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Jamaica Culture
Jamaica
Natural
Jamaica
and the rest of the Caribbean archipelago are
summits of a submarine string of mountains,
which in prehistoric times probably formed a
land bridge between modern Mexico and Venezuela.
Covering about 10,982 sq. km (4,240 sq. miles),
the island is approximately the size of Connecticut,
yet offers a diverse landscape. It is 235km
(146 miles) long; its width ranges from 35 to
93km (22-58 miles).
Millions
of years ago, volcanoes thrust up from the ocean
floor, forming Jamaica's mountains, which reach
to 2,221m (7,402 ft.) high (loftier than any
along the eastern seaboard of North America).
These mountains, located in an east-to-west
line in central Jamaica, contain more than 120
rivers and many waterfalls, as well as thermal
springs. In the high mountains of the east,
the landscape features semitropical rainforest
and copses of mist-covered pines. The mountains
are bordered on the north and east by a narrow
coastal plain fringed with beaches. The flat,
arid southern coastline reminds visitors of
African savanna or Indian plains, whereas the
moist, fertile North Coast slopes steeply from
hills down to excellent beaches. Much of Jamaica
is underlaid by limestone, dotted with dozens
of caves that store large reservoirs of naturally
filtered drinking water.
Almost
everything grows in Jamaica, as proved by colonial
British botanists who imported flowers and fruits
from Asia, the Pacific, Africa, and Canada.
The island contains unique orchids, ferns, bromeliads,
and varieties of fruit, like the Bombay mango,
that don't flourish elsewhere in the Western
Hemisphere. Birds, insects, and other animals
are also abundant.
Framing
the capital of Kingston, the Blue Mountains
dominate the eastern third of the island. This
is the country's most panoramic area, and it's
split by a network of paths, trails, and bad
roads-a paradise for hikers. From this region
comes Blue Mountain coffee, the most expensive
in the world. Younger than the Blue Mountains,
the John Crow Mountains rise at the northeastern
end of the island. Only the most skilled mountain
climbers or advanced hikers should attempt this
rugged karstic terrain. It rains here almost
daily, creating a rainforest effect.
Jamaica's
longest river is called Black River, and it's
bordered by marshes, swamps, and mangroves where
bird and animal life, including reptiles, flourish.
Black River, which is also the name of a small
port, is in the southwestern section, lying
east of Savanna-la-Mar and reached by Route
A2.
Did
You Know?
- Jamaica
is the third largest of the 51 inhabited islands
in the Caribbean-only Cuba
and Hispaniola are bigger.
- Ackee,
though cooked and used as a vegetable, is
actually a fruit that is poisonous until it
bursts open and its gases escape. It is part
of Jamaica's national dish, ackee and salt
fish.
- Blue
Mountain coffee, grown on the slopes of Jamaica's
loftiest mountain, is among the tastiest and
most sought-after coffees in the world.
- From
1503 to 1504, Christopher Columbus spent about
a year off the North Coast of Jamaica because
his worm-eaten vessels weren't seaworthy.
- In
the 17th century, the notorious privateer
Henry Morgan presided over Jamaica's Port
Royal, known as the "wickedest city on
earth."
- On
August 6, 1962, England's Princess Margaret
and U.S. Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson
watched as the British Union Jack was lowered
and a new flag raised as Jamaica attained
independence. The new flag featured a gold
cross on a black-and-green background.
- Rastafarians,
a Jamaican religious group, venerate the late
Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie.
- Some
Jamaicans regard ganja (marijuana) as a sacred
plant and testify to its healing power.
Be
Jamaican for a Week
Get to know our people and culture!
So you’re coming to Jamaica and you wonder
what Jamaicans do with their time. Well, given
the complexities of Jamaican society, one can
spend forever learning about our people and
culture, but if you have one week and would
like to “be” a Jamaican, here’s
what we suggest:
Attend
a Religious Service.
Jamaica
is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records
as having more churches per square mile than
any other country, a fact that many Jamaicans
are proud of and quick to extol. In addition,
we have created many fascinating forms of European
and African forms of worship blended into Christianity,
as well as creating unique belief systems such
as Rastafari. Regardless of your own religious
beliefs, attending service in Jamaica is certainly
a most telling cultural experience. The options
are wide and varied. There are the more formal
traditional services of Christian churches such
as the ones held at historic parish churches.
There are also non-traditional services that
take place anywhere from under huge circus-style
tents, riverbanks and small one-room chapels
to large modern worship halls, while Rastafarians
sometimes hold large meetings to ‘chant’.
Religion is a central part of the lives of most
Jamaicans, and most religious-minded people
here would be more than happy to have you join
them in worship. If you choose to go to any
meeting, be sure to inquire about etiquette,
and be prepared to meet some of the most welcoming
Jamaicans and witness first hand the power of
belief.
