Home sweet home, Jamaica....warts and all

Jamaica remains my favorite place on earth,  for I have wonderful friends and family there, none more dear than most of the Williamses, who I still consider family. And I did get the opportunity to meet the latest member of that clan at a lunch soon after I arrived.

Actually, the worst thing about Jamaica is the dangerous and downright annoying crime problem, but life cant be only roses can it?

I could have once again  become a  crime victim when I returned in February 2020, as some assholes saw me, a single woman driving their favorite car, a criss Toyota corolla and decided they wanted it! 

Fortunately I had learnt from experience, that I should never get out of the car and open the gate when strange people follow me home, so I waited them out until my host family returned. Then and only then, they drove off.

 I have always maintained that even if I get a Toyota corolla free, I wouldn't want it. Unfortunately, I had a lot of business to do on this trip and since that was the only car my "adopted" son Shawn had to lend me, had to use it. He was not surprised that people wanted to carjack it, as he said there were quite a few accidents involving that model over the Christmas holidays and the thieves wanted parts. My grandson has the perfect description for those assholes, "Cowards" as they never cease to target women driving by themselves.

The glorious Silver Sands beach

I gave the car back to Shawn as soon as I got the major things done and took public transportation. Actually, JUTC buses are quite good, as they ran frequently on the route I was staying and were air conditioned to boot!

Apart from that incident. it was great being home.

Posing in front of the Bolt billboard in Trelawny

We spent some time in Silver Sands at my brother's home and with cousins who live overseas and the water was great as usual.  As my brother just loves to drive, we spent some time on the road too, as one cousin wanted to see where in southern Trelawny the legendary Usain Bolt was born. 

I knew the area, having ridden there with my "Fun and Thrills" riding group some years ago, but alas, I took them on the long winding route with some of the worst roads in Jamaica. In fact, the day after we returned to Kingston, one newspaper carried a story that taxi drivers who ply the route to Wakefield, Trelawny, mounted a demonstration over the condition of that same road. Good for them. 
We however took the shorter and less potholed road back. It runs beside the Martha Brae river.

When we arrived at Bolt's parent's home, we found a brand new structure. When we went there some years ago, it was an ordinary country home, but now that Bolt is rich, he seems to have demolished the original home. Such a pity as the original home where he was born would attract  visitors I am sure, but I guess he wants no more paparazzo knocking around! 

Anyway they have erected a billboard in the community and established a gift shop nearby, so his presence is not lost.

A 250 year old house in Accompong

Another place we visited was Accompong in the Cockpit Country area of  St. Elizabeth.

This is the largest Maroon community in the island and we visited the community a week after their elaborate annual celebration. 

The maroons are former slaves of the Spanish colonizers who refused to become subjected to the British when they conquered the island. They fought them and when they could not be defeated,  they were given lands in various sections of the island and a form of self government.


 Some Jamaicans do not like them, for as part of their peace treaty with the British, they agreed to help capture the runaway slaves brought in from Africa by the British.

Regardless of how you feel about their actions, their communities are an important part of our

The "Bank of Accompong"

island's history.

Recently, they tried to take their independence to another level, trying to establish their own currency in  Accompong. Its called the Lumi, which they claim is worth $1200 Jamaican dollars. Even a Bank of Accompong has been established, but of course that, will not be given legitimacy and will only be bought as souvenirs,  by the vulnerable. And talking about the vulnerable, one maroon man conned $1000 out of one of my cousins,  for she touched his bead made from coconut and he claimed it was sacred and that is what it would cost to be cleaned!

 Unfortunately I never heard about the scam until we were in the vehicle returning home. 

When we went there, is was a Saturday, so the museum was not open but the visitors got to look around at the community. I was rather appalled to see that they have taken off the portrait of one of their foremost leaders, Queen Nanny, from the front of the museum and replaced it with two skinny girls. 

The original portrait of Queen Nanny that was on  the museum

But its their museum so they can do what they want I guess.

A great experience on this trip was a trip with friends and acquaintances to Mayfield Falls in Westmorland and it was so wonderful that it earned its own blog at ;                                                                                       :https://joan-myviews.blogspot.com/2020/02/return-to-mayfield-falls.html.

The new portraits on the museum at Accompong

Another nice experience  was going to the monthly Bank of Jamaica cultural show with my cousins. I had always only seen musical entertainment there, but this time they had an interesting comedy called the " A Tiny Room" performed by a small group from Montego Bay, and it was quite entertaining.

Yup going home is always wonderful and it is certainly something I will do as regularly as I can, despite the damn thieves and murderers!