow!” he shared with the Guyana Chronicle.

Does he miss the “sweetness” of Guyana at Christmas? Yes, he does! “I miss going to Guyana Stores on Christmas Eve night, I miss the excitement of waking up and looking in the stockings for gifts from Santa, I miss the gathering of friends and family on Boxing Day and the board games, scrabble, monopoly, ludo, Snakes and Ladders etc. that we played. It is difficult to sustain this aspect of the Guyanese Christmas culture and Santa mystery in America,” he said.

From a distant land, Dr. Blackman sends his love to his Guyanese people. “I want to wish all Guyanese, in particular, each and every one of your readers the very best wishes for Christmas and a productive and prosperous 2020. We have indeed been blessed with a new decade is upon us!”

A sense of hope
For 30-year-old Sandy Williams, owner of Selah Scents, Christmas provides a sense of hope. “Something about Christmas gives me hope to carry through the rest of the New Year that comes shortly after,” she told the Guyana Chronicle from her Atlanta, Georgia home. Though she has been living in the United States of America (U.S.A) for the past three years, Williams, like Dr. Blackman, maintains her rich Guyanese tradition, especially at Christmas.

“Now that I live in USA, I try extra hard to preserve everything I learnt from my late Grandmother. Christmas was our time. She made me clean everything and I did it with no fussing, as I would fuss during the year. I cook all our traditional foods from My Grandma’s Socil Christmas breakfast: garlic pork, pepper pot, ginger beer, baked ham, bread, black cake and a stuffed deep fried chicken,” Williams shared.

She added: “Even though it is just my husband and I, I ensure I do every dish because it makes me miss her less and cherishes the 28 great Christmases I had with her.” But Williams couldn’t help but to admit that, this Christmas like the others, she would be missing her family back home. “The thing I miss the most about Christmas is Guyana is having my 6 sisters, brother and grandfather with me. Those 8 human beings mean the most to me, so it’s hard to wake up Christmas morning without them. But phone calls make it better,” she told this newspaper.

A Teacher by day and an entrepreneurial soaper by night Williams has taken on a new profession – Mrs. Clause. This year, the former West Coast Demerara resident is on a mission to bring further cheer to the persons who have positively impacted her life in 2019.
“This year was full of lessons of how some people just take but never give. I went the extra mile to say thank you to the people in my life that kept it 100 with me,” she said.

As the Owner of Selah Scents, Williams was also able to make her first shipping of presents to Guyana. “My brand shipped over 55 gift packages purchased by Guyanese this Christmas. 2019 was an awesome year for Selah Scents adventures in Guyana – we shipped a total of 1200 lbs. of soaps to our Guyanese customers. The support has been overwhelming and we are truly grateful,” Williams recounted.

Food and family
For 30-year-old Shamisa Anthony – Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SDA Legal Research Clinic, Christmas is about celebration, food and mostly family.
“Nothing honestly beats spending quality time with your family and friends. The conversations are always funny and entertaining. You create more memories as you reminisce on the old ones. Laughter is in the air and so is a good time,” Anthony told Guyana Chronicle. She has been living in the U.S since 2007.

Growing up in Linden, Anthony celebrated Christmas with her mother, aunts, cousins and grandfather. This time around, she travelled to Canada to do just that, celebrate Christmas with those closest to her.

For many, James Richmond is a “true-true” Guyanese. The poet, who hails from the Village of Hopetown on the West Coast of Berbice, is determined to have a good old Guyanese Christmas.

At the time of the interview, Richmond, who also resides in the U.S was adding his finishing touches to his home for the grand Christmas celebrations.

I like spending Christmas the traditional way – with family and friends. With all of the Guyanese foods: black cake, pepper pot, roti,” he told Guyana Chronicle as he took a break from the housing cleaning.

Twenty-nine-year-old Shanteal Alleyne, will experience Christmas like she has never did before but looks forward to creating great memories with her family and friends in Bavaria, Germany. “This is my first time celebrating the festive season here in Germany but from the little I have gathered so far, I can tell you that Germans are big on Christmas,” wife and mother of one told this newspaper.

Alleyne, hails from Wismar, Linden said she is soaking up the new Christmas experience. “There are so many activities, Christmas tree cutting exercises, countless Christmas markets hosting about 20,000 plus people from all over the world. I am blown away. Well for the simple fact that the Christmas tree tradition was started in Germany, you can understand how the country goes all out for Christmas,” she said while bubbling with excitement.

Though thrilled by the German experienced thus car, Alleyne said she would never give up on her Guyanese Christmas traditions like pepperpot and bread on Christmas morning. “The truth is no one makes pepper pot like Guyanese and if you don’t have the correct ingredients I think you should just forget it! I have looked everywhere for the ingredients to make pepper pot but to no avail,” she shared.

Food aside, the journalist and radio broadcaster said family forms a major part of Christmas.

“There is no Christmas without family…The feeling of being around them is priceless at this

time. I celebrate my Christmas with family and friends we have this yearly tradition where selected family members choose a day after the 25th and everyone heads over at their house to celebrate. It’s wonderful. We play games, cook food, talk stories, crack jokes and of course Guyanese love to make jokes of one another, it’s wonderful,” Alleyne shared.
Like most Guyanese, Christmas is Whitney Persaud’s favorite time of the year.
“Jesus is the reason for the season and mostly owing to this reason and the spirit of festivity, people from all over, our families and friends make an extra effort to be nice, I mean, they’re nice all year around but I love the Christmas season mostly because we really reach into our hearts, taking the extra time to show love and kindness, not only to our families but to everyone,” Persaud told the Guyana Chronicle.

Formerly of Georgetown, Persaud, who now lives in New Jersey, said thought her family didn’t have it all for Christmas, the times spent and memories created are invaluable.
“Growing up we were never fancy because we didn’t have a lot but Christmas meant a lot to us because we were able to enjoy each other during this time more. We’d sit and eat and drink together, have friends over and just be merry and bright,” she recalled.
Christmas is partially different for her, now that she lives in the U.S.

“I spend Christmas working and that’s what I did for the past five years since I left home. My sister lives here as well but we hardly get to spend Christmas together because I’m mostly usually working. We hardly to get time together period because of busy and demanding lifestyle is here,” Persaud explained. Simply put, Persaud says she misses home especially at Christmas. “I miss Christmas in Guyana as matter of fact I wanted to come home this year but I couldn’t , hopefully next year I’ll be able to do that so I can truly relive the joys and real meaning of the season.”

Until December 2020, Persaud the memories created will suffice but rest assured she will be home for Christmas next year.