Celebration

November 19 is a very important date, here in Belize, for two reasons: it is Kori's birthday and it is Garifuna settlement day. So we celebrated both! Garifuna settlement day (GSD) was to start on the beach in town at 6:30 am with a reenactment. In typical Belize style, we were there by 6:30 and the re-enactment started promptly at 9:00 am. It was quite a sight, though. Two dugout canoes came in to the bay and one of them 'docked' on the beach where one of the boatmen got out and read a list of the Garinagu on the boats and asked the 'governor' for permission to come into Belice. The governor initially says 'no' and the boatman returns to the boat ... but wait ... they are all tired and hungry so the boatman returns to the governor and begs on bended knee for permission to land. The governor relents and the boatmen come to shore. This re-enacts the events in the early 1800's when 2000 Garifuna people left St. Vincent and came to Belize (then Belice) to escape persecution. As the boatmen come ashore (in the re-enactment) to singing and drums, they parade to the church for morning mass. I should mention here that almost all of the Garifuna participants and not a few of the audience have been drinking all night and the mass is actually the end of the celebration for them rather than the beginning. Here are some pictures of the day:





Garifuna women and little girl in traditional dress headed for the beach.
















The drummers, dancers and singers provide background music for the re-enactment. The blue flag is the flag of Belize; the yellow and black is the Garifuna flag; the women are in traditional dress and the drums are still a big part of the culture here in Hopkins. They can be heard almost every night and definitely at every celebration and funeral.



Garifuna kids are so cute in traditional dress!! Also love the braids.

















These guys were coming to the end of their party. They are holding some of the symbols of Belize and the Garifuna: shakers; the garifuna flag and Belikin Beer! It was quite a party! Later we went horseback riding in the jungle to celebrate Kori's 13th birthday .... but that's a story for another blog.