We have reached the end of the first week of December.
Without knowing exactly how, we find ourselves on the island of Barbados, staying on the outskirts of the capital, Bridgetown. Day after day, we explore its colonial center.
Little by little, we pick up on the mannerisms of the city and its people, as a rule, given over to the lives they lead, with the exception of a few tour agency agents who, positioned on the Chamberlain Bridge, impose catamaran tours off the coast. west of the island, with its infallible sunsets.
Little or nothing changes, on the city's jetty and in the two main squares that delimit it, that of National Heroes and Independence, achieved in 1966 from the United Kingdom, after joining the failed Federation of the West Indies (1958-62).
Since then, the island nation has evolved into one of the most prosperous democratic states in the Antilles. In such a stable way that its armed forces only have around eight hundred enlisted personnel, reinforced by members between the ages of 14 and 18 who are part of the Barbados Cadet Corps.
We revisited Bridgetown on December 13th. As the afternoon gives way to night, it is the Barbadian armed forces and their cadets, supported by several volunteers, who carry out the only metamorphosis worth recording in the capital.
Tropical Christmas in Bridgetown, Barbados
They unload plastic Christmas trees from trucks.
In an obvious exercise of coordination and decorative sensitivity, they distribute them in front of the Parliament Building and around the National Heroes Square.
When we examine them, we realize that in a certain section, each tree represents a country, especially from the vast Commonwealth, which the nation of Barbados continues to be part of.
The military thus, with the patience of a camouflaged saint, compose decorations alluding to their respective countries.
Christmas ball, after Christmas ball, ribbon after ribbon, with a special place for a myriad of messages cut out and filled in, we believe by children of these nations.
The days continue to flow, on the way to December 25th, the most important Christian date.
As we wander through the shopping streets of Bridgetown, we found that businesspeople also adhered to the spirit of the time, even if in its pagan form.
Christmas Spirit in Stores and Emanating from Monuments
It's 30º Celsius, or almost 30º, typical of the dry season in Barbados.
Despite the tropical heat, several stores place snowmen, Santa Clauses and penguins above their entrances.
Sales promoters, with megaphones at the ready, announce the day's Christmas promotions.
As soon as the sun disappears, the Parliament Building It stands out in an ethereal red, with a contrasting green emanating from the pointed entrances.
Raised at one end of the complex's top tower, the yellow-blue flag with a centered trident, of Barbados, fluctuates according to the breeze.
We crossed the Broad street to the domain of Heroes' Square and, to the entrance to Chamberlain Bridge.
The Nativity also occupies its space there. On a side wall, between imperial palm trees and the masts of anchored sailboats, we come across a nativity scene.
A Nativity Scene in Bridgetown's Independence Square
Joseph, Mary, Jesus Christ and the wise men appear together in a comfort made of straw bales.
As soon as the sky darkens and the Christmas trees and other decorations sparkle, the characters' dolls also light up against the stars that adorn the sky.
Children are photographed with their mothers. Entire families ask us to photograph them with their phones.
Since some time after the British landed them on the island, as African slaves, most Barbadians have felt a moving fascination with that figurative birth of the Savior.
Intense missionary action and the influence of British society made slaves and their descendants Christians.
Today, this religious heritage is more ramified than ever, although diluted in countless and exuberant pagan celebrations.
The Christian Diversity of the Island of Barbados
More than 20% of Barbadians are Anglicans. Many others are Pentecostal and, just over 15% are divided between Baptists, Moravians, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses. There are also Seventh-day Adventists, Methodists, Wesleyans, Nazarenes and followers of the Church of God.
Barbados also has a small but active Jewish community. It is made up of descendants of the diaspora caused by the persecution and expulsion decreed by the Inquisition in the Iberian Peninsula which, at the end of the XNUMXth century, forced Jews to flee, first to Dutch Brazil, later, after Portugal had conquered Dutch territories, to Curaçao. and other Caribbean islands, including Barbados.
