Travel With Candace

   

I’d never heard of Guadeloupe before I visited my cousin there for Carnival in 2006; it turns out I was one of many.  After returning home, whenever I mentioned Guadeloupe, minds always jumped to Guadalupe, Mexico.   This pretty much makes sense because:

1)  Americans generally suck at geography
2) We’re not French, so we don’t hear the island referenced as a common vacation spot

Since I will be teaching English in Guadeloupe for the nearly a year, my activities on the island will be the main focus of this blog.  As such, I thought the following background may be in order. 

Note: After reading the information below you can ask people if they’ve heard of Guadeloupe and 9 times out of 10 experience a brief glint of superiority.

Guadeloupe: General overview
Guadeloupe is an archipelago (fancy word for a group of islands) located in the eastern Caribbean Sea.  Guadeloupe comprises five islands: Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre (separated from Basse-Terre by a narrow sea channel called Salt River) with the adjacent islands of La Désirade, Les Saintes and Marie-Galante. The island covers a land area of 629 square miles (1,628 sq. km).  

Guadeloupe is an overseas department of France.  That basically means that France:Guadeloupe :: USA:Virgin Islands.  As part of France, Guadeloupe is part of the European Union; hence its currency is the euro.

History
While seeking fresh water during his second trip to America, Christopher Columbus became the first European to land on Guadeloupe in November 1493. He called it Santa María de Guadalupe de Extremadura, after the image of the Virgin Mary venerated at the Spanish monastery of Villuercas, in Guadalupe, Extremadura. However, the expedition did not leave any settlers ashore.

The French took possession of the island in 1635 and wiped out many of the native Caribs. Guadeloupe was annexed to the kingdom of France in 1674, but was seized several times by the British over the next century. One indication of Guadeloupe’s value and prosperity at this time is found in the Treaty of Paris (1763).  France, which had been defeated in the French and Indian War, agreed to abandon its territorial claims in Canada in return for British recognition of French control of Guadeloupe.

Culture
Guadeloupe’s culture is probably best known for the islanders’ literary achievements, particularly the poetry of Saint-John Perse, the pseudonym used by Alexis Léger. Perse won the 1960 Nobel Prize in Literature “for the soaring flight and the evocative images of his poetry which in a visionary fashion reflects the conditions of our time.”

Music and dance are also very popular, and the widely accepted interaction of African, French and Indian cultures has given birth to some original new forms specific to the archipelago. Islanders enjoy many local dance styles including the quadrille “au commandement”, zouk, zouk-love, toumbélé, as well as all the modern international dances. Typical Guadeloupean music includes La Biguine and Gwo Ka. Many international festivals take place in Guadeloupe, like the Creole Blues Festival, the Marie-Galante Festival, Festival Gwo-Ka Cotellon. It goes without saying that all the Euro-French forms of art are also omnipresent in the melting pot.  

Though French is the national language, Antillean Creole (a mixture of French and the native languages of slaves brought to the island) is widely spoken. 

Economy
The economy of Guadeloupe depends on tourism, agriculture, light industry and services. It also depends on France for large subsidies and imports. Tourism is a key industry, with 83.3% of tourists visiting from metropolitan France, 10.8% coming from the rest of Europe, 3.4% coming from the United States, 1.5% coming from Canada, 0.4% coming from South America and 0.6% coming from the rest of the world. An increasingly large number of cruise ships visit the islands.

The traditional sugarcane crop is slowly being replaced by other crops, such as bananas and plantains (which now supply about 50% of export earnings).  Other vegetables and root crops are cultivated for local consumption, although Guadeloupe is still dependent on imported food, mainly from France. Light industry features sugar and rum, solar energy, and many industrial productions. Most manufactured goods and fuel are imported.

*Information  from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guadeloupe

Tags: Guadeloupe, Starter //