Jamaican Culture Series: Jamaica 101 Video

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Our Experience Living in Jamaica: Video

It’s impossible to summarize two years, but these short video clips will hopefully give you a taste of our experience in Jamaica as Peace Corps Volunteers. We’re so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to come and live in a Jamaican community, to share life with people, to be challenged and to grow. It was not always easy, but we have gained so incredibly much in return.

Things We Miss about Jamaica

This is the market lady we saw nearly every Saturday for the past two years. She took good care of us.

The People Of course! How could we ever forget the people we’ve grown to know and love there? They are one of a kind. The kids are especially dear to our hearts.

Greetings We love that everyone greets each other, whether or not you’re acquainted. It’s easy and feels nice to acknowledge each other with: “Morning!”

In our community, I (Michelle) was sometimes greeted, “Morning, Teach!” It made me proud because teachers are respected members of the community, and it felt like I belonged when people on the road knew who I was. My students would also call out to me with an emphatic: “Miss Chang!” No hi, hello, how are you. Just the name. I miss that.

Sass We really appreciate that it’s acceptable to speak your mind in Jamaica (in certain situations). People speak with boldness and attitude.

As a cultural norm, it may not be a recipe for great self-esteem building, but on the other hand, people don’t take expressions of disapproval too personally. It’s a refreshing contrast to our home culture’s tendency to sugar-coat and beat around the bush.

We’ll miss having a little more freedom to respond with sass; “No sah, mi kyaan badda wid dat!” [Translation: No sir, I can’t be bothered to do that!]

Public Transit While cramming five people into the backseat of a taxi car has long lost its novelty, we will definitely look back on our escapades with public transportation in Jamaica with much fondness.

Some of our favorite moments have been in public buses, the countryside flying by, windows down, and rock-steady tunes on the radio. It made us feel at one with the heartbeat of Jamaica.

Fruit If a papaya a day kept the doctor away, we’d be good to go. The wealth of fresh tropical fruit, both from our own backyard and the local farmers’ market, was a true privilege.

While some of this produce does get shipped to the mainland U.S., it will never be as good as when it’s fresh and picked ripe- nor will it be as affordable. Other new favorite fruits of ours can really only be found in the Caribbean.

Singing Jamaicans are not ashamed to sing wherever they are. Group sing-a-longs to ballads during a bus ride was always endearing.

The sound of gospel music and island rhythms can be heard almost everywhere you go. And we definitely came across some real musical talent during our two years- like the gospel singers at church and one stellar high school music concert.

Sun We had very few days without bright blue skies and sunshine- at least in the morning. Of course, with the sun comes the heat, which sometimes was a challenge. But now that we’ve adapted to the heat, we struggle to survive winters back in the Northwest!

For all those who have lived abroad before, is there anything you’re nostalgic for? What is something you’ve learned about Jamaican culture through this series, or your own travels? Let us know in the comments!

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