Share
Sunday Dinner with a Jamaican Family.
Sunday
dinner is one of the most time-honoured traditions
of the typical Jamaican family. Rice and peas,
chicken and a salad are practically staples,
but often meals include a second meat, baked
sweet potato, and cooked garden vegetables.
Of course, no meal is complete without fresh
juice of whichever fruit is in season, and baked
pastry served with ice cream or fresh fruit
for dessert. Be prepared to eat all the food
on your plate! Here in Jamaica we have a saying;
“betta belly bus’ dan good bickle
go to wase” (we’re sure you will
figure that one out on your own!) Apart from
delectable dishes, a big feature of Sunday dinner
is the community of people – relatives
and friends – that come together for it.
Watch
or play a cricket match, or ‘run some
ball’.
Jamaicans
are passionate about their sports, and every
week whole communities come out to support their
local teams, or to play in spirited and highly
competitive rounds. Certainly, the two most
popular sports in Jamaica are cricket and football
(called ‘soccer’ in the United States,
and simply ‘ball’ in Jamaica). Across
the country, community fields and pitches dot
the land strategically located wherever there
is unused open land space. Since participants
in local leagues are generally men who have
day jobs, most games and matches take place
in the early evening or on weekends. Many matches
are spontaneous, and teams grow as players arrive.
With all levels of skills and talents represented,
it’s not hard to join a team for one game
or so, but being a spectator is an amusing experience
too. While not all players are professionals,
all spectators have ‘expert’ opinions
to offer, sometimes highly amusing ones that
keep the games light-hearted and entertaining!
Learn the lingo, pick a side, and join in the
fun…Howzat!
‘Reason’
or have some ‘Veranda Talk’.
As
a people, Jamaicans have never been afraid to
hold and defend an opinion. In fact, we enjoy
being thought of as “the loudest little
island in the world”! We express ourselves
– clearly and eloquently – through
music, art and literature, but most of all though
discussion. ‘Reasoning’, the act
of debating or discussing a point or idea to
exhaustion, can and does take place anywhere,
anytime. ‘Veranda talk’ follows
the same idea, but is usually reserved for verandas,
front porches, or drawing rooms, supplemented
by tea or lemonade and appropriate snacks. However
formal or informal the setting, Jamaicans love
to exchange thoughts, and a lot of time here
is devoted to talking – talking about
everything – politics, art, music, sport,
world events, the weather and the state of the
roads. In fact, any subject worthy of a passing
thought is worthy of debate, and a major part
of socializing here involves…just talking!
‘Go
‘a dance’.
No
visit to Jamaica can be complete without a night
out on the town, Jamaican style. Whatever town
you’re in, there will be at least one
night in the week when everyone will ‘dress
up and go sport’, at a community ‘dance’,
‘session’ or stage show. Loud sound
system speaker boxes stacked high into the air
belting out hit tunes to welcome patrons, who
come decked out in the latest and sometimes
most outrageous outfits. You can easily find
out what ‘a carry the swing’, simply
by walking around – brightly coloured
and often amusing flyers promoting the event
will be posted almost everywhere. These posters
will give you all the information you need;
the names (and aliases) of the promoters, the
name of the sound system or dee-jays playing
the music, and the date, occasion and location
as well as the entry fee. Generally, the rules
are the same as those around the world; women
should be cautious when handling their drinks,
and we suggest going in a group, preferably
with a Jamaican to accompany your party. Certainly,
the most important rule for attending any dance/session/stage
show in Jamaica is also the easiest to adhere
to: be sure to “forget your troubles…and
dance!”
‘Lick
two domino.’
Jamaica’s
unofficial national pastime is, without a doubt,
playing dominoes. The energetically loud crash
of ‘cards’ onto makeshift tables
is a familiar sound throughout the country,
heard everywhere from the fisherman’s
huts in seaside villages to the luxurious patios
of palatial mountain homes. What makes this
game so popular? We’re not sure. But Jamaicans
do have domino playing down to a science, and
are always eager to take on challengers, either
as individuals or as members of two-person teams.
There is much more to dominoes than just the
game itself. Most encounters last six ‘hands’,
leaving plenty of time to reason, tell tales
or to brag. But pay attention! Most regular
domino players have perfected the art of seeming
preoccupied while they assess the game, and
will seize any moment of distraction to deliver
crushing defeat, loudly and bombastically!
