Jamaican History

Howdy! Our posts are coming to an end, but don`t worry dear travellers, Jamaica will always be here.  I figured it`s time to talk about Jamaican history, but in depth, unlike my brief conversation with Joel.  So here we go!

The original inhabitants of Jamaica are believed to be the Arawaks, also called Tainos. They came from South America 2,500 years ago and named the island Xaymaca, which meant “land of wood and water”.

On May 5, 1494 Christopher Columbus, the European explorer, who sailed west to get to the East Indies and came upon the region now called the West Indies, landed in Jamaica. Columbus had previously heard about “the land of blessed gold”, he was soon to find out that there was no gold in Jamaica.

The Spaniards, when they came, tortured and killed the Arawaks. The newly introduced European diseases killed the most of the inhabitants because they had little to no resistance. The Spanish also transported hundreds of enslaved West Africans to the island.

The Brits invaded Jamaica in 1655. The enslaved Africans seized the moment, ran off and formed independent communities. Meanwhile, the base of pirate related operation, Port Royal, was built by the Brits.

English Jamaica`s main income used to be piracy, but got replaced by sugar in the eighteenth century. The sugar industry grew so rapidly that the 57 sugar estates in the island in 1673 grew to nearly 430 by 1739. This industry required thousands of people to work on the crops, so the Brits brought a huge amount of enslaved Africans to Jamaica. The Africans ended up outnumbering the white Englishmen with a ratio of twenty to one.

The slaves were unhappy with their treatment and status, and rebelled whenever they could. The original inhabitants also had several wars with the Brits. These rebellions and wars were a leading factor that led to the abolition of slave trade and slavery in the Caribbean. This abolition was passed on January 1th 1808.

Now on to more recent history. The Jamaica Constitution was made in 1962 and is the most fundamental legal document in the country. The document guaranties the freedom, rights and privileges of every Jamaican citizen. The Constitution reflects the county`s independence and remains the cornerstone of Jamaica`s legal systems.

I hope you enjoyed this little piece of Jamaican history, I certainly did. Farewell, dear travellers,

-Lene
http://jis.gov.jm/information/jamaican-history/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jamaica

Religions in Jamaica

There are a lot religious beliefs in Jamaica, as the freedom of believing in whatever god you want, was guaranteed by Jamaica’s constitution. Though, most Jamaicans are Protestant. This is due to the Jamaican cultural development, has been deeply influenced by British traditions (European influences). Things like the language, the cuisine, and the music in Jamaica, are influenced by African culture.

Anyhow, heres a chart of the different practiced religions in Jamaica!

Of the practiced religions in Jamaica, you've got Rastafari.

Rastafari is a religion that originated from Jamaica, and began 1930 - as you may remeber, i talked a bit about reggae in a few blogposts ago! Hand in had with reggae, came Rastafari! (a popular rastan, is Bob Marley). Many parts of what we connect with Jamaica today is a big part of the religion, like dreadlocks, and drugs, but it also has a lot in common with christianity!

I hope this explained a bit about the religions in Jamaica!

-Anne

Sources: http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-deaths/article/bob-marley-rastaman
http://school.eb.co.uk/levels/advanced/article/62747

Devon House Heritage Site

Hey, lovely readers!

Today, we went for a visit to the Devon House in Kingston.

It is quite the grand mansion, is it not? We had a short-guided tour of the area which lasted for roughly twenty minutes. (After that, we were given free ice cream!) During the tour, we saw extravagant rooms, and learned a bit about the history of the house also. I will share some of what we learned here;

George Stiebel.

The Devon House was built in the late 1800s by a man called George Stiebel. He was Jamaica’s first black millionaire, and earned money from transporting cargo and smart investments. An incredible feat, considering that he must have met a lot of resistance because of his skin colour. Devon House was only one of 99 properties which he owned, since owning 100 properties or more were illegal in Jamaica at the time. We were also told about all the Jamaica, Caribbean, English and French antiques and artefacts which previously belonged to the different owners of the house. There have been many owners of the mansion through the times, too many to list up here, but it is today a house museum and National Heritage site. Some more pictures of the Devon House;

We all enjoyed the trip to the trip to the Devon House, and the ice cream shop there only made it better. It has been a good day.

