Funny But True: Croaking Lizards and Jamaicans
Want to bring a Jamaican to their knees. Just mention the word croaking lizards. The lizard, which of the gecko family is one of the most feared things in Jamaica and clear a room quicker than a 3-alarm fire. Do you remember all the things you used to hear about croaking lizards in Jamaica? “Ef […]
Bruckins Time – Do You Understand What Emancipation Means?
A number of Jamaicans today do not understand what Emancipation means. Yet a number of books and papers have been written about the abolition of slavery, the greatest watershed event in the history of the Caribbean. Emancipation Day was celebrated on August 1 up to 1962. After Jamaica gained Independence, the 1st Monday in August […]
Miss PeBeep: A Caning to Remember
As children, we think that we can outsmart our parents and get away with it, especially when there is always someone else to blame. I grew up in a small community along the eastern coast of the island with five sisters and one brother, and the occasional cousins or distant relative that my mother would […]
Memba dis – Remember This in Jamaica
Let your mind take you back to those days .. At primary school: an icy mint was 1 cent a fudge was 5 cents free vegetable patties free cows milk, cherry milk free uniform material Walking through the Malls in Constant Spring at Christmas, lighting sparkles.The song “Arlene a musi dream yu deh dream”Far less […]
Jamaican Rumor
“Coffin runnin’ round, asking, asking for Mr. Brown, down in Parade, people runnin’ like a masquerade.”…Bob Marley Jamaica is the sort of place where pandemonium, and mass hysteria can break out at any time. ‘Catch a fever’ as it is morecommonly known, broke out in Kingston, the capital city, in the late sixties in a […]
"Yuh need a Sea Bath"
Lawd Precious, yuh sound bad, a whey yuh have” “Mi ave a touch a de flu 2 week now” “Yuh need a sea bath” For those of you who don’t understand, a sea bath is said to cure any cold or flu. I remember my first sea bath. I was about 7 years old & […]
Scarring My Butt – Miss PeBeep
The other day I was having a private moment in my bathroom. I casually looked over my right shoulder on to my right hip and my eyes were immediately drawn to a two-inch scar that I had on my backside. I immediately began to reminisce. My grandmother had a sofa bed that was made of […]
Teaching your Child about your Culture
You are Jamaican but your children either left Jamaica at an early age or were born in a country outside of Jamaica. You yearn for them to learn about Jamaica and your culture but don’t know how. Here are a few things you can do to teach your children about Jamaica and your Jamaican heritage. […]
Junction Ride
I remember as a girl going to school in Kingston and having to take a bus from the country everyday for two hours both ways. I would have to pass the “Junction” that leads to St. Mary/Portland. I use to be so scared that I would fall asleep as soon as I reached Castleton. Just […]
Watch de Ride
Exterminator, Snow White, Eliminator …’quarter-millions’ that were not to be taken by the faint of heart!!! Schoolboys jumping through windows, girls stampeding doors…ahhhh …what a site it was to behold. Yet what was it about these buses that drove youngsters into such a frenzied state?!! Was it: The flashy paintwork The possibility of hearing every […]