Being "from the Caribbean" is a state of mind, a state of being, the state of attitude and the cultural lifestyle.
When you're booking a trip to the Caribbean just be prepared for whatever comes your way. Travel with an open mind, experience the experiences, and enjoy it all no matter which destination you go to.
When traveling to the Caribbean be prepared to be exposed to our wide variety of the English language. Don't get me wrong, there are many of the countries/ islands that speak other languages, but English remains the most common language spoken. Each island has evolved the English language into a more "coded" English. So before you book your ticket, be sure to brush up on our dialects or should I say "lingo". Time isn't really that important to us, but we still for some reason don't like to waste our time finishing words in particular. So be prepared to play 'fill in the blanks'.
Going to a bigger country it's only fair that we try our best to articulate so that you won't have to ask us over and over "what did you say?" or "what language are you speaking?", trust me, that gets annoying. BUT you're coming in our backyard now, so stack up on those Q-Tips and brush up on the Caribbean LINGO!
I'll be quite honest with you! Watches and clocks in the Caribbean are only used for style and decoration. Hahaha, I'm, just kidding....or am I really?
When you get to the Caribbean, try not to be stuck on your formality. Time is a very valuable thing to us in the Caribbean, but our sense of time doesn't fall under the same criteria as the rest of the world. Chances are, if you're late you'll probably still be early. There's this unwritten understanding amongst ourselves that gives us the ability to judge what time is meant when a time is said. For example: If you're going to dinner for 8 o'clock and you're told you'll be picked up at 7, chances are that the person that's picking you up just got home at 7 and probably will get in the shower at 7:30 and pick you up at 8:30.
Trust me, it's not as bad it sounds. You'll be on time a few times, but I'm sure enough you'll get used to our clock work and manage to be a laterrrrrr (but still early)!
It may be acceptable for other countries to have their kids disrespecting their parents, trying to hit their parents or causing a tantrum in public, but NOT in the Caribbean. What I guarantee you will witness a lot in the Caribbean is parents giving their child "the look". That look is enough to calm any child, even yours if you do have one. That look simply means, "DON'T MAKE ME HAVE TO". In some cases you may see a parent physically disciplining their child (anywhere), please don't call the police! This may be different to you but in the Caribbean, that's just another day, so no need to be scared and call for help. It's a Caribbean thing.
If it's one thing we love in the Caribbean, it's food! I'm not talking about 'go to the store and buy pre-seasoned and supermarket cooked food'. I'm talking about homemade properly SEASONED food. I'm not talking about dry food, I'm talking about food covered in SAUCE. I'm talking about food that'll having you licking your fingers after because you'll be holding the juicy piece of meat with your fingers trying to get every last piece.
Before you come to the Caribbean be sure to have a post-vacation gym plan ready because Caribbean people love to stuff your mouth. Just be sure to have empty hands when going to buy local food because it'll require some muscle to carry that plate.
...........be prepared to hear complaints. Complaints not always about the way the country is operating, or work, or something that's within our control (although people tend to complain a lot about these things as well), but complaints about simple things. If you came from relatively warm country or cold country you might find the Caribbean weather very pleasing, but not us. We will complain it's too hot today, tomorrow and probably all the other 5 days of the week as well. Don't worry, when we go to a cold country we complain it's too cold as well, it's kind of hard to please us. We don't necessarily mean we hate the sun, but it's just a part of us to complain always.......it's in our jeans, I mean our genes!
Coming to the Caribbean doesn't require major adjustments, all it require is shorts pants, flip flops and an attitude to have a good time. Visit anywhere in the Caribbean, I guarantee that you'll have a blast. If anyone asks, tell them "I SAY SO!"......make sure add any Caribbean accent to that!
You're welcome in advance!!!
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