-Inger Marie

http://www.devonhousejamaica.com/page/patriarch-devon-house-hon-george-stiebel-cmg

Castleton botanical gardens

Aaand finally!! I get to tell some of the fun stuff! Castleton botanical garden. I'm not that big fan of beaches to be honest. Scratchy sand everywhere, crabs, lots of europeans on holliday, with loud children...No, definitly not my thing. Smooth, quiet tropical garden? Yes please!! The others didn't agree with me, but I convinced them to come along today, before our trip was over, we leave in just a few days you see.

Well, we left with a bus shortly after breakfast, dressed as typical tourists in shorts and caps and crazy t-shirts in every colour of the rainbow. The garden was located twenty kilometres outside of Kingston, so the drive was not long at all. there isn't much to say of the gardens, I think the pictures will say more that I can. I did however read that there are over 4000 pifferent plants there, hundreds of different species of palmtrees. They all looked alike to me, though.
 

The garden itself was opened i 1862. And so it is one of the eldest botanical gardens on the western hemisphere. Nowadays it is open to the public everyday and is a good spot for a picnic if you have a little free time on your hands.

we met a couple of nice ladies washing clothes in the river

Wasn't it lovely? We spent a couple of houres there sunbathing on the grass and eating ice cream, before we went home at four o'clock. After that we had a delicious dinner, and now we are currentlly preparing for bed.
Good night my friends!

http://wikimapia.org/10067418/Castleton-Botanical-Garden

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/teenage/Celebrating-Jamaica50---Castleton-Garden_12487524

https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g147309-d149018-i100195513-Castleton_Gardens-Jamaica.html

http://photos.wikimapia.org/p/00/00/58/74/85_big.jpg

http://www.jnht.com/_images/castle_Grdns.jpg

Sports

Greetings dearest readers! Anne here again, and amongst my fellow travellers, Anna, Sol, Inger-Marie and Lene, all hate sports and almost anything that has to do with activity, we all enjoy a game of cricket. 😋

And apparently, cricket is a game played throughout the island, basically a national obsession! I can already tell you that there will be a few games played, and a few friendships will be ended on some makeshift pitches, where you can play cricket here in Jamaica. (Though I wouldn’t mind the end of some friendships in our travel group 😉 - Just joking, hahah😂!)

Football is another popular sport here in Jamaica, while I also played a bit back in my youth In London, I have not played for ages! Anyhow, football has challenged cricket in popularity since 1998, when the national team qualified for the World Cup finals in France!

As you readers must know, Jamaica has a famous record in track that started in 1948, to today, with Usain Bolt, back in 2012 in London, which I proudly witnessed myself! 9.63 seconds, just 0.05 behind his own set world record; 9.56 seconds on the 100meters! 😁

               

Sources: http://school.eb.co.uk/levels/advanced/article/117384

    -Anne 

Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park

Hey, lovely readers!

Today we decided to get to know more about the nature of Jamaica instead of bustling and noisy Kingston. Therefore, a trip to the Blue and John Crow Mountains Park quickly came to mind. The national park lies just a one-hour trip away from New Kingston, so it was easy getting there.

We went to Holywell, an area located 900 metres above sea-level and the closest recreation area to Kingston. Before going, we had already read the National Park’s website, which stated that Holywell had 10 gazebos, a pavilion-structured garden, and a few nature trails. The first thought that came to mind from reading this was that we were going to have a picnic! So, there were some preparation needed before the trip. We had to buy all picnic-related stuff, because this was going to be the best picnic ever, and prepare sandwiches and small treats. Also, remembering to bring extra sweaters, comfy shoes and some umbrellas, should the weather change. And finally, off we went!

We had such a lovely time at Holywell, and we learned a lot. We could have gone on guided educational, coffee or bird-watching tours, but we had decided to rather take it easy and just enjoy nature with a relaxed picnic. (Though we would have gone on the bird-watching tour if it was not scheduled for 6 am! Too early for us, we would probably have fallen asleep.)

Here is a picture of our picnic; 

We had taken an informational brochure from the Visitor’s Centre at the entrance of Holywell, and I will share some of the interesting information that was printed:

Blue and John Crew Mountains National Park is dominated by cloud forest, a rare tropical mountain habitat and is also composed of three mountain ranges; Port Royal, Blue, and John Crow Mountains. Blue Mountain Peak is the highest area in Jamaica, where it lies 2256 meters above sea-level. The wildlife here is very diverse, with many rare plants, animals, birds and insects. Some of these species can only be found here in Jamaica, for example;

Jamaican Blackbird:

Giant Swallowtail Butterfly: 

Jamaican Tody:

Furthermore, The Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park supplies over 40% over Jamaica’s population with domestic water!