‘Go
‘a Market’
The
most famous produce market, Coronation Market
in downtown Kingston is the island’s largest,
attracting higglers from all over Jamaica. All
over the island, however, each town and village
has its own local market – some of the
more popular ones include the Linstead Market
in St Catherine, the Brown’s Town Market
in St. Ann, The Savanna-La-Mar Market in Westmoreland,
and the Albert George Market in Falmouth. In
most markets, just about any natural produce
that grows in Jamaica is available; everything
from ackee to yam, from seasonal gungu peas
and otaheite apples to the ever-present chocho,
dasheen and breadfruit. The variety of choice
is not limited to fresh fruit and vegetables,
most markets in Jamaica carry a variety of healing
herbs like cerasse and leaf of life, spices
such as pimento, nutmeg and cinnamon and miscellaneous
items such as honey, kulu kulu rum and home-made
soap. A Jamaican market scene is a masterful
pot-pourri of tropical scents and sounds: vendors
hawking wares, children laughing and hundreds
of transactions being completed.
Architecture
The obsession of Jamaican planters with contemporary
British taste helped create an architectural
elegance rivaled by only a handful of other
British colonies, notably Pennsylvania, Massachusetts,
and Barbados. Although the island style began
with an allegiance to Georgian models, concessions
were made to the heat, humidity, bugs, hurricanes,
and earthquakes of the tropics. Later, after
Jamaica became recognized as the leading outpost
of British military power and agrarian skill
in the West Indies, Jamaican architectural principles
spread to other parts of the Caribbean.
Georgian-type
design, manifest in Jamaica's port facilities,
Customs houses, and civic buildings, was most
graceful in the island's many Great Houses.
Intended as centerpieces for enormous sugar
plantations, these buildings include some of
the finest examples of domestic architecture
in the West Indies. Among common design elements
are wide verandas on at least two sides, balustrades,
intricate fretwork, sophisticated applications
of contrasting types of lattice, deep and sometimes
ornate fascia boards, and a prevalence of pineapple-shaped
finials above cornices and rooflines. The first
floors of Jamaican buildings were usually elevated
by low stilts or pilings to allow air to circulate.
This prevented rot, cooled the ground floor,
and helped keep insects, rodents, and scorpions
out of living quarters.
Not
all of Jamaica's 18th-century buildings were
designed along Georgian lines. Smaller, less
pretentious houses were built in styles appropriate
to the income of the owners and the demands
of the sites. Jamaican vernacular architectural
style was developed by tenant farms and indentured
servants, many from Scotland, and by the children
of freed enslaved persons. These houses usually
received the prevailing trade winds, and typically
were angled to prevent smoke from the kitchen
from blowing into living quarters. Known for
the pleasing proportions of their inner spaces,
the buildings continue to surprise contemporary
architectural critics by their appropriate placement
and convenient interior traffic patterns.
Since
the end of World War II, architecture in Jamaica
has followed two distinct variations on colonial
themes. Banks, civic buildings, and commercial
structures have generally been inspired by the
thick walls, small windows, and massive dignity
of the island's 18th- and 19th-century British
forts. Hotels and private dwellings, on the
other hand, typically trace their inspiration
to the island's Great Houses or the unpretentious
wooden cottages that still dot the landscape.
Art
The bulk of Jamaican artwork has been executed
since 1940, when the yearning for independence
and a sense of national destiny colored many
aspects of the country's life. Whereas reggae,
the national musical form, is strongly influenced
by a subculture (the Rastafarians), Jamaican
painting is much wider-ranging and diverse.
The
most easily accessible Jamaican artwork is "yard
art," which rises from the concrete, litter,
and poverty of the island's cities. Punctuated
with solid blocks of vivid color, and sometimes
interspersed with graffiti, these murals are
often viewed as an authentic reflection of the
Jamaican soul. Subjects include political satire,
naive (or intuitive) depictions of an artist's
friends and family, idealized Jamaican landscapes,
and kaleidoscopic visions of heaven and hell.
Examples of yard art seem to increase, along
with graffiti and political slogans, before
each election. Predictably, however, a flood
of uninspired woodcarvings, handicrafts, and
banal painting has appeared in recent years
because of worldwide commercial and sociological
interest in yard art. Caveat emptor.
Jamaica's
leading painters include Carl Abrahams, whose
recurrent theme is the Last Supper; Barrington
Watson, known for a romanticized, charming view
of the Jamaican people; Eugene Hyde, one of
the country's first modern abstract artists;
and British-born Jonathan Routh, whose illustrations
of Queen Victoria during elaborate state visits
to Jamaica-none of which really occurred-provoke
laughter as far away as London. Also noteworthy
are Christopher Gonzalez, who won a commission
from the Jamaican government for a statue of
reggae superstar Bob Marley; David Boxer, one
of the first Jamaican surrealists; and Osmond
Watson, known for his sharp-angled and absorbing
depictions of the human face.
Today
Jamaica's
2.5 million people form a spectrum of types
that bespeak the island's heritage. Most Jamaicans
are black, but there are also people of Chinese,
Asian Indian, Middle Eastern, and European background.
About 75% of the people are classified as black
African and about 15% as Afro-European.
Jamaicans
are generally friendly, funny, opinionated,
talented, and nearly impossible to forget. Their
sense of humor is dry and understated, yet robust.
