Yah mon! Jamaica mon!

Yah mon!  No kidding – that is what they say, males and females, to each other in Jamaica…all the time…in every conversation.  Earlier this year I was promoted into a new role with my traveling sales job, and I acquired a few more countries under my sales territory: Aruba, Curacao, Suriname (NOT an island!), and Jamaica.  I’ve been to Kingston, Jamaica, a few times now, and it has really grown on me!  It’s a tough market for business and you have to be careful in the city of Kingston, but I have been pleasantly surprised in many ways.   Geographical note: ‘toursity Jamaica’ is a 4 hour drive on the other side of the island – Montego Bay and Ocho Rios.  Kingston is the capital and the heart of the business there.  Here are some experiences I’ve had thus far:

WATA, not WATER.  I don’t think there’s a soul in Jamaica who pronounces ‘water’ like we would in the States.  It sounds like ‘wa – ta.’  And to top it off, the biggest water & juice bottling company is called Wata!  It’s very common in Jamaica to drink ‘Cran Wata’ instead of bottled water or juice.  I enjoy not-so-sweet beverages, so I really like it because it’s like watered-down cranberry juice or Gatorade.  Here is a picture of some Cran Wata (pronounced “crahn wah-tah”):

My first trip = Bob Marley’s birthday.  As much as I love culture, the fact that Bob Marley’s birthday fell on my first day in Jamaica back on a trip in January did NOT, unfortunately, mean I was able to experience any of the parades or festivities that were going on there.  He’s an icon on the island, and there were a few events and tributes to celebrate him, but I played it safe in my hotel that night.  I had my share of Marley’s music, though, during the day in the taxi.  All they played on the radio was Bob Marley – sounds like the Jamaica we might think of, huh?!  Well, I’m sure my Jamaican customers and taxi guys would want you to know that Bob Marley is NOT all they listen to.  Here is a song I heard on my most recent trip, last week, and I really like it.  It’s by a Reggae artist called Sizzla.  It has a unique sound to it, using some sort of African maracas (according to my taxi driver) in the background.  Just click the link to listen:

Jamaica Jerk Chicken is NOT always spicy.  That’s right – ‘jerk’ is a way of cooking the chicken, not just the spicy sauce they put on the top.  I went to the well-known Scotchies Restaurant in Kingston with my customer on my January visit, and they explained that jerk chicken is cooked on real pimento logs from the pimento trees, and it takes on that ‘smoky’ flavor while they add seasonings during the cooking process.  If you add the spicy sauce to the top of your chicken at the table, it is still called jerk, but there’s another name for the sauce itself.  Maybe double jerk chicken...I can't remember.  Here are some photos of the chicken being cooked on the logs and also the meal with a myriad of sides (plantain, fried dough, etc) (Note that you can always click this pictures to see the images closer-up):

Socacise Exercise Class – too advanced for my own good:  On my trip to Kingston in March, I stayed at a Wyndham hotel.  It is not my favorite, but one perk is that it has a huge gym connected to it where locals pay to use it, and there’s an exercise room to hold classes.  Well, I got off the treadmill and decided to go up by the weights and the exercise room to stretch.  I peeked in the room because the music was BOOMING.  It was full of Jamaican women dancing to Soca music with an instructor.  If you’ve ever heard Soca music, you’ll know what I mean by BUMPING.  It’s this really, really fast-paced Caribbean music that is similar to the Latin ‘merengue’ style of music, but faster and more spontaneous.  It’s all over the islands and I, therefore, have heard many, many, many Soca songs over the past 2.5 years.  Some of it is a bit vulgar, but some is really funny and good and has actually grown on me!  It’s different than your Caribbean calypso music that’s laid-back with steel drums that you hear on a cruise or at the beach bar in the sand.  It’s very fast-paced and you jump around…if your joints are in working order and you’re nimble enough, you can do actual moves, like they were doing in the class.  But LET ME TELL YOU – that was OUT OF MY LEAGUE!  Please know that I am NOT a two left-footed girl with no rhythm.  I’ve taken lessons and am an OK salsa/bachata/merengue dancer…but Soca?  Forget about it.  I was one of the youngest in the room, and whether it mattered or not I was the lightest-toned skin in the room, and I looked horrible.  These older Jamaican women were busting it up in there!  Haha, and the annual Carnival celebration (that goes on throughout every island of the Caribbean one week / year) was coming up, so everyone was getting ready to dance in the streets for that.  Sometimes I just stood there and watched because the instructor was moving her hips or shaking her boo-tay so fast that I couldn’t even tell what the move was.  Everyone else followed her fine, but WHEW not this Americana!  It was cultural, to say the least, and I’m glad I tried it!!  They told me to come back next time, but I didn’t feel comfortable making any promises on that. 

Here's a picture of my FAVORITE Jamaican customer, Clover Thompson, who is the general manager at SCL Ltd.  She and I meet and sell power tools during the day, and she helps my loneliness at night by taking me to really neat restaurants around Kingston.  This is us after a Milwaukee/SCL Breakfast Workshop with contractors:

Well, before I go on and on, I’ll stop writing.  I’ll write about the language and accent in Jamaica (they speak English and Patois) next time..  Everyone have a wonderful day – and as they say in Jamaica – RESPECT!  (pronounced ‘res-peck’).

Bless up,

Anna Banana