Jamaica

[Princess Arabia]

Jamaica, beautiful island in the West Indies where I grew up, is known for it's cultural background. Our national motto is "Out Of Many One People" which alludes to the various ethnic groups among the population; which, to-date, stands at approximately 3million people. 

Here I will be posting videos and making posts about the different aspects of this very diverse Caribbean Island including, sports, food, music, politics, news, environment, and about the country in general. 

I'll start with this introductory video that states a few facts about the country. 

 

[Princess Arabia]

Jamaica is known for it's athletes and sprinters. Even though I didn't run for the country, I did run for my school (Primary School) and ran at the National Stadium. I ran 100m and relays. Nothing like these athletes though. Check out this run where we killed it.

 

Edited June 2 by Princess Arabia

[Princess Arabia]

 

A poor neighborhood in Kingston, Jamaica VS a more luxurious one. Jamaica is also diverse in it's different communities.

 

Edited June 2 by Princess Arabia

[Princess Arabia]

 

[Princess Arabia]

This is our Beverly Hills

 

Edited June 2 by Princess Arabia

[Princess Arabia]

Nice documentary about the island.

Edited June 2 by Princess Arabia

[Princess Arabia]

Jamaica has beautiful beaches, nice neighborhoods and upscale areas; but.....here goes. Not proud to say but it has the highest murder rate in the world and has a lot of gangs. Mostly in Kingston, but it's usually only the gangs fighting each other and doesn't really affect the outskirts. Tourists better not go there especially if they're white. Cannot show Jamaica without showing the underground areas. 

 

Edited June 2 by Princess Arabia

[Ishanga]

My Wife is Jamaican, born there and was there for the first 20+yrs of here life, but she came here to Canada for a better life in her words, but we vacationed in Montego Bay a Year or so ago, fist time there for me, it was very nice and beautiful, I met her family out in the country, they accepted me and it was great fun and a learning experience for me.. 

My Wife is all about Jamaica, listens to Jamaican podcasts and videos, but wants to live here because she says it offers her more opportunities, but there are struggles here too even though we are in a so called Wealthy Country, we just have a higher standard or quality of living, more established survival systems, but everyone here wants to go to Jamaica, lol, its so nice there, and its like a paradise really, we went to Duns River and Blue Hole, and I saw the country from both sides of Montego Bay area, its just the social systems are not in place. 

I luv Bob Marley, watched lots of docu's on him when I met my Wife, and recently saw the "One Love" movie, he was highly Awakened, but its crazy how he changed things in the world and in his own country in many ways.. All the world has huge problems, just different problems depending on the region, everyday I hear about the problems in Toronto on the radio, its nuts the politics of it all and its not really a hard fix if we decide to work together and see each other as we see ourselves, this would fix many problems in the world...but I'm looking forward to going back to Jamaica again one day:)

[Princess Arabia]

@IshangaThanks for your input. I was kind of shocked to hear you say your wife is Jamaican. Didn't expect that - no reason in particular. Nice to see a member that has some Jamaican roots and have been there. I was watching some videos and thought it'd be nice to highlight my country and showcase some of it's heritage, background, news, places and just overall what it's like behind the scenes. 

Feel free to share anything that you might find to be of interest here and also anything in Canada that's Jamaican-based that either you or your wife might find to fit in this category. Would love to see some Jamaican-Canadian stories. My sister is in Quebec and I also have a few aunts and uncles in Canada, so that'll be of some interest to me.

I'm just going spontaneously with this, so anything that pops up will surely be in order as it's not necessarily in order or with any particular theme; only as long as it's Jamaica-based.

Politically, it's very rough there and a lot of injustices, but such is life and Third World Countries are usually subjected to those kinds of circumstances, unfortunately. I will share it all from the nice to the not-so-nice to the atrocities and everything in between about every topic.

Again, thanks for your input and I hope you enjoy this thread and please share it with lovely wifey and say hi to her for me.

[Ishanga]

@Princess Arabia Your welcome, and I am enjoying this thread for sure:)

My Wife has some relatives here too, close by and some in America, her twin Sister lives in Florida (and half brother too) and She too is married to an older Caucasian Man, and even more weird is that He works in the same business as I do but for a different company, lol.. My Wife just went down there to visit with them, they have a 1yr old baby girl, so that was good for all of them to get together as they haven't seen each other for many years..I asked my Wife why come to Canada and not the States, She said She always had a dream to come to Canada, but she hates the cold lol... She is very close to her family and sister, they chat everyday on whattsup, I don't know what they are talking about as their Patois is so strong and I suck at languages lol, we all hope to get together for Xmas, will have to see if that works out I hope so. as I would luv to meet Her Sister and Husband and Florida in December would be nice..

 She tells me that everyone in Jamaica wants to get out of there, since as You say the political scene is not so good, and economically too, lots of crime and murder, its distressing really to hear of this and know that it is happening there and too allot of other places, our economic systems are failing big time all over. the Wealth of the World is not shared equally or fairly imo... 

What I found really interesting, and I don't even know if this is something I should say, but my Wife says she prefers Caucasian Men and older ones too, since we seem to be more stable and grounded, when we first met I would message her everyday and ask about her day, she too had done some track and field in high school, and she went to England to compete once, I found online an article that mentioned her name as part of a relay team, and I shared it with her when we first met, she was like how the heck did You find this lol, I just did a google search and found it, but that was something she had never experienced before so it must of hit her in a way that made us get together and stay together, although it is challenging being from different cultures and age groups, but we make it work..

I'm impressed by how She sets goals and achieves them one by one, getting her Permanent Residency here, then her beginners driving licence and now is taking lessons to get her 2nd level drivers licence, US Visa to travel to see Her Family, and she works hard and can stay pretty focused when She wants too... She Luv's Her culture but sees the drawbacks and wants to Succeed and is driven, and she helps her Caribbean Friends out allot too, helping get basic things done and gives advice on how to do things when they get here.. I'm very Proud of Her...

 

[Princess Arabia]

@IshangaNice to hear. I must say that the few men I've dealt with here in America on a personal level were also mostly Caucasian older men, not old but older, if I may add. Italians, Irish and German men seem to love black women especially those from the islands. Most of my past bfs were white with a few blacks along the way; and surprisingly since I left ja I never had a Jamaican bf so it's not surprising to hear what you said about your wife in this regard. There are also white, Indian and Chinese Jamaicans so were used to the different ethnicities anyway. 

A lot of crime is in Ja but there are also plenty of places that are very peaceful and relatively crime free or with very little; so it all depends on where you go. 

Happy to hear you guys are having a great time together and i wish you both the best in your marriage. ❤️

[Princess Arabia]

A nice little documentary about a Nigerian visiting Montego Bay, Jamaica and who documented his short visit to that part of the island. 

[Princess Arabia]

Filmed in Jamaica. Love this song.

[Princess Arabia]

Didn't know they were of Jamaican roots. Such a diverse island.

Edited June 3 by Princess Arabia

[Princess Arabia]

Here's a white Jamaican guy for ya.

Also a white gal.

Edited June 3 by Princess Arabia

[Princess Arabia]

We even have the Jewish Jamaicans. Our motto again...Out Of Many One People. She also mentioned going to the same High School I went to. St. Andrew High School for Girls.

[Princess Arabia]

 

[Princess Arabia]

A little Jamaican history.

[Princess Arabia]

Love Ital food, love the mountains and all this island goodness. The rastas are very cool people.

[Princess Arabia]