Healthy Island Living: Black Friday in the Caribbean

I grew up in a home that did not celebrate holidays. We had fireworks on new years, and an occasional birthday party, but nothing else. Not until my college years did I finally bake pumpkin seeds on Halloween or have Christmas parties with friends.

Fast forward several years. I know we are too much of a commercial society. People are too materialistic. On the island? Same same, but different.

Christmas is not as huge a commercial production as it is in other parts of the world. And lots of the excitement is geared towards J'ouvert/Carnival on the day after Christmas. However, there still is gift-giving and family dinners. And to match the occasion, the government sponsors VAT (value added tax) free/reduced days around the holiday season. This year there were two: during one, I worked; during the second, I joined the crowd and had a ball! It's basically a government mandated 12% sale on everything (except gas, I found out).

I planned this out. It was premeditated. A few days ago, I found awesome, Caribbean-tastic, gaudy-yet-classy shoes that I could maybe swing in the States. And after the long days of waiting, I made a B-line to my prizes (see photos).

In all, I got 2 pairs of stilettos for $30 US each, a pair of cheap sunglasses, a butt load of groceries, and a bike lock (while swearing to bike to work consistently). I was pretty proud of my non-essential purchases being under $100 US. Then I went online and shopped the REI sale-LOL. Things are very expensive elsewhere in the world.

With the Nevis pots and these fancy high-heels, I'll have functional souvenirs to remind me of this wonderful place. I just need to go somewhere fancy . . .