Truly magnificent, right? It is nice to experience nature so different to our own, and this trip was a much-needed distraction from the city-life in Kingston. However, now that we have calmed our nerves a bit, we are ready to explore more of Kingston and Jamaica.

-Inger Marie

http://www.blueandjohncrowmountains.org/sustainable-tourism/national-park-recreation-areas/holywell.html

http://www.jamaicatravelandculture.com/destinations/the_blue_mountains/holywell.htm

http://www.blueandjohncrowmountains.org/heritage/natural-heritage.html

Jamaican Values

Hello, people of the world! I plan to make this post short and sweet, much like Sol, but don`t get to disappointed if it turns out really long. However, our goal is to teach you about Jamaica, and it might take a while. Today we embark on another Jamaica-related question, what are the social values of Jamaicans?

The world is constantly changing, so is Jamaica. Well, the Jamaican values are constantly changing as the demands of society changes. Sadly, some moral and cultural values have been left behind during the past years. In the 50s, 60s and parts of the 70s, having respect for your elders were a very important rule, so was respecting teachers and ministers. Children being raised by the whole village were also a big part of their cultural past. These rules have faded throughout the years, the Jamaican cultural and moral standards as we knew them are now mostly gone.

According to a national survey done in 2007, we can see that Jamaicans today are clearly egalitarian (equality-oriented). Values like equality, responsibility and social justice are generally favoured over wealth, authority, and social power. Jamaicans also tend to focus on respecting their elders (like in the 50s, 60s and 70s) and politeness over being creative and choosing their own goals. Choosing this over creativity and individuality is a foolish decision in my opinion, but again, that`s just my opinion.

Farewell, fellow travellers!

http://ajamaicaexperience.com/jamaican-cultural-values/

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100421/cleisure/cleisure3.html

Jamaican food:

Hello again, dearest travellers! Its Anne here, yet again with a little bit of information about Jamaican food! Or Jamaican cusine if you want (which is the Jamaican style of cooking!) Anyhow, enjoy this delicious bit of food porn!😋

Ackee and Saltfish: 

We just had this earlier this week! Such a delicious treat at the hotel, and is also the national dish of Jamaica! In this ravishing dish, you’ve got ackee, which is a local fruit, dried and salted fish (cod), the dish is also often served with bread, but also dumplings, as you can see in the picture.
 Delicious!

Some of the girls couldn’t seem to get around the squidgy consistency of the ackee, I on the other and, quite enjoyed it! 🙂

Jerk chicken:

The most sereved dish in Jamaica, you do not know what Jerk chicken it is chicken rubbed and marinated in hot spices, then being smoked, traditionally over pimento wood. I’ll admit, it was quite tasty, as I have no tolerance for spicy food whatsoever, let’s just say it was an experience. 😐 But the others seemed to love it!

Fried plantain:

A lot less spicy than the jerk chicken! And absolutely delicious! You can have them as a snack, they are great with beer, deep-fried or boiled, plantain is a welcome addition to pretty much every Jamaican plate!

Curry goat:

Next popular dish after jerk chicken, a bit self-explainable, curried goat.

Blue mountain coffee:

Known for its bitter-free, mild taste, grown in the Jamaican blue mountains! (of course).And is actually one of the most popular, and expensive brands in the world! We tried a little bit, and finding tea favourable, myself, found myself loving it, some of the best coffee I’ve tasted in my life!

Sources: http://www.travelchannel.com/destinations/jamaica/photos/national-food-and-drink-in-jamaica/page/7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jamaican_dishes_and_foods

http://indianajo.com/2015/11/what-to-eat-in-jamaica-traditional-jamaican-food.html

- Anne

         

Bob Marley Museum

Hey, lovely readers!

The weather here in Kingston is very hot, around 30°C. Since we had already planned a trip to the Bob Marley Museum, the air condition there really helped.

 (Us, outside the museum.)

 It was previously Bob Marley’s house. 6 years after his death, his wife converted their home into a museum about Bob Marley’s life.)

