Yow Wah gwaan- “Out of many, one people”! The country of Jamaica has very a diverse culture that is unlike the United States. Surrounded by clear water with beautiful coastlines on each side, Jamaica is a tourist attraction. Due to my mother being born in Kingston, Jamaica, I have always wanted to study its culture. Located in the Caribbean Sea, Jamaica’s cultural practices are similar and different from my families. This history-filled island country has an exceptional culture and heritage. Jamaica is an extravagant place with different features that set it apart from the other islands in the Caribbean Sea. With an area of 4,244 square miles and a population of 2,729,000, this country has a diverse community with people of Chinese, East Indian, European, white, and African descent. Jamaica has many different industries like mining bauxite, clothing, food, and cement, but probably their biggest industry is tourism. The landscape is mountainous with uninhabited wilderness, and plains and savannahs cover the west and lie along the coast. According to school.ed.com, “The climate is tropical, with temperatures higher along the coasts and cooler in the mountains. Rainfall, too, varies with region.” Jamaica has a tropical climate similar to that of rainforests and an average temperature of 79 degrees …show more content…
We celebrate the same holidays like Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter Monday. In my household, a main part of our diet is fruits and seafood. My family has many fruit trees which was essential in Jamaican life. Once, when my family and I went to Kingston, Jamaica, we bought coconuts, right from the side of the road, to drink from which wasn’t very unusual to me but it was for the other tourists. Reggae, a popular genre of music in Jamaica, is genre that my family regularly listens to as background noise when doing chores or when hosting a
Haiti shares their territory with Dominican Republic unlike Jamaica who has their own territory just to the left. Jamaica has a very mixture culture with a diverse ethnicity. The island of Jamaica was colonized by the Taino tribes prior to the arrival of Columbus. They gained their independence from the United Kingdom. They speak two languages as well; Patois
The music industry in Jamaica is one of the most influential in the world. Popular music genres such as reggae and dancehall was both originated in Jamaica. Likewise, rap and hip hop was stated by a Jamaican, called Kool Herc. Bob Marley is also a famous music artist from Jamaica. His music played an important role in many movements in Jamaica and all over the world. The most famous one is the fight against apartheid in South Africa. Dancing is also important in Jamaica. A famous proverb in Jamaica, is that “those who can’t dance, blame it on the music”. In all african countries, music and dancing is really normal and it’s like this in Jamaica too. It is normal to dance on the streets in public and have fun, while listening to music. By all means music and dancing is undoubtedly important for Jamaica and the culture is mostly based around
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
All over Jamaica, men and women wear dreadlocks; they are considered very lazy and extremely poor people. The country is known for smoking ganja. There is a law that allows natives to walk around with machetes to protect their families. In Jamaica, 40 percent of the population wear dreadlocks. Many people assume that they wear dreads because of the lack of money in the country. In addition, people believe that all Jamaicans are Olympic runners. Majority assume that since the Caribbean is the birthplace of reggae all Jamaicans listen to only reggae music. However, recent studies prove these stereotypes are misleading. Not all Jamaicans smoke marijuana (ganja) for social and entertainment reasons, all black, and they are all poor.
The island of Jamaica is very rich in culture and has many historic turnabouts throughout the years. The country has a rich and complex history including being the first country to have Arawak and Taino Indians settle there.
According to the Jamaica Information service, there are more than one hundred Christian religions practiced in the country. For many Jamaicans, church attendance strengthen extended family and kinship bonds. The church provides them with information, emotional and sometimes financial support in times of crisis. Among the religious practices in Jamaica, there are also a number of African-origin religions that are practiced such as Revivalism and Rastafarianism.
Cuba is a bright and diverse community. Cuba's culture, a very authentic one, is vastly celebrated all throughout Cuba and many other parts of the Caribbean. With the countries large population of 11.27 million, there is a great amount of brightly colored homes, cars and businesses. This exciting environment also contains a lot of love, warmth, happiness and mystery. Although Cubans are very “out there” and “alive”, their culture contains great mysteries and Spanish legends as well. Many know Cuba for its contributing celebrities, some examples being Eva Mendes, Camryn Diaz, Soledad O’brien, Desi Arnaz, Christina Milan, and many more. Companioned by its great history, Cuba has beautiful sceneries that attract many tourist, which their hearts fall heavily for Cuba after aquatinted with this outstanding country.
One of the most challenging things that Jamaicans have had to cope with is the physical and psychological isolation. On the island, the country is so small that it is easy to visit extended family members on a daily basis. Here, in the United States, however,
Jamaica is a tropical island, located in the heart of the Caribbean Sea. Around the coastlines are beautiful beaches with crystal clear blue-green water. In some respects, this is the majority of what people know about Jamaica. In this orientation text you will better understand Jamaica’s history, the people who live there, the many different religions, geography, and governments that have ruled the land.
Jamaica is a land of diverse cultures. It has a number of different racial ethnic groups .The largest group however is the blacks or Africans so 'Jamaica’s culture' is predominantly black. Interwoven is also the European culture which these blacks learnt from their former white slaves masters. You will find Indians living in Jamaica also. Many Indians came to Jamaica as indentured servants and stayed, they too have an input in the Jamaica’s culture.
For our travel report project I chose the island of Jamaica, a place that I have been longing to visit for quite sometime. Jamaica is an island that is a part of the Greater Antilles located 90 miles south of Cuba and 100 miles west of Haiti. The island has an area of 4,243 square miles and a 635-mile coastline. This beautiful island is covered in rugged mountains, with some being volcanic, and has its highest peak on Blue Mountain at 7,401 feet! (Briney)
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.
In what the author describes as “Glocalisation’, it is noted that in Jamaica, Western cultural patterns are ‘domesticated’ and adapted within the cultural pattern of the Jamaican society. In other words, Jamaicans fuse most of what the world offers with aspects of their culture.
His growing style encompassed every aspect in the rise of Jamaican music, from ska to contemporary reggae. Marley’s lyrics lifted spirits and united nations. Robert Nesta Marley is put on a higher thresh hold that any before him, he stands on the podium as the greatest musician in this century. Through reggae Marley lives on influencing many well known bands today. Marley sang of love and above all else “Jah” a god in one of the many religions worshiped in Jamaica. The religion most commonly associated with Jamaican culture is Rastafarianism. This group of free spirited natives known as the Rastafarian’s belive in the spiritual use of marijuana, known to this island as “Ganja”. They speak Patios, pronounced (pa-twaa), an extreme Jamaican slang of the English language. Rastafarians live off the land and worship freely in the green mountains of the inner island. From an economic stand point Jamaica is generally a poor country with an average family income of 2,000 dollars a year. As a result Jamaican people rely heavily on the precious U.S. dollar brought in through tourism. Jamaica’s number one source for trade is Bauxite. The mineral rock Bauxite is rich within the rocky coast of the island. Although the overall status of Jamaican society remains poor, the abundant source of fish, fruits, and spices keep the natives well fed. Curry goat and Akki (saltfish/eggs) fill the bellies of Jamaicans everyday. Among my favorites are jerk pork and
Culture can be defined as the way of the life of a people, with regards to both the material and non-material aspects. However, as a result of a developing and maturing society, in addition to the birth of various generations and external influences, these “ways of life” can be inadvertently retained, renewed and even discarded. Our own Caribbean society, specifically Barbados is not exempt from such occurrences.