This blog is about my experiences as a Caribbean traveller. Caribbean islands may be very tiny compared to some huge countries, but many aspects of the Caribbean culture such as the food, the language and the fashion is evident and has a huge influence on many major cities. In this blog I will also discuss some of the stereotypes and misconceptions I have encountered.
Everywhere I go, I meet another Caribbean national. I think I am even able to spot them in a crowd. There is usually something different about the way they look compared to the other people in the crowd, for example, their hairstyle, the way they dress, their clothes…something familiar to me that helps me determine that they are indeed from the Caribbean. Caribbean people have migrated all over the world. So even though I think it is safe to say there are Caribbean immigrants in every country, people seem to always be very excited to meet someone from the Caribbean. At least that has been my experience.
In my experience, when I visit large cities like London and New York, people of other races seem to be more open and “tolerant” of others from different backgrounds. I have come to understand that the Jamaican culture is very strong and vibrant even in places like Japan. I have never visited Japan, but I hope to go there one day very soon. As you leave the major cities and go to the rural areas, like the country parts of America, prejudice is more obvious. While attending College in Houston, I met people in my classroom and even on the street who were amazed at how "good " my English was. They said to me, how can you speak English so well and you are from Jamaica? Don’t they speak another language in Jamaica? After receiving this question, I usually have to hasten to educate them that English actually the native language of Jamaica. Yes it is. For those of you who don't know, Jamaicans are taught British English in schools from as early as Kindergarten. Many Jamaicans also speak english at home while also speaking the Jamaican dialect which is broken english and is made up of words borrowed from the major cultures of our Jamaican ancestors who came to live in Jamaica. So Jamaican dialect is influenced by words from african dialects, french creole, dutch, and spanish.
Most times when I meet people and I tell them that I am from the Caribbean, I am usually bombarded with a lot of questions and stereotypes. For some reason they think there are only black people in Jamaica. Nope! Jamaica has a wide diverse ethnic mix. It is sad though that even though most people in Jamaica may be mixed, they are prejudiced against each other. Again, that has been my experience. In Jamaica there is the class system that is summarized in the popular saying,
If you are white, you are alright,
If you are brown, hang around,
If you are black, stand back!
Wherever I travel outside of Jamaica, people are so excited to hear my Jamaican accent. They think I am unique and that I am from some far away exotic fairy tale paradise. Did you watch that movie "How Stella Got Her Groove Back, where Stella is watching an Advertisement of Jamaica, and in this Ad Jamaica is this beautiful country, with lush vegetation, clear blue water, white sands, sexy, exotic looking dark skinned men…etc. etc., yes that is the image most people have of Jamaica. Unfortunately, the advertisement forgot to show the parts of Jamaica where there is so much extreme poverty, where people are too hungry to even enjoy the beauty. Many Jamaicans are watching that same advertisement Stella was watching, of this beautiful exotic Jamaica and saying to themselves, Wow! Where is this place, we would like to visit there too! On the other hand, there are a few people who may have another extreme view of Jamaica where they immediately ask me if I watched the movie "Belly", which is a movie that showed Jamaican gangsters, and those people who have watched that movie believe all Jamaicans are like the Jamaican characters in that movie; or the conversation usually goes immediately to a discussion of the movie Cool Runnings which they also expect me to have watched because I am a Jamaican.
One thing that never ceases to amaze me is the influence of Caribbean culture in foreign cities, for example music like reggae and soca, and Caribbean food like Jamaica Jerk chicken with rice and peas and Trinidadian curry with roti. Many people expect me to be able to cook all the different dishes they tried during their visit to the Caribbean, and I have gained lots of friends whose friendship is based on their expectation, that at sometime in the very near future, I am going to invite them to my house and cook for them. Another influence of the Caribbean culture I have seen numerous times is the dreadlock wigs attached to a hat with rastafarian colors. Sometimes I see people with the dreadlocks, the bob Marley hat, the bob Marley shirt, shorts, shoes, backpack and I am so certain that they are Jamaicans. I go up to them and say , hey! Are you Jamaican? They reply enthusiastically YES! so then I ask, What part of Jamaica are you from? and their response varies from … oh, I’m really from New Orleans, or, oh my great grand father visited Trinidad once or my mom took a cruise to Jamaica once… Some of the very brave will answer oh I am from Kingston! So I ask, Really?!!! What part of Kingston are you from? Then they start to stutter…
I continue to be amazed by how much people embrace Caribbean culture. There are people who will tell me the history of Jamaica, of Marcus Garvey, and of course Bob Marley and Usain Bolt and I feel ashamed that they know more than I do!
What is it about tiny Caribbean islands that some people can’t even find on a map, which enables them to exert such strong influence on culture all over the world?
So that was just a few of my many experiences. I have many more to talk about, but that is for another time. Thank you for reading my blog!
