Belize+Culture

Culture

The Culture reflects the harmony between the various ethnic groups .

toc Customs: - Courtesy is important to most Belizeans. It is not uncommon for strangers to greet each other on the street, even if they have never seen each other before, or for acquaintances to spend minutes at a time chatting, oblivious to waht is happening around them. - The Belizians have the idea of the mystical healing and Obeah. However, there is still talk of evil shaman practices, like putting Obeah on certain houses.

Food:
- Breakfast consists of bread (flour tortillas, Johnny cakes, or fry jacks), with various cheeses, refried beans and various forms of eggs or cereal with condensed milk. They often drink milk, coffee, tea, Milo, Ovaltine, Cocoa or orange juice with breakfast. - Eating breakfast is called “drinking tea.” - Midday meals vary from beans, rice with coconut milk, tamales, panades, meat pies, escabeche (onion soup), chilmole,stew chicken and gamaches (fried tortillas with beans, cheese and cabbage sauce) - Mealtime is a communion for families and schools, and some business close at midday for lunch, and will reopen later. - Dinner features som type of rice and beans, meat and salad or coleslaw. - Meals in rural areas are often much more simplified. - The Maya use recado, corn or maize for most meals. - The Garifuna are fond of seafood, cassava and vegetables. - Restaurants serve delicacies of the world, such as Chinese, Latin American and Creole. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">- Belize specializes on split peas and pigtail over rice, plantain dishes, rice and bean dishes along with meat dishes. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">- A popular beverage is Belikin Beer and coconut rum coupled with pineapple juice.

<span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;">Marriage & Family:
<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;">- Belizean weddings are commonly celebrated much like traditional American weddings; a ceremony that takes place inside a church followed by a reception where family and friends gather together to eat, drink, dance and celebrate. <span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;">- An increasing trend in common law relationships is resulting in more single parent households. <span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;">- Children often leave their parents home around the age of 20.

<span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;">Entertainment:
<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;">- Belizians love to celebrate and often do so with grand festivals, such as San Pedro International Costa Maya Festival, Belize Carnival and International Film Festival Belize.- Belize offers many happening bars, casinos and live bands.

<span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; text-align: left;">Sports:
<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;">- Most popular sports are soccer and basketball. <span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;">- Other sports include volleyball, track and field, jai-alai, boxing, cycling and softball. <span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;">- In recent years ice hockey, martial arts, billiards, chess, darts, canoeing and triathlons are starting to be introduced. <span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%; text-align: left;">- On Easter weekend an international cross-country cycling race is held.

<span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; text-align: left;">Music:
<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; text-align: left;">- Brukdown is a traditional Belizean music genre, which is famous in the logging camps and is played using banjo, guitar, drums, dingaling bell, accordion and a donkey's jawbone. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px;">- Other indigenous musical forms are Punta and Garifuna music.

<span style="color: #800080; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; text-align: left;">Art:
<span style="color: #0000ff; display: block; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 27px; text-align: left;">- Benjamin Nicholas, a famous Belizean artist, was born in 1930. He studied fine art and commercial art in Guatemala and the University of Minnesota. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">- Nicholas depicts the history, culture, and daily life of Garifuna people through his paintings. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">- Art galleries showcase some of the best pieces of Belizean art, and are open for tourists.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Education:
<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">The Belizean education system is based off of the British education system. It is broken into three levels: primary, secondary and tertiary. Belizean children being their eight years of primary education with two years of infant classes and six classes of standard classes.

<span style="color: #800080; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">Holidays:
<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">January 1 - New Year's Day <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">March 9 - Baron Bliss Day <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">March or April - Good Friday, Holy Saturday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">May 1 - Labour Day <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">May 24 - Commonwealth Day <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">September 10 - St. George's Caye Day <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">September 21 - National Independence Day <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">October 12 - Columbus Day <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">November 12 - Garifuna Day <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">December 25 - Christmas Day <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">December 26 - Boxing Day

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Impact,Charcoal,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">[[|Belize Culture]]


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