Christmas Around the World: Jamaica
Our 10th and final day of our Christmas Around the World unit study played out a little differently. We went to…
Jamaica!
No, we did not really go to Jamaica, but we wish we did! Jamaica was the first country outside the US I’ve traveled to, and have been twice. Trip 1 was before we had kids, Trip 2 took place when my girls were 3 and almost 1. Now that I am older, I wish I took the time to really soak in the essence of Jamaica and appreciate it more, like I have done with all my travels since.
Alas, we will make our way back there someday! Until then, we will study culture at home and try to incorporate what we learn into our every day life! After all, we are not huge fans of ‘normal’.
Jamaica is a very small island in the Caribbean. It doesn’t take long for the locals to get from one town to another, so it makes sense that the Grand Market is where they gather for shopping and fun on Christmas Eve.
The Grand Market is open in every town and is where Jamaicans go for their Christmas festivities. It is a combination of a festival and a market and has street vendors, music, and shopping. It’s open on Christmas Eve and part of Christmas Day.
Some Jamaicans attend Christmas church services. Some go to the beach. No matter where they go, Christmas Day holds the biggest meal of the year. They eat ackee and saltfish, fresh fruit juices, rumcake, fried plantains, breadfruit, rice and peas, roast turkey, curry goat, oxtail stew, and of course, jerk chicken.
What We Did
For our Christmas in Jamaica, we decided to have Jamaican food at our extended family dinner!
We smoked our own jerk chicken. I bought the seasoning, which is sold locally in Jamaica, here.
We fried plantains!
And we had Jamaican rice, veggies, coco bread, crispy jerk potatoes, and coconut shrimp.
We opened gifts and hung out with Santa (or Saint Nick as he is called in Jamaica).
One Final Note
If you haven’t checked out all 10 days of our Christmas Around the World unit study, please do! We have had so much fun learning about Christmas in 10 separate countries, and all different! We are so excited to do this again next year! From babushka in Russia to decorating a Greek Christmas ship to making poinsettia ornaments from Mexico to eating Jamaican jerk chicken, we have had a blast.
Finally, I’m going to leave you with some photos from our Jamaica trips!
