Traditions

Since we started our time away on our travel adventure we have had to change our views and practices on traditions. In Canada we celebrated Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas in the typical Canadian way. A big turkey dinner with family for Christmas, and a tree filled with presents and lights inside and out, costumes and lots of chocolate for Halloween and another big turkey dinner with family for Thanksgiving... to name a few things.

We have noticed that various countries don't celebrate the same way we do and have had to modify how we celebrate.

In Puerto Vallarta there are a lot of Canadian expats so restaurants will have Turkey dinners for Thanksgiving and Christmas. But in Barbados Turkey was available in grocery stores for Christmas only (a 'junior butterball' was $150 Cdn).

In Grenada no one serves Turkey dinners at all. Thanksgiving in Grenada is a public holiday commemorating the anniversary of the 1983 military intervention.

Halloween in PV was spent on the beach giving out candy to kids, most of whom don't wear a costume. There is no going door to door. This is unheard of. Of course the Cdn and American bars have costume parties. In Barbados and Grenada there was a party for the children but again no door to door activity. There isn't a lot of costumes for sale and it's a very low key affair. We didn't notice / hear of adults getting all dressed up and going to costume parties.

So far for Christmas we haven't seen any homes with decorations and Christmas trees lit up. We bought lights in PV and Barbados but that is all the decorating that any Canadian / American does. We brought the lights to Grenada and it will be interesting to see if anyone here decorates and how they celebrate.

One thing we participated in PV on Christmas was taking toys to the beach and giving them to the kids. However, this was started by an American many years ago. It's not a Mexican tradition.

We have changed how we celebrate seasons and now they are laid back, not going crazy buying candy, costumes, decorations, gifts, etc. We find it a much better way of celebrating. We spend time doing what we like to do (going to the beach / pool / visiting friends) and just relaxing. I don't know if Jan and I could go back to the old ways of putting up a tree, decorating the rooms to be festive, wearing a costume, etc. At this point in time we don't miss it at all.

Life is simpler. Here's a nice sunset photo with palm trees....