We continue with the list of stereotype that Jamaica hates....
Jamaicans have their own time
Caribbean time zone is not only a literal different in time, it’s also the attitude towards doing thing in sort of urgency. Here and in other island things tend to take longer and might test your patient a bit…
People here love to take their time and do things in their way and paste, it can be good and bad depending on the situation. But what I recommend is when traveling here, be ready to anyway take your time and slowdown from the regular life race rush.
For me it’s actually a very interesting topic, and I think that its really not easy to leave in calm mind set, well that at least what I learned from my life explained. But here it is a choice, yes there are always good and bad things in life, but if I could learn one thing for locals, it would be really to able to live my life by my vision, time, believe and choices.
A pro tip, Jamaican arrive late to event, and I mean LATE, so if you planning to go out to a party to experience the culture and have some great time, make sure to leave late and come back early in the morning after…
All Jamaicans Are Rastas
Next topic is fairly common to be mistaken with, All Jamaicans are Rastas. Surprisingly Rasta religion is not that common in Jamaica, and today there are less them 30 K Rastafarian on the island.
According to the statistics there is less than 5% of the population identifies as Rastafarian. The leading religion on the island is Christianity with more churches per square mile than any other country in the world. That crazy!
You can easily say that Rasta religion gets more popularity outside of the island. Rastafari believes had crossed the wide world and are now known almost everywhere. Of course the best known Rastafarian related to Jamaica is Bob Marley, but the story of Rastafari in Jamaica didn’t start from him.
Rastafari, also known as Rastafarianism and the Rastafari Movement, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion.
Rastafari developed out of the legacy of the Atlantic slave trade, in which over ten million Africans were enslaved and transported to the Americas between the 16th and 19th centuries. Under 700,000 of these slaves were settled in Jamaica.
Since then, Rasta has been thru so much in Jamaica and worldwide, and it’s truly a strong highly spiritual rebellious religion that is deeply influenced by Judeo-Christian religion, and shares many elements with Christianity. Rastas believe the Bible is an authentic source of early black African history and consider Haile Selassie as Jesus, messiah , living God, part of Trinity, alongside God as Creator and the Holy Spirit.
Today there are an estimated of 700,000 to 1,000,000 Rastas across the world. When the largest population is in Jamaica, although small communities can be found in most of the world's major population centers.
Even thu dreadlocks are one main way of practice for Rastas it is very popular in Jamaica to grow dreads without being and living as a Rasta. And will defiantly invest a whole video about this topic so just keep on following.
So, not all Jamaicans are Rastas and you can even say that most of then are not.
Man a Gyals
Ok it’s true that, Caribbean people are full with LOVE, and AFFECTION and SEX is defiantly not a taboo here. Sexuality is incorporated in the culture in some major ways from music to dancing and language and slang expression. For me, coming from a different culture it was always very interesting to see that its really not a taboo here and people freely talk about sexuality.
The honest truth is that Jamaican man love & adore women in all types, and they apricate their mothers and consider women as powerful and good in management a prove for that is the great number of Jamaica women that are in leadership positions, business owners and more.
Females here will get extra attention almost everywhere, it can be by calling or complementing you in public, and that is what sometime cam make people think and criticize the man’s behavior, but n the end of the day most of them do it form a respectable way and not trying to downsize the female.
One of the thing you can definitely notice is that Jamaican women are full of confidence and in a way, the behavior coming from men and feeling special and being loved by men is something that actually helps women to feel better about themselves and don’t let the western world rules to diacetate their feelings about how attractive they are.
So to me it was really an eye opener and still is, and its for sure one of the things that you have to learn to get used to, to always drag attention, but its also a literal power women have here over men, which is also fun…
Jamaicans Practice Voodoo
Next myth talks about practicing obeah (similer to voodoo), Obeah is a system of spiritual healing and justice-making practices developed among enslaved West Africans in the West Indies. Obeah is difficult to define, as it is not a single, unified set of practices.
When searching back you can learn that this myth is routed in the racist eyes of the oppressor that often ‘justify’ successes and winning of the local or enslaved by a spiritual practice, meaning, admitting that they just achieve whether the wanted or pray for by their own power.
The term obeah comes African Ashanti Twi word Obayi which also means "witchcraft”. The first time in Jamaican history the term "obeah" was used in the colonial literature was in reference to Nanny of the Maroons, an Akan woman, considered the ancestor of the Windward Maroon community and celebrated for her role in winning the First Maroon War and securing a land treaty in 1739.
Once slavery end in 1834 it continued to be practiced by a very small percentage of the population but Christianity started to become the dominant religion. Jamaicans don’t practice obeah but they are often to be mistaken with church who use similar practice that might not being known to others and seems as Obeah, for example the pocomania believers that often thought as obeah.
