fourgirlsfourcountries

http://www.ethnic-spicy-food-and-more.com/historyofjamaicanfood.html

Even though this site is created and written by a private person I believe this is a trust worthy source. My first reason for believing that is I don’t think anyone would want to sabotage a countries reputation by disparaging their food. So this isn’t a blog where anyone has written their personal opinion about Jamaica’s political position or in any way tries to angle anybody’s opinion about Jamaica as a country. My second reason for believing this is a trustworthy source is the fact that the founder of the site has put out a picture of herself and on the side of that she has written a little story about her interests in cooking ethnic food. Whether this information is true or not is discussable. It simply seems to be a blog where a private person who has a lot of knowledge about Jamaican food has written a few facts down. Also the information matches the fact that has been written on other sites.

http://www.culturecrossing.net/basics_business_student.php?id=103

I think this source is reliable. My first reason for believing this is that it looks like the person that has created this site has put a lot of time and effort in it. Though I am sure some of the information is wrong since there are a lot of countries that has been evaluated. For an example when you read about Sweden there is to me some information which I do not agree with. Maybe that is because I can’t look upon Swedish people as an outsider can. The information written on the site has been sent in by a private person who has been to the country or has information about it. Then a member of the site checks the credibility with at least two different sources.  One reason for why the source may not be reliable is that a person can search for information on the internet without knowing anything and send it in. Since the site only compares it with two sources I believe there is a lot false information posted on the site.

http://www.mapsofworld.com/jamaica/independence-day.html

I believe this site is reliable since it looks like they have put a lot of effort in it. The information posted on this site is exactly the same as on other sites or blogs. A reason for why the information on this site may not be reliable is that I can’t find a person responsible for the site. No names or pictures has been put up to make me completely sure this information isn’t false.

I just got home from the airport and I felt obligated to write my last post in this blog! I have had a wonderful time and even though I miss everything about Jamaica it feels good to be home. I have read my friends blog posts and compared the countries. It has been really interesting to read about their time abroad and even though it seems like they’ve all had a great time I’m sure they haven’t enjoyed their time as much as I have!

Jamaican food is just like Australian and South African food inspired by different cultures. Both Jamaican and Australian food is inspired by English, Asian and African cuisine. I think it is great that countries actually has been inspired by other food cultures and mixed it together with their own food. It shows that the world is becoming more and more

Australians and people in South Africa seem to be bolder than most countries when it comes to what they put in their mouths. They eat food that I had never before thought was possible!  What I was most surprised to hear is that you in South Africa actually eat sheep head. It would take some persuasion to get me to eat that! I thought the Jamaican food was quite something but in comparison to the sheep head and the crocodile it became very normal to me.

I think drinking is a common denominator between Jamaica and Ireland or at least a prejudice you have about both countries. If someone asks you to picture a Jamaican or an Irishman in your head you often see a pirate with a bottle of rum or maybe a dwarf with a glass of beer in his hand. And even though that is an amusing assumption that Irishmen and Jamaicans get hammered all the time it isn’t really a truthful picture. Drinking isn’t actually their work but it is something they do at Friday night when their two days of freedom is waiting.

Jamaicans and South Africans have the same social rule about addressing someone you don’t know quite well yet with a title that fits the person for an example Mr. or Mrs. to be polite in South Africa you address a friend’s parent with their oldest child’s name and then say ra or ma depending on if it’s the mother or father you are talking to. I don’t think I could ever get used to that honestly!

Irish people and Jamaicans seem to have one thing in common, both countries differs from Sweden when it comes to time. Both are a lot more spontaneous and they don’t take planning as serious as swedes do.

South Africans seem to be a bit more open to strangers than Jamaicans are. It seems there wouldn’t be any awkwardness if a complete stranger came up to talk to you. That seems weird to me as a Swede but that is probably just because people in Sweden are naturally shy and introvert. Though swedes aren’t completely asocial, I wouldn’t be totally surprised if an old lady would start shouting at me regarding my biking skills. It seems like Australians are the opposite of Swedes when it comes to how you act towards strangers. They seem to be really nice and welcoming. The one thing I reacted to regarding Aussies is that they every time they exit a bus they shout “thanks!” to the bus driver. This is impossible for me to do since every grumpy bus driver is my sworn enemy, and have you ever met a bus driver who isn’t grumpy in Sweden?

