Every home has a distinctive touch, and every family has a distinctive style; but cultures allow similarities to persist in many homes, making it easy to distinguish the type of home you grew up in. I personally grew up in a Caribbean home with a very traditional Caribbean family, and there are definitely quite a few signs that distinguish you from the others.
1. You ate some variation of curry and rice almost every day.
Whether its chicken, beef or fish, you always have curry on the stove or in the fridge; because when you're Caribbean, curry is in your blood!
2. You're the only one who knows what roti is.
When you tell you're friends you ate roti, no one knows what roti is! It gets very frustrating having to explain roti a million times in your life.
3. Soca (Calypso) plays in your house 24/7.
First of all, you call it soca and not calypso. Growing up, the only music you heard was soca and that's all you knew for years.
4. You know that anything is a reason to party.
From a child's birthday party to just because its Saturday, there is always a reason to party. And you know that the adults will bring out their countless number of bottles in and sit around a table in the backyard drinking and catching up!
5. You also know that those parties last until 3 a.m.
When you're Caribbean, the party never stops! You're drinking and blasting soca all night long.
6. You were never allowed to go to a sleepover.
Traditional Caribbean parents are extremely over-protective and never let you out of their sight. Sleepovers were definitely out of the question. Furthermore, you weren't even allowed to go to a friend's house!
7. When you were a kid, Chubby was your drink of choice.
Chubby was you weakness and every time you went to the grocery store, you begged your mother to buy Chubby!
8. Whenever you were sick, Vicks was the ultimate healer.
Whether you had a fever, cold or broke a bone, Vicks was used to heal all! Along with home remedies, Vicks was considered the only medicine you'll ever need.
9. You're parents spend their free time watching Bollywood movies.
Your parents refused to go to the movie theaters, but would watch hours of Bollywood movies.
10. Finally, the ultimate sign you're Caribbean: you know how to wine!
The wine is so unique, its hard to capture in an image! But every Caribbean person knows how to wine and how to "bruk it down" on the dance floor.
Being Caribbean makes you very unique and apart of a culture unknown to most of the world. But that's honestly the best part of being Caribbean.