We had such a nice time at the Bob Marley Museum. If any of you readers are interested, here’s the address; 56 Hope Road Kingston 6, Jamaica W.I. The entry fee is $25 USD per adult. As we are five adults, we had had to pay $125 USD. Kind of expensive, but the one and a half hour guided tour was worth it. We viewed personal treasures of Bob Marley and the photographic gallery. The Bob Marley Museum is a well-known attraction, even Barack Obama has paid it a visit!

After our guided-tour had ended, we all had a small meal at the café there, before browsing the museum’s souvenir shop. We ended up buying Bob Marley’s cd called Legend. I look forward to listening to it when we drive to Saint Ann later this week.

Also, since I’m talking about Bob Marley’s Museum, maybe I should tell you a bit about the man himself?

Bob Marley was born in 1945 and his passing in 1981 made him 36 years old. He’s regarded as one who made reggae more accepted in countries outside of Jamaica by achieving international fame with his music. On a more personal level; Marley had in total 12 confirmed kids, of which only three were with his wife Rita and two adopted from Rita’s previous relationships. Additionally, Marley viewed cannabis as a healing herb and supported the legalisation of the drug. Just some controversial information for you to know.J

With the musical group The Wailing Wailers, Bob Marley made in total 13 studio albums. The album which we bought at the museum called Legend is instead a compilation album and was released 3 years after his death. Still, it is the best-selling-reggae album of all time, with an estimated 25 million copies sold globally.

Is that not amazing?! Again, we had such a great time at the Bob Marley Museum, and I recommend every one of you to visit it if you ever find yourself in Kingston. Have a continued good day/afternoon wherever you are.

-Inger Marie

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legend_(Bob_Marley_and_the_Wailers_album)

. http://www.bobmarleymuseum.com/our-location/

Why do they speak English in Jamaica?

Hi, fellow adventurers! So today I started wondering about why Jamaicans speak English when they`re not even close to Britain. I left my travel companions in an ice cream shop. I decided to do some research on my own and started asking the locals. The search was hard, but after an hour, I found a lovely old man named Joel. He seemed kind and willing to answer. So I asked him: “Why do your people speak English?” Joel grinned as he told me, the unknowing tourist, about the country`s past. “So a long time ago, in 1654 to be exact, Jamaica became a British colony. We stayed that way until the year of 1962. So Jamaica has spoken English ever since it was a colony:” 

My curiosity had yet to be satisfied so I asked him about how Jamaica became a colony in the first place. “I guess the Brits wanted our country because of the huge amounts of sugar available in the country.” Joel sighed, and  I could see how the old man was getting tired, but I figured I had time for one more question. “But Joel, what about your dialect? It`s a bit different.” Joel grinned and said “Well it`s an English dialect, a mix between American and British English. Not to brag, but I also speak Jamaican Patois.” 

I was quite impressed. He turned silent for a while, then he smeared on his thickest Jamaican accent and said mockingly “yes mon”. I then decided to end the interview and spare Joel from my questions. So after another incredibly warm day in the lovely country of Jamaica, I had made a new friend in the old, Jamaican man named Joel. 

Me and my new Jamaican friend, Joel😛

Living conditions

The living conditions in Jamaica exist in extremes. The whealthy overclass live in luxurious mansions, whith private securityforces and send their children to expensive private schools. The poor people, and the middleclass which would equal poor people back home congregate in urban slums, whith polluted water, and gangs.😢😢 Said gangs regularly clash with the police. Jamaica has in North America and the Caribbean the 8. lowest human development. The life expectancy in jamaica is 74 years old.👳👵

This was actually a very difficult topic to find any facts on, probably because it is a small country, just an island, too close to bigger stronger islands like Cuba. I also got the impression that it is like in the middle of the scale. It is a relatively developed country, in the sence of "at least they are not starving".  Crime is probably its biggest social problem, though a lot of the crime may be caused by poverty.

 This shows the human development in different regions. Remember that Jamaica is in the caribbean.


It is very sad to know that people in the world suffer. It is har do visit their country as a tourist who can waste money enough to travel halfway across the world for fun. And I also wonder hopw it camt to this? There must be something in their history, or their mentality that has allowed this poverty to form in their country. Perhaps we will know when we learn more about the country.
But Jamaica calls and hopefully my next post will be in a more cheerful tone😉

Until next time!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index#America.2C_North_and_the_Caribbeans

http://www.slideshare.net/taheron/issues-affecting-child-poverty-in-jamaica