• Tue, 23 June 2026

14 Things You Heard Growing Up Jamaican

Things You Hear Growing Up Jamaican

As a young person growing up in Jamaica, you would often hear your parents, grandparents, or any other adult using a myriad of sayings meant to keep you in line or to impart life-long lessons. As you get older, you may even find yourself using some of these same sayings. Journey with me down memory […]

Christmas Time as a Child in Jamaica

Christmas Time as a Child in Jamaica

As a child, Christmas, even December, seemed to take a long time to come around but when it did, what joy! I remember the weeks leading up to Christmas Day, my brothers and I would wash and put to dry all the available empty D&G and Red Stripe beer bottles so that when the truck […]

What’s the matter wrong with you child? : A Kaleidoscope Of My Jamaican Childhood

After my grandfather’s death in 1936, the family diversified into exotic fruits and vegetables – sweet peas and strawberries the primary ones. My grandmother grew strawberries in abundance, which she supplied to the Doctors Cave Hotel in Montego Bay and to Mr. Fisher’s cannery in Mandeville. In the early days, the strawberries were carefully-packed and […]

Black Patent Leather Shoes: A Kaleidoscope Of My Jamaican Childhood

I was inconsolable.  It did not matter if it could no longer fit me. I wanted it back.  I was robbed.  I would never go back there, not in a million years. I wanted my black patent leather t-strap shoes. Between ages four and six, I attended the preparatory school of the West Indies Training […]

The 4 Differences Between a Guyanese Patty and a Jamaican Patty

The 4 Differences Between a Guyanese Patty and a Jamaican Patty

Jamaican patties are known and loved the world over. The pastry features a flaky shell, multiple fillings, and a unique blend of spices that Jamaican cooks have perfected over centuries. The word patty is also used to describe the Guyanese patty and it’s leading to a great deal of confusion for those seeking authentic Jamaican […]

Uncle Pardie: A Kaleidoscope Of My Jamaican Childhood

Dark red blood spewed from his back as they partially lifted him from the makeshift autopsy table in the backyard so the doctor could examine him.   The crowd in the yard was overwhelming.  The Confidence Bus that plied between Mandeville and Pratville in Southern Manchester  had disgorged its Saturday afternoon crowd  at the gate. Like […]

Traveling to the Country in Jamaica by Bus

Traveling to the Country in Jamaica - by Bus

I was born in Kington but both my parents are from the Parish of St. Elizabeth, but I would visit my mother’s District more than my dad’s; the reason being that more relations were there than at my dad’s. I looked forward to those trips! That was the highlight of the summer holidays or even […]

“A SHOULDA YU MOUT” The family is like the forest : if you are outside it is dense; if you are inside you see that each tree has its own position (Akan Proverb) – A Kaleidoscope Of My Jamaican Childhood

A-SHOULDA-YU-MOUT-The-family-is-like-the-forest-if-you-are-outside-it-is-dense-if-you-are-inside-you-see-that-each-tree-has-its-own-position-Akan-Proverb

My grandmother ruled over a diverse group of children. . Wilbert, the first child of the union who was struck with polio when he was 12 years old was the quiet one. He walked with a peculiar loping gait from his permanently bent knees, one shoulder higher than the other. This posture resulted from total […]