Belize Culture and Customs

Welcome signs are everywhere, as beautiful Belize people extend their welcome. Belize culture and customs make this corner of paradise what it is.

With a mixture of cultural backgrounds you can blend in easily without sticking out like a sore thumb. Does the place remind you of home somehow? Be it the clothes, the music, or the food, something will be familiar, yet so different.

Language of The Belize Culture

Belize is the only English speaking country in Central America, their second language being Spanish. But also Garifuna is spoken too, but struggling to be preserved, and the primary language of the Mayan culture is the language their ancestors spoke.

Chinese and Indian speaking people migrated here also and continue to speak their own language.

Here are some words in Garifuna and Mayan that you can learn to say on your visit to Belize.

Garifuna

If you want to learn more phrases, you can visit the Garifuna Institute website and use their online dictionary.

Now for the Mayan phrases.

Mayan

You can find an online dictionary for some more Mayan language phrase here - http://www.mostlymaya.com/EnglishMayan.html

Dress

Belize People dress mostly in Western style clothing, well without the woolly winter sweaters of course. But when you have a chance to see the Mayan in their traditional clothes, it adds to the exoticness of the place. They also sell brightly coloured blankets, fabrics, woven circle baskets, ceramics, and jewelry in the markets. These crafts are beautiful and well worth the money. Every time you buy something, you are supporting their self-sufficient economy.

Garifuna traditional dress varies from one person to the other. Some women will wear checkered skirts and collared blouses with head wraps to match, while some will wear white with coloured motifs and designs. These are not the normal day to day wear, but special for dancing to the beat of Garifuna drums.

Going through Belize you will spot the Mennonites by the braces on their trousers, white shirts, and wide rimmed hats. You can also recognise them when they ride past in horse driven carriages, normally black.

The women wear long dresses and bonnets. They are a very hard working community and self-sufficient too like the Mayan. When their produce is harvested and packed, they will sell fresh to the local shops and businesses helping to sustain their way of life.

When we took a trip down the New River from Orange Walk, we saw several Mennonite farms close to the river banks.

Religion Permeating Belize Culture

The Mennonite make up a large part of the religion practised in Belize, but the dominant religion of Christendom is the Catholic church.

Mayan religion is very old, incorporated into their way of life and social habits. The music is also held sacred and is used extensively for sacred ceremonial purposes.

They are a very private people when it comes to their religion.

I talked about the Garifuna using drums. Garifuna culture, their music, song, and dance are also steeped in religious meaning that has it`s roots in Africa.

Other religions permeating Belize culture are Jehovah`s Witnesses, Greek Orthodox Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Hinduism, and Islam.

Music

Garifuna sing their songs in their language which is still taught to preserve the customs and traditions.

Travel far North, and you will enter another world where a large Mestizo community like to get together to perform a traditional Spanish dance, to the woody tones of the marimba. Several popular bands will travel the country playing live at gigs and celebrations.

Things can get pretty heated up when the Punta Rock gets going. This is a very energetic form of modern music along with the Punta dance, like a form of Soca and Calipso, that Creole people enjoy too. They also enjoy a wider range of modern soul and reggae, or the older brukdown, and boom and chime, the musical hallmarks of Belize which they played in the logging camps during the Mahogany trade boom.

Industry Supporting the Belize Culture

If your not visiting for the temples then likely you are drawn to the underwater world of scuba. Belize boasts part of the second largest barrier reef in the world next to Australia`s great barrier reef. The full length of the coastline is dotted with Cayes, Atolls, and Islands. Some of the popular sites are over fished and over visited by tourists, while others stay undiscovered and secluded.

The fishermen, on these Islands, who are a mixture of cultures, contribute to the flavour with their Belize customs. They know their stuff, having had the skills passed down through the generations. Their main source of income is the fishing industry which they do all year round. Tourism also brings in revenue from sales of carved wooden goods, jewelry, paintings, water sports, and various other arts and crafts to supplement their income.

Belize Culture in Entertainment

What do Belizeans do for recreation? They love football and basketball! On my last visit I watched a local team on Ambergris Caye play basketball around 8 o`clock in the evening. They had lots of energy while we were chillin after a hot day in the sun.

It looks like golf is not part of the Belize culture. There are only 2 golf courses in the whole of Belize. But other sports they do like include track athletics, canoeing, cycling, boxing, cricket, and yachting.

Belizeans entertain themselves and the tourists with festivals, carnivals and National Days. Some of the annual festivals and National days held are Belize Carnival, Baron Bliss Day, Belize International Film Festival, Garifuna settlement day, San Pedro International Costa Maya Festival, and the Lobster festival, one the biggest food festivals in the world.

Lobster Festival Dates

This year 2010 the lobster festivals will be celebrated in San Pedro from 14th to 20th of June. In Caye Calker from June 25th to 27th, and in Placencia from June 24th to 27th.

Food

Lobster eating is a part of Belize culture like Belikin beer, and everyone knows you must have rice and beans before you leave. It`s the national dish.

Other foods found on the menu are conch soup, tacos, coconut pie (my dad called this coconut crust), fried plantain, fried fish, and bread pudding. Mmmmmm yummy! Nice subject to end on.