“Could you imagine not being Jamaican?” There are reasons so many people love this little dot on the map. Talking with a Jamaican can be the funniest thing—we can use slang and codes for a whole conversation. It’s like we have a language within our language. We have no sense of time. If you want a Jamaican to be on time for an event, give us a time that’s at least two hours earlier than the real-time. We will be late, but you might have a chance of us getting ready 30 minutes before the event begins.
If you ask a Jamaican directions that is a whole other story. —why can’t we give accurate directions? “Up the road, round deh so, and dung likkle more.” If you find the place, good luck, and if you don’t, ask the next man down the road. He’ll probably give you similar instructions, but that’s all part of the culture and what makes us who we are.
Getting lost in Jamaica isn’t a problem—it will send you on a whole adventure. You’ll probably end up chatting with a stranger or stopping by a roadside jerk chicken vendor to get some food before continuing the journey, and before you know it, you have five more friends than you started the day with.
Jamaicans are people of strong faith, and we believe in our traditional herbs and healing. You better believe that some bush tea will solve anything from a broken leg to the common cold. We can tell you about a herb for every ailment.
Jamaicans can also be blunt. But never underestimate our ability to take you for a “poppy show.” If we tell you, “Mi will make you know,” you will never know. If we tell you, “I will call you later,” don’t wait for that call. And if we ever tell you, “Mi deh five minutes away,” we nuh start bathe yet!
At the end of the day, it’s these quirks that make us who we are. We may have our unique sense of time and direction, but we know how to enjoy life. We’re proud of our culture, and we fit into any other culture. We have our Jamaican ways of doing things, even when it seems senseless to the outside world.
So next time someone asks, “Could you imagine not being Jamaican?” you already know the answer: absolutely not! We are unique, and that’s what makes us Jamaican. We wouldn’t change that for anything.