Holidays in St. Kitts

There a lot of holidays in the US. We generally know exactly when they are because they are written into almost every calendar you ever buy. From the time that we are little children we learn that everyone stays home on holidays, and the banks close and the government offices close, and the post man doesn't come. There are some holidays that grocery stores and resturants close for like Christmas Day and sometimes Thanksgiving. Then there are some holidays for which there are limited operating hours, perhaps Easter and Independence Day. Generally the larger stores are open for all holidays except Christmas. Well, as you might would expect that is not the case with St. Kitts.

Today is a holiday as was yesterday. It is the independence holiday and everything closes. The grocery stores, the retailers, the resturants. . . I don't even think I saw that many goats grazing today!

It is the weirdest thing. There are some tourist traps that remain open like "The Strip" and "Rituals" (a tourist trap but I like it), and the Mariott (enough said). It isn't like you plan for this either because their isn't a sign on every door prior to the holiday stating that there is a holiday coming up. It is just an email from the University on Friday afternoon around 3pm that states that the island will (for all practical purposes) shut down on Monday and Tuesday. Well by that point it is too late to make arrangements for anything and if you have business to do it is already too late because even on normal days the banks and business offices shut down at four o'clock at the latest and generally 2 o'clock is quittin' time 'round here.

This is probably the most unusual and difficult practice to get used to. I plan to go to the bank and realize that it is 3pm. They're closed. I want to call the cable company and it is 3pm. They're closed. Everything closes by 3 or 4 pm which is about the same time I get out of classes. Granted by that point my brain is fried or I would remember prior to calling that they close at 3 or 4.

Therefore, I find myself saying "tomorrow, I will".