During their celebrations Ireland and Jamaica seem to have their dress codes in common. It is tradition for both countries to dress up in a color that is symbolic for their country. The Irishmen dress up in green clothes while it is tradition for Jamaicans to wear clothes in the same colors as their flag during Independence Day.

South Africa celebrates heritage day, a day to celebrate the different ethnical heritages in the country. There is no such celebration in Jamaica but I think there should be since just like South Africa, a big part of the population comes from different countries.

As you can see there are a lot differences and similarities between all these countries. I think it is interesting that countries can have so many similarities even though they are situated on the other side of the globe.

Independence Day

One morning I woke up to the sound of reggae music and people cheering. I crawled out of bed and looked out the window. The only thing I could see was a blur of yellow, green and black. I had to pinch myself to make sure it wasn’t a dream. As I looked out the window my memory started to come back. It was Independence Day!

On the street all people had dressed up in clothes in the same colors as the Jamaican flag, dancing feverishly to the beats of Reggae music. Dressed up in my usual slacks and t-shirt I was the one who differed from the crowd. I asked some people what Independence Day was all about. Apparently you watch or participate in parades and eat a lot of food. I also found out some of the biggest Reggae artists had come to Kingston to sing. I was thrilled to hear that! Not only was I going to listen to some great music I was also going to take part of probably the most important day for Jamaicans. This was actually the day that Jamaica became independent from the ruling of Britain.

My heart was pumping along music that was coming from down the street, and I made my way through the crowd to see what was going on. A Bob Marley look-alike and his band members was playing loud reggae music at the beach. Almost everyone around me was singing along and danced wildly to the music. I was of course surprised to see people shoving their passion so open heartedly, it’s nothing you see on the streets of Västerås. It was such a wonderful feeling to be a part of that feeling of fellowship.

Later on that day a parade took place at Kingston’s main street. Women dressed up in provocative clothes were belly dancing to the rhythm of drums. The show was breathtaking and I wouldn’t have missed it for anything in the world.

That night I went to a party which was held at a restaurant. We ate a lot of delicious food, but most important of all, we had a blast!

I think it is a shame that Swedes Next Swedish national day I will do it like the Jamaicans, cheer and show I’m proud of being a Swede!

Here is a picture I took of the parade!

Picture comes from: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100807/lead/lead1.html

When I camped on the beach one night I bumped in to a couple of men who were making a bonfire on the beach. I came up to talk to them and noticed they were grilling over the bonfire. I instantly became very interested in what Jamaicans like to eat and what traditional Jamaican food is. They told me the food a Jamaican eats consists of a lot of seafood such as fish and shrimps. But of course they eat other groceries like chicken and rice. You make your food from what you can find in the woods, fields and in the water. They told me part of the Jamaican population is vegetarian because they want to be one with nature. This aspiration is mostly a Rastafarian lifestyle. Jamaican food is influenced mostly by West-African and Indian food but it is also inspired by British, French, Spanish and Chinese cuisine. The men were cooking escovitch fish, a very common dish loved by most Jamaicans. When they were cooking the food they were not modest about using spices. I couldn’t imagine it would taste good. Though I was pleasantly surprised, the food was exquisite. The fish was spicy, no doubt about it, but not overwhelming. I have never tasted anything like it.

To drink they just passed around a bottle of rum. Since I felt that would be a bit strong for me I drank a Coca-Cola.

To say the least, Jamaican food is spicy! But do not be afraid of trying your way through the many dishes. I can promise you will find something in your taste.

I noticed quickly that Jamaicans aren’t as ruled by time as Swedish people are. My first week on Jamaica I lived with a woman called Sofia and her family who had been kind to invite me into their home. I noticed the family’s life was very spontaneous in comparison to Swedes. It feels like in Sweden you put everything you are supposed to do in a schedule. If you are supposed to hang out with your friend you have to decide when they are coming, who’s coming and where you are supposed to meet. My host family was quite the opposite. When someone wanted to meet them they just stopped by the house or vice versa.

I must warn you people! If you meet someone new on Jamaica do not forget to address them with Mr., Mrs. or any title that fits the person. If you do not, it is considered extremely rude. It might feel a bit awkward in the beginning but you will get used to it.

Jamaicans both talk and laugh a lot, and when doing so, they do it loud! They don’t think about talking with, as we call it in Sweden, “small letters”. Not even when I sat on a five star restaurant no one was thinking about keeping their voices down like we do in Sweden. To me it felt like my company was screaming at me. So if you ever travel to Jamaica and feel like they are shouting at you, don’t be alarmed! They are probably not angry at you.