“There’s nothing like a Guyanese Christmas”
─ CJIA throws meet-and-greet for arriving passengers
DPI, Guyana, Friday, December 20, 2019
“There’s nothing like a Guyanese Christmas. Overseas Christmas is one day, over here Christmas is like all month! So, I can’t wait,” said Renita Jewsbury as she rocked to melodious sounds played by the steelpan musician.
Renita was one of more than 300 visitors arriving at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) around 7 a.m. on Friday to the warm greetings of the airport staff decked out in Christmas-themed clothing.
According to Renita, Christmas this year will not just be about the familiar dishes, even though she will take the reigns on making the pepperpot, but the season will be one in which she hopes to brighten the faces of those at homes for the elderly.
“It would have to be pepperpot and then black cake for dessert.”
For Neil Sarran, a non-national who has returned some three weeks after his Guyanese wife and three children, there is much to look forward to this Christmas.
Neil who visits Guyana every two years with his family said: “I’ll be looking forward to my pepperpot, my mother-in-law’s pepperpot, spending time with my in-laws, spending time with my family, swimming [and] good weather.”
Head of the CEO Secretariat at CJIA Ishwari Glasgow told DPI that this year’s was the 10th Annual Meet and Greet at the airport. She credited the efforts of the of the CJIA staff for making the event possible.
“Two months ago, we started planning just to ensure everything is on track, that we have our decorations put up by December 1 and we were able to achieve that, but we could not have done it without the support of our hard-working staff,” Glasgow stressed.
Both passengers arriving and departing the country will benefit from the annual activity until Christmas Eve.