In Bridgetown's Jewish cemetery, tombstones with Portuguese names and surnames abound. The religious life of local Jews revolves around the Nidhe Israel synagogue and the city's historic Jewish quarter.
Bridgetown's Christmas Tradition
It takes place on the sidelines of masses held in St. Michaels Cathedral and in not-so-imposing Christian temples.
On the morning of December 25th, as happens year after year, believing Barbadians dress in the best old-fashioned and avant-garde outfits on the island.
They gather at Queen's Park in Bridgetown, inspired to renew their faith in a marathon ceremony that lasts from 6 am to 11 am, animated by the music of the Royal Barbados Police Force Band, by a Tuk Band and other actors who lend it an impressive Gospel rhythm.
Bajans atheists or those little motivated by religious meetings, sleep later. They already bring the party from the night before, in bars with live shows like “Harbour Lights”, which we still had time to watch.
The contingencies of the trip dictated that we were no longer in Bridgetown to witness the Christmas celebrations.
We had been exploring Barbados for almost ten days. With several Lesser Antilles still in our plans, to the south and west, it was urgent that we continue.
Short Trip from Barbados to Grenada
Accordingly, we flew to the neighboring island of Grenada, famous for its superior quality spices that earned it the epithet Spice Island.
Spice Island is, however, as well or better known for the Invasion of Grenada carried out in 1983 by Ronald Reagan's United States and a coalition of forces from six Caribbean nations, as a response to the confrontation between Maurice Bishop's communist faction that imposed itself, in 1979, via coup d'état, and its opponents, aligned with the USA and the democratic world.
Among these six nations was Barbados.
The island authorities even authorized the American forces tasked with invading Grenada to leave Barbados, with the official justification that the operation “Urgent Fury” was necessary to guarantee the protection of more than six hundred Americans studying medicine on the island and prevent them from being used as hostages.
The Caribbean beauty and exoticism of Granada retain us for a series of days. We literally turn it around. We visited spice processing units and the Grand Etang forest reserve.
On the east coast, we walked along the old runway at Pearls Airport, abandoned after the American invasion. There we entertained ourselves by staging photos inside one of the Antonov planes that the URSS offered to Cuba and that there they saw the end of the line.
In this hustle and bustle of discovering the four corners of the island, we arrived on December 24th. We bought tickets for the next destination, Trinidad and Tobago.
In the meantime, we realized that we were about Christmas. In the capital's churches and cathedrals Saint George, masses comparable to those in Bridgetown are prepared.
Somewhat fed up with wandering around the only city of Granada, we used the Christmas pretext to decompress from the photographic frenzy of almost every day.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Bathing, Near Saint George
We aim for Grande Anse beach, on the outskirts of the city. We stocked up on mojitos and piña coladas. We savor them in the Caribbean Sea, cooled by the northern hemisphere winter, yet still warm.
We sunbathed, read about Granada and other islands we had passed by. We watched a kids' beach soccer match.
Just before the sun set for the other half of the world, we moved to the terrace of the restaurant-bar “Umbrella".
Despite the name, the chance of rain remains almost nil.
They offer us and other customers, Christmas caps and red beaded necklaces.
We take time to send seasonal messages to friends and call family, something that continues throughout dinner.
Little by little, animated by a band also performing in red and white caps, the “Umbrella” surrenders to the Christmas spirit.
Customers sing the best-known hits.
Some find space on the lower floor and dance, playing with the establishment's happy-go-lucky employees.
The tiredness from the long walks the day before makes us leave sooner than we thought.
We woke up on the 25th rejuvenated. We noticed that practically everything is closed, in Saint George's and on the island of Grenada.
With the fresh memory of the pleasant rest that the bay of Grande Anse had given us, that's where we returned. We are committed to celebrating the sand, the sun and the sea, the simple life of the Caribbean, the voluntary distance from home.
And from any home.
