Home Away from Home, or Not?

By Symphony Griffith

(Landscape of Kingston Jamaica.)

Today we’re going to share the experience of a woman from the land of Green, Gold and Black, the land of Reggae, Ackee and Salt fish, Bob Marley and Usain Bolt and most definitely, the land of patriotic people. These are the things that most people think of when they hear the name Jamaica.

Migrating to another country is not always easy for everyone, it’s like an emotional roller-coaster. On one hand you’re happy and excited, while on the other, you’re worried, sad or even anxious, so as it was with Marcia who was born and raised in Jamaica.

Twenty-two years ago, reality set in as Marcia sat next to her Barbadian fiancé, onboard a flight destined to Barbados, a new land she would soon call home. As she looked through the window of the plane, tears filled her eyes, she could see the beautiful lush landscape, mountains, rivers and buildings in Jamaica, slowly fade from her view, to make way for white clouds and blue skies. “I was leaving my family and everything I knew,” she said.  

On her arrival to Barbados, she was not greeted as friendly as she expected. She said meeting the officers at the airport was not a good experience. “They were extremely unpleasant and I figured that it would change over time and it has not. When you come in, it’s almost as if they’d rather you not be here, so I’ve always not liked going through the airport,” said Marcia.

Shaking her head in complete disappointment, she said: “they say welcome to Barbados, but their welcome is not a welcoming one.”

At first, Marcia generally found that Barbadians were very unfriendly in comparison to Jamaicans. “They don’t socialize very much until you get to know them and sometimes you don’t get to know them until months and months after,” she expressed. 

These prejudices were very evident in her first few months of her teaching career. Although she was qualified and granted the post, there were still some people who did not speak to her at all simply because she was a non-national. Over time, Marcia has since discovered that there are still lots of wonderful people such as her friends and family, who actually embrace her and truly make her feel at home.

She still holds her life in Jamaica close to her heart and reminisced on her most memorable moments. “I miss the rivers and my mountains and the culture on the whole, where people talk to you all the time. You stand up by the bus top and you never stand up by yourself, it’s always people chatting on the bus and everybody talks and socializes,” she said.

(Ackee and Saltfish, the National dish of Jamaica.)

The taste of Jamaican cuisine is always at her finger tips, because she has to cook it for herself whenever she craves it. However, she said she misses not having to cook whatsoever. “In Jamaica you have so many restaurants all over the place that you can just say hey, I’m hungry, let me go buy this food here. In the nights there’s always food available, as opposed to here in Barbados where everything shuts, except for Chefette,” which does not tickle her fancy.

In that regard, she said it is frustrating because Jamaican restaurants here in Barbados are very expensive and most of them that she has been to, did not have Jamaican chefs to give it that authentic touch.

“When I was in Jamaica, I used to be a big Soca fan,” she said.  Marcia found that she grew a much bigger appreciation for both Dancehall and Reggae music, after being away from home for so long. Shaking her head and chuckling to herself, she revealed that “maybe because I heard it so much, I did not want to hear it at all.”

One thing she had no choice but to hear and get used to, was a Bajan accent. Initially it was a problem for her, she understood some people, while there were many others who spoke really quickly. “I would ask people deliberately, I would say hey, can you say that slowly for me? Or say that again?” she expressed, while admitting that she too would have to speak slower for them and speak English as opposed to Jamaican dialect.

Speaking about Bajan language, her favourite expression is “Op-it-in,” which means to Open something. “Every time I hear it, I laugh and I’m not laughing at them. For me, it’s just so different.” She found that the difference between Bajan speech and Jamaican speech is that Bajans tend to chop words, whereas back home, Jamaicans chop off the “H sounds.”

Even though 22 years have passed and Marcia is considered a Barbadian citizen, she is still extremely proud to be Jamaican and has remained in contact with other Jamaicans living in Barbados.

Jamaicans are very supportive of each other, it’s just their nature. With a huge smile on Marcia’s face, she said “Whenever there’s anything going on, everybody links up, so the Jamaicans would call around and say hey, a Jamaican is having a session tonight and everybody who can go, will go and then another Jamaican has a little restaurant in her backyard and we’d patronize that as well.”

Marcia still wishes she was back home in Jamaica. “Sometimes I actually cry as old as I am now I don’t like leaving my family and everything, I don’t like to be away from the whole culture.” Through the midst of all her feelings, she realized that as an adult you still have to do what you have to do and at some point you have to grow up and recognize that “If it’s a matter of opportunity because of a job, or whatever, at some point you have to take up your family and you have to go and remember that wherever you are, that’s where your family is,” she said.