National pride is specific-beating the British
at cricket, winning gold medals in the Olympics,
or attaining world boxing titles.
And
Jamaica is more diverse than one might imagine.
The British brought slaves from the west coast
of Africa, notably the area of modern Ghana,
who belonged to the Fanti and Ashanti ethnic
groups. Others are descended from the Ibo and
Yoruba people of present-day Nigeria. When the
forced laborers were freed in 1838, most deserted
the plantations and settled in the hills to
cultivate small plots of land. They founded
a peasantry that is still regarded as the backbone
of Jamaica.
After
slavery was abolished, the British brought in
Chinese and East Indians to work the plantations.
You can still see pockets of these immigrants
here and there.
Jews
are among the oldest residents of Jamaica. Jewish
families have been here since the time of the
earliest Spanish settlements. Though small in
number (about 400), the Jewish community has
been influential in government and commerce.
In
2003 the birthrate in Jamaica was about 17 per
1,000 persons, the death rate 5 per 1,000. Life
expectancy at birth was 78 years for females,
76 years for males. There was a net out-migration
of 6 persons per 1,000 inhabitants. The annual
population growth rate was 61%.
Ganja
Marijuana use is the island's biggest open secret,
and you'll no doubt encounter it during your
vacation. (To be honest, it's the big draw for
some visitors.) Vendors seem to hawk it at random,
often through the chain-link fences surrounding
popular resorts.
Ganja
is viewed with differing degrees of severity
in Jamaican society, but it's still officially
illegal. We should warn you that being caught
by the authorities with marijuana in your possession
could lead to immediate imprisonment or deportation.
Marijuana
and Jamaica have long endured a love-hate relationship.
The plant was brought here by indentured servants
from India in the mid-19th century. Revered
by them as a medicinal and sacred plant, and
referred to by the British as "Indian hemp,"
it quickly attracted the attention of the island's
plantation owners because its use significantly
reduced the productivity of those who ingested
it. Legislation against its use quickly followed-not
for moral or ethical reasons, but because it
was bad for business.
During
the 1930s the slow rise of Rastafarianism (whose
adherents believe marijuana use is an essential
part of their religion) and the occasional use
of marijuana by U.S. bohemians, artists, and
jazz musicians, led to growing exports of the
plant to the United States. A massive increase
in U.S. consumption occurred during the 1960s.
Since the mid-1970s, after more stringent patrols
were instituted along the U.S.-Mexico border,
drug trafficking has slowed. Still, today between
75% and 95% of all marijuana grown in Jamaica
is consumed in the United States.
Cultivation
of the crop, when conducted on the typical large
scale, is as meticulous and thorough as that
of any horticulturist raising a prize species
of tomato or rose. Seeds, sold illegally by
the quart, must first be coaxed into seedlings
in a greenhouse, then transplanted into fields
at 60-centimeter (2-ft.) intervals. Popular
lore claims that the most prolific seedlings
are raised in Jamaica's red, bauxite-rich soil
and nurtured with all-organic fertilizers such
as bat dung or goat droppings. As the plants
mature, tattered scarecrows, loud reggae music,
fluttering strips of reel-to-reel recording
tape, and slingshots manned by local laborers
are used to fend off the birds that feed on
the seeds.
Even
more feared than natural predators, however,
are the Jamaican police. The constables periodically
raid fields and destroy the crop by burning
it or spraying it with herbicide.
Marijuana
plants reach maturity 5 to 6 months after transplanting,
often with a height of about 3m (9 1/2 ft.).
Stalks and stems are then pressed for hash oil;
leaves are dried for smoking, baking into pastries,
or use in herbal teas. Most seeds are saved
for the next planting.
Various
types of ganja can be grown in a single field,
each identified by names like McConey, Cotton,
Burr, Bush, Goat's Horn, Lamb's Breath, and
Mad. Bush and Mad are the least potent of the
crop, while the strongest are acknowledged to
be Lamb's Breath, Cotton, and Burr. The last
three are marketed in the United States under
the name sinsemilla (Spanish for "without
seeds"). Rastafarians typically prefer
specific types of marijuana, much the way a
gastronome might prefer specific types of caviar
or red wine. To each his own.
Smuggling
the dried and packaged final product is disconcertingly
efficient. A small plane lands at any of the
country's hundreds of outlaw airstrips, which
are sometimes disguised immediately before and
after use by huts and shacks moved into place
by crews of strong-armed men. The planes then
whisk away the crop, much of it to Florida.
Undoubtedly, in a country with chronically low
wages and constant fear of unemployment, the
temptation to accept bribes runs high among
government officials in both high and low positions.
Despite
its widespread presence, marijuana is illegal
in Jamaica and drug-sniffing dogs are employed
at all airports. Our advice? Don't end your
vacation in jail
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