Caribbean: Valentine’s Day is for Bloggers  · Global Voices
Janine Mendes-Franco

Think you know what love is all about? A few regional bloggers use Valentine's Day as an opportunity to figure it out…
From Jamaica, Nadine Tomlinson quotes a poem by Rumi to set the tone for the day, while Havana Times republished a post from the blog's inaugural year, which provided a glimpse into how February 14th is celebrated in Cuba.
Cuban diaspora blog Babalu, on the other hand, put a twist on the celebrations by offering some dictator love and criticizing the way in which New Zealanders are “celebrat[ing] the lovely bohemian ambience of the Castro Kingdom”.
Other posts from the regional diaspora included chookooloonks’ tips for a Valentine's Day craft activity “for kids with moms who are *completely* uncrafty”, while back in chookooloonks’ homeland, Trinidad and Tobago, Wuzdescene posted an image of a press advertisement that he thinks is perfect for Valentine's Day. The text reads:
Tabanca SALE!
Why buy chocolates for a person that will leave you when you can buy a computer that will stay with you?
(Tabanca, according to “Cote ci Cote la“, the Trinidad and Tobago Dictionary, is local parlance for “the forlorn feeling that one gets when a love affair is over”.)
Over in the U.S. Virgin Islands, News of St. John blogs about the eleventh annual celebration of “Celebration of Love”:
Last year, 72 couples repeated their vows in the beach ceremony organized by non-denominational minister Anne Marie Porter.
There is a practical post from the Bahamas’ Mainstream, who offers advice for men to impress the ladies “even if you're broke and clueless”, and another from Barbados’ Notes From A Small Rock, who writes about “the pillars of love and marriage” – at least according to a Barbadian pastor:
The first pillar is money. Yes money. You need money. I need money. Alicia, you must accept that Keshorn is in charge of the way the money going be handled. You must trust in he wisdom…accept that or mark my words, this marriage go be over before you could say macaroni pie.
The great temple of marriage has a second pillar and that is communication. I does meet a set of young people getting married and they don’t know how to talk to one another. They busy emailing and could spend the whole day on Facebook or texting.
The third pillar holding up the roof of the temple of marriage is sex. The adult male and adult female must have a good and regular sex life. By now you should have located her G spot. If you ain’t done your homework I promise you my friend: someone going do it for you.
The fourth pillar that you Alicia, and you Keshorn, must pay attention to is the one and only Lord God All Mighty.
Happy Valentine's Day!