Essay on One of the Largest Islands in the Caribbean: Jamaica

When Columbus landed in the Bahamas in 1492, he thought he reached Asia. He has made himself believe that he has found the New World and that he was the first to inhabit the land. This was not the case as an Indian Tribe, the Arawaks, was swimming to their boats with excitement. As Columbus’s crew arrived on the shores, he was shocked from the Indians hospitality. Columbus was carrying iron swords as the tribes brought gifts, food and water.

With that said, Jamaica’s core cultural values include: Family, Religion, Respect, and Education. Respecting your elders is nothing to play with and it is expected of you. Religion includes church service, celebrating Christmas and Easter. Jamaicans in general loves dancing, especially to reggae music. One of my favorite Reggae Artist is Mr. Robert Nesta Marley aka (Bob Marley). Entertainment, Fun, Laughter, Sports, and Partying are also a part of our culture. Usain Bolt sums it all up. People who are not of the Jamaican culture, will think that he is a show-off because of his personality. But, that is who we are as a people, happy and fun loving. Baking traditional fruit cakes, and making holiday sorrel drink is intoxicating to say the least. Fruit cakes, also known as black cake is an all occasion cake. It’s used for weddings, birthday, Christmas and whatever. It not only smells good but it is so delicious. Made of fruits such as raisin, currants, prunes, cherries, mix-peel, spices, rum and wine. Most people blend all these ingredients together and have it marinating from January until December. Traditionally, during the Christmas holidays when someone visits family or friends, they are offered a slice of fruit cake with a glass of sorrel. So

The Arawak Indians of South America were the first people to settle in Jamaica the named the island Xaymaca meaning land of wood and water. Christopher Columbus’ first arrival was in 1494. Christopher Columbus’ son settled in Jamaica in 1509. During Spain’s occupation on the island beginning in 1510 the Arawaks were killed off by disease, war and slavery. Seven short years later the Spaniards brought the first African slaves to Jamaica. The king of Spain deeded the island to Columbus’ family in 1536 until the 1620’s

One day waking up thinking this was a normal day at my birth home, Jamaica, I walked to my grandparents’ house, stayed there for a couple of hours, then I saw this pretty, shiny, new Nissan Altima pulled up, and stopped. Moments later a tall dark-skinned guy stepped out the vehicle, fixed his hat, and walked to the door. When the doors open he burst into tears and said to me, “Hey son”, at first my siblings and I was in shock because we have not seen our father since 2004, I did not know what he looked like until I saw pictures of me and him together. Later that night we party and have fun together. The next morning, he drove in and we took pictures, then, we went to dunns-river falls, also we went and eat.

The economy of the country is based primarily on agriculture, tourism, and bauxite mining (Dechesnay 1986). Another legacy from slavery that has been passed on from generation to generation is that of agriculture. From slavery days the slaves worked assiduously in the fields to cultivate sugar cane. Today many Jamaicans work in the fields to provide food for their family and to make some form of revenue from it. Today the predominant crops in Jamaica are sugar cane, bananas, and

“The imposition of structural adjustment programs in the Third World since the 1970s has been characterized as a war against the poor, a process of [neo] recolonization” (Turner, 1994: 37). This statement is particularly applicable to the country of Jamaica. The island has been susceptible to a variety of neocolonial acts including the presence of multinational corporations, structural adjustment programs, and loan organizations that have sucked Jamaica’s economy dry. This neocolonial presence has devastated the population in more ways than one. It is apparent that neocolonialism has had and continues to have a large impact on society as a whole in Jamaica. This

On a cold wintery 10 degrees day in December Blaize decided he was going to go on a cruise ship with his friends to the Bahamas where the weather has been 75-80 degrees . Blaize and his friends Seth, Matt, Leonard, and Cameron all enjoy many of the same things. The cruise was to visit the Bahama islands and Cuba. On our way to the Bahamas we went through some extremely rough waters. The captain came over the loudspeaker and we were all told to “go to your rooms and stay in them until told otherwise” in a firm frightened voice. We all thought, “why, what is happening but we did as we were told. After sitting in our room for over an hour Seth, Cameron, Leonard, Matt, came up with the idea to explore the ship. When we opened the

Today Spanish names still exist in the form of rivers, family names, and towns(JNHT 2). The Spanish implemented a new form of economy on the island based on shipbuilding and repairs in order to maintain the trading post in the Caribbean. Jamaica relied heavily on the trade of fruits and animal skins in order to produce revenues for the Spanish Empire. Jamaica proved to be an unworthy colony for the Spanish because of the lack of prosperity of agriculture.

Antigua is a beautiful island in the Caribbean that got its name from Christopher Columbus in 1493 when he first visited the small 108 square mile island (Niddrie). Antigua was later colonized by England in 1632, and won its independence in 1981 (Niddrie). Antigua was originally a country that was planned as a slave-breeding colony, but never became one; the slaves who were imported came to live self-reliantly in their own community (Niddrie). After, Antigua gained its independence; it established a constitutional monarchy, where the British monarch is still head of state, represented by a governor general (Niddrie). Sadly, Antigua is an impoverished country that has a history of being a victim of British imperialism, government corruption, and tourism (Kincaid). Kincaid informs her audience

The country that I chose to conduct a culture analysis on is Jamaica. Jamaica is a third world country located in North America and the 3rd largest island in the Caribbean Sea. There is a 2.5 million population, which equally divided between urban and rural areas. The country runs approximately 146 miles long and varies between 21- 52 miles wide. The climate is tropical and its main tourist attraction is their beautiful beaches. The capital of Jamaica is Kingston, which has a population of more than 645,000. Kingston is the chief port of Jamaica and is along the southeastern coast of the island. It is covered by the “Blue Mountains”, which is thickly covered which tree ferns. The Blue Mountains experiences an average of 200 inches of rain annually, resulting in topsoil erosion and an abundance of streams. Peasants nurture coffee, usually grown on large plantations, in the valleys of the mountains. It is amongst the most expensive coffees in the world and is exported mainly to Japan.

The Bahamas The Bahamas is full of a vast array of inimitable little islands, populated by the laid back people of the Caribbean. Great Exuma is one of these, a place of warm tranquillity and relaxation, a place where peace can be found. A minute number of people inhabit the 90 mile stretch of land where you will find an amazing variety of wildlife.

Choosing vacations destinations can become a stressful process. However, if the goal is to find locations outside of the United States and wan to travel to countries in the Caribbean and Latin America I have a few suggestions for you. Negril, Jamaica and Cancun Mexico are among the best vacations spots I have ever visited. The beaches, the accommodations, and the food is amazing in both countries.

The Caribbean is a vastly diverse area representing the effects of colonialism, slavery, and the combination of many cultures.

     Bananas are another industry that is suffering in Jamaica. American companies like Chiquita and Dole rely solely on developing countries for production of their product. Farmers have to deal with the competition of countries that are even less costly to the US, such as Columbia. Milk production was once very strong in Jamaica and has now dramatically declined due to taxes implemented on the country.

Challenges of Caribbean Society in Achieving National Unity There have been many attempts for the Caribbean nations to come together as one, leading to national unity in the region. Some attempts at unity include: Federation, CARICOM (Caribbean Community), CARIFTA (Caribbean Free Trade Association), CDB (Caribbean Development Bank), UWI (University of the West Indies), CXC (Caribbean Examinations Council), and recently CSME (Caribbean Single Market and Economy), which is still in the process of being carried out. The Caribbean’s aim is to come together socially, economically, and politically and to try to work as one nation. However, there are many cultural differences between the countries,