The Hollywood movie “Marked for Death” did also helped to crated this stereotype among Jamaicans, and mainly had and still have the worst review is you ask any Jamaican. Nowdays Obeah is outlawed in Jamaica and you will hardly hear about this dying belief system.
All Jamaicans Smoke weed
Firstly this is probably the number one stereotype on Jamaicans, all Jamaica smoke weed. its not hard to see why people that haven’t visit the island believe that, the image of a Jamaican with locks wand a big spliff in his mouth is perpetuated in our brains is on almost every t-shirt and tourist souvenir sold on the island.
Its true that smoking ganja is popular here more the other places, but lets start with the fact it cannabis is illegal on the island, but was “decriminalized” in 2015, and its first introduced to Jamaica in the 1850s–1860s by indentured servants imported from India during British rule of both nations; many of the terms used in cannabis culture in Jamaica are based on Indian terms, including the term ganja which is in hind.
Statistic says that only 10 % of Jamaicans actually smoke weed, so it is not popular at all compare to other leading countries in ganja smoking. For the Rasta communities smoking ganja is like a securement or a religious ritual and a part of life, but its mainly combined in a medicinal way in which you can consume the herb in different ways.
Christian communities see ganja smoking as a very bad thing and they fight against it. So as you can learn, this stereotype is really wrong and can easily give visitor the feeling like they can walk in the street holding a giant spliff, but that incorrect. Yes you can smoke here but with sense and not in public place such as street or business..
If you are inserted in herb, Jamaica can offer great weed farm tours that can just be a nice teaching experience that you will never forget.
All Jamaicans Live Near the Beach
One of the breathtaking feeling you get when landing in Jamaica is to see the combination of the nature in the common view, everywhere. The structure of the island is mainly surrounding the cost line, when not that many communities are located actually in the center of the island, one of the main reasons is the geographic structure that makes it hard to build and accesses daily necessity to these remoted areas.
There are some fantastic beaches in Jamaica, but it’s not known as ‘the land of wood and water’ for nothing. The truth is that most Jamaica live in towns or cities that not all have a bay or beach, but the nature is always in the surrounding. You can easily find beautiful hidden gems of green and hilly views with rivers and waterfalls.
But going to the beach you will find a wide variety of different type of facilities, from public to fancy Jamaica has it all, so if you interested in a prefect chill day go to the beach !
Jamaica is super dangerous
To address this one I have to start by explaining that Jamaica considered third world country and is unfortunately inflated with a lot of corruption in the government and political wars that contributes to high rate of unemployment, poverty crime & violence.
The root of crime in Jamaica is without no doubt politics that had consistently been using citizen in low power in order to control the island under fear and admiring politician that don’t serve their responsibilities. Poverty is also a circumstance of political wars, and high unemployment rates will all lead to crime increase as people will try to survive.
Now I am not going to lie to you, Jamaica does have crime, just like any other country, but much of the violent crime here, is limited to inner-city areas and is often inter-gang related so visitors are not involved in violent situation. The police and government enforcement in touristic areas is very high.
Even due almost every travel company will warren you not to visit The capital, Kingston is the beating heart of Jamaican music, culture and business and well worth a visit by anyone coming to Jamaica. Its not a dangers place as trying to describe and there is defiantly many ways to tour Kingston easily without a hassle.
Just like any other country that you visit, respect the social rules and the people , and try as you can to learn from locals from their own experience.
Jamaicans are all hustlers
I feel like this one need to be re-phrased to ‘How come Jamaica have so many entrepreneur?” The island is the leading in the Caribbean in business entrepreneurships. This is a result of the internal Jamaica motivation called – hustling- the consistent need to mek it inna life.
Jamaican are hardworking people, different from what people might say but its true , almost every Jamaican have a 9-5 and in addition another small business he maintain regular flow more cash into the house hold.
More reasons that also push them to own a business is the minimum wage in Jamaica that us now approximant $ 9000 JMD per week, the difficulty in finding good pay jobs in Jamaica, especially if you have qualification.
Traveling in the island you will see a lot of hustlers trying to sell cold drinks and goods in the stop light, street, road side , almost everywhere it seems pretty ruff to me, standing all day in the hot sun so make some change… so next time someone tries to sell you something on the street, acknowledge their industry and help them out if you can.
Jamaica is a cheap destination for vacay
Ok this is my favorite one, for some reason lot of people think Jamaica is a cheap destination when actually traveling in Jamaica can be relatively expensive, but really worth it.
If you want to travel with comfort you will pay it , the price are not extremely highly but yet not cheap at all.
No Civilization
Not true ! Jamaica is one of the leading countries in the Caribbean , and slowly but shortly it progressing and developing in almost any aspect. Take a tour in any town to see the development that is taken place, almost all place in the island are civilized with water’ electricity.
When coming to Jamaica , come with a clear mind , make your own friends and links , discover places and enjoy the beauty without judging others , then trust me your trip will be so perfect !
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