Saint Lucian lifestyle: Discovery

Discovering Saint Lucia: lifestyles

Culture and Lifestyle

When you have inherited African, French and English cultures, it goes without saying that you cannot show the features of one single traditional society, especially if these cultures are still omnipresent. Intermixing of races and their influence are unquestionably two sources of daily enrichment and it's quite easy to feel this at all levels, ranging from the physiognomy of its inhabitants to the traditions which live on and continue to spread.
Creole is spoken, everybody speaks English, and the French have left a lot of traces. And furthermore, when you know that the Caribbeans have an extra gift compared to the Europeans: a gift that naturally gives rhythm to the body according to the music, the subject becomes even more interesting! Touting such a profile, it's easy to understand that any excuse to party is accepted and this in a totally disconcerting natural manner…

It is perhaps through this cultural richness that the island's two native Nobel prize winners can be explained?
Derek Walcott (1930-) received the prize in 1992 (literature) and was awarded the Insignia of Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters by Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres. The second is economist Sir Arthur Lewis (1915-1991), rewarded for his research on economic development.

The Calypso Festival (in July) is the stage for a musical contest in which the participants compete in order to become King and Queen. Music was once in the past a way to preserve one's dignity. Now it attracts crowds and at times even becomes an interpreter for current issues with society. And the carnival (in July) speaks for itself, where people's souls literally merge together and where you can get that pleasant feeling of airiness that can be found in the tropics.

Although bearing a strange name in the sense that we are so used to seeing it in other climates, the Festival of the Rose is a new opportunity to trigger a jovial rhythm, with no regards for social hierarchy.

To avoid jealousy, daisies haven't been forgotten! There is a festival dedicated to them too and it is in fact a continuation of the festival of the rose. These two flowers are even national emblems. Their origins? Although a bit unclear, some explanations do exist but is this really important when bodies are endlessly swaying to the gracious rhythm of the music that flows forth from everywhere?

Languages

A former English colony, Saint Lucia has retained English as its official language. Creole is spoken by most Saint Lucians.

The French community.

According to the French Embassy, three hundred and ten Frenchmen live on Saint Lucia. The size of the French community varies from one island to another: Saint Lucia, seat of the embassy, is the island where this nationality is most represented, followed by Dominica. To this figure must be added those that are «not registered», estimated to number about a hundred people for the entire consular jurisdiction. These are mainly people with «double-nationality» that may not even be aware of it themselves, since they or their parents never took the necessary steps in order to be recognised as French. Taking the reduced number of constituents into account, cohesion in this community is rather good. Obtaining a work permit or a resident's permit from the local authorities often takes a long time, and that is why this is not done very often. In addition, there are no longer any French schools on Saint Lucia. The number of tourists from metropolitan France was 8,156 people and 23,487 tourists came from French departments in the Americas (Antilles/Guyana).

Religion

Nearly 80 % of the inhabitants are Roman-Catholic. The island also accepts other churches and religions such as: Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, 7th Day Adventist, Pentecost, Bethel, Jehovah Witnesses. Times for religious services vary according to parish. Just ask at the hotel reception!