Submitted by Victoria Giannini on the 2017 winter session program in Barbados sponsored by the Department of Human Development and Family Studies…
This week has been a hectic one! We arrived in Barbados in the afternoon on Monday, January 2nd and have been going constantly since! One thing, I found particularly interesting was something I learned on the historical tour of the island. We learned about these small homes called Chattel Houses. The word Chattel is Barbadian and it means a small, wooden transportable house. The houses were common for working class people because they could pick up and move their house when they needed to, because the property that the house rested on was not necessarily theirs. Typically these houses sat on cinder blocks or stone, as opposed to being set on the ground in a foundation.
On our tour, I was able to capture a picture of a traditional Chattel House on the island. It truly was beautiful. However, most chattel houses now are no longer unsecured in the ground. This is because it is not common for working class people to move their homes in today’s culture.
I am really in love with these houses! Some of the homes on the island are truly beautiful. I was even able to purchase a small wooden replica of a Chattel House as a souvenir! Some have pastel colors, while others look more like traditional like this wood one. It is amazing learning about this culture and how things are similar and different from the United States. This experience so far has been so amazing and I am excited to continue on this journey and learn so much more!