Dawn Fraser - A True Caribbean Christmas

 

Okay, so many of you know that my family comes from Trinidad and Tobago. My family came through New York and then moved to California in the United States. So, when I moved to New York, I totally expected that I would be able to be free to meet other first-generation Trinidadians and just have a good time. But my first year in New York, my mom calls me up and she's like, "Donny, you're coming home for Christmas." And I was like, "Yes, I'm coming home for Christmas. What's up?" She's like, "Well, I need you to do me a favor." And I was like, [audience chuckles] "Okay, well, what do you want me to do?"

 

So, she's like, "First you're going to go run down to Nostrand Avenue." And Nostrand Avenue is like where all the Trinidadians live. She's like, "Go run down to Nordstrom Avenue. You're going to pick up 12 Jamaican patties, okay? Six chicken, six beef. Then you're going to go pick up 12 roti—12-roti skin, okay? Bring these 12 roti skins, bring these 12 Jamaican patties, and bring some saltfish back with you from New York to California." [audience chuckles] I was like, "Wait, what? Like, why? Why would I do that? [audience chuckles] Why? That makes no sense." And she said, "Well, don't you want a Caribbean Christmas in California?" I was like, "Yeah, well you can-- want a Caribbean Christmas in California." She's like, "Well, then bring the food, nah mam” [audience laughter] I was like, "Okay."

 

But I was mad because I had this suitcase-- in my suitcase-- I'm going from New York to California, so it's going to be warm. I just have my flip-flops, my tank tops. But now I have to take all this stuff out of my bag to pack all this other stuff for my mom. So, I'm just aggravated. So, I pack all the food, the salt fish, the roti, all the kind of stuff, and I bring the stuff to California so we could have a Caribbean Christmas. And I get there and I was like, "Mom, you know there are Black people in California, right? [chuckles] You know, I can go to Oakland and go get some saltfish and some roti." She's like, "No, no but it's not the same. We want the good, authentic stuff from New York." [audience laughter] And I was like, "Really? Okay, whatever. Whatever" And then we have a good feast and we live it up.

 

The next year, my mom calls me up again and she's like, "Dawn, you're coming home for Christmas?" And I was like, "Yes, I'm coming home for Christmas. Why, what's up?" She's like, "Well, I need you to do me a favor." [audience chuckles] I'm like, "Okay, what do you need me to do this time?" She's like, "Well, this year we're going to go to Trinidad for Christmas, okay?" And I was like, "Oh, sweet." So, I'm thinking to myself, this is awesome. I don't need to bring any type of roti. I don't need to bring any saltfish; I don't need any Jamaican patties. I was like, "Okay, cool, cool. What do you need me to do?" She says, "Go run down to the Pathmark, okay? The supermarket ang go, go pick up a 30-pound turkey, okay? [audience laughter] [chuckles] You're going to take this turkey, you're going to put it in the freezer and you're going to deep freeze this turkey, all right? You're going to bring this turkey with you from New York to Trinidad.” And I was like, "Wait, what? [audience chuckles] There's no turkeys in Trinidad?" She's like, "You don't want a good big Caribbean Trinidadian turkey for Christmas?" And I was like, "Well, yes, I want a big Trinidadian, I guess. Well, whatever." She's like, "Then bring the turkey." And I was like, [audience chuckle] "Mom, Mom, seriously, this sounds like foul play, okay? [audience laughter] Like, this is like literally like crossing the line. And is this legal?" She's like, "Just bring it. Just bring it."

 

So, I take this turkey and I put it in my freezer and [chuckles] I deep freeze it for about two weeks. And then the day comes where I'm flying off to Trinidad for Christmas and it's wrapped up in all this foil, all this aluminum, all this type of stuff, and I throw it on my backpack. My mom lives in this little, little tiny village way in the corner of Tobago. And so in order to get there, I first have to fly from JFK airport to Miami airport, from Miami airport to Trinidad's airport. To Trinidad airport, a little two-propeller jet, into Tobago. I'm going through this process and I still got this 30-pound turkey on my bag. But as I get to Trinidad's immigration, I'm starting to drip [audience awe] and I don't know if this is going to work. So, I am looking at the immigration official and he says to me, "Ma'am, you have anything to declare?" And I'm thinking, “Okay, I don't know if I need to declare a turkey.” So, I say “No.” He's like, "Okay." I got on the other little two-propeller jet. I get to Tobago. Turkey's dripping, dripping, dripping, dripping. I'm like, “This is just going to be a wreck.”

 

It would take two hours to get to my mom's little village in Charlotteville. I'm there, I'm happy. I was like, I've gone this long, extensive trip to bring this turkey. I get there, I was like, "Mom, here it is. Your turkey has arrived. It's here, it's here." She's like, "Oh, good. Go put it in the freezer. Quick, quick, because everybody's waiting. Your sister, she brought the ham. And your cousin, he brought the three-layer cake." I was like, "Wait, the three-layer cake from where?" She's like, "Oh, he just brought it from Florida. And he put it up in the [laughs] area above in the plane." And I was like, "So wait, I brought a turkey. My cousin brought this three-layer cake. My sister brought this ham." And here I was thinking that I was going to be saving the day with my big old turkey. [audience chuckles] And that's when it hit me that all these years of traveling back and forth with food and all this stuff wasn't a pain. It was just something that, I guess that our family did. We just travel with food. [audience laughter] That's what we do, I guess, as a family, as a Fraser, this is what I'm expected to do.

 

So, last year, when I was returning to California for Christmas, when my mom called me up and she's like, "You coming home for Christmas?" I was like, "Yes, I'm coming home for Christmas." And I looked down at my suitcase. It was empty and ready to be filled with whatever food she needed. [cheers and applause]