I'm saying bye to Jamaica

[Redj]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

Many years ago, I made the decision NOT to live in Jamaica perm. Going for 4 or 5 mths/year is the ticket I think. The best of both worlds.
Its true I have not been back for several years, but only got 1.5 yrs to wait till we go back for a long stay. I remember the garbage, driving, standing in line at govt offices, getting pushed outta line at chinese grocery store. You just can't let it get to you. Slow and easy is the only way to be.
I would never own a car either, way too much hastle.
All the above stories just reinforce my thoughts.

But Jamaica is still the land i love..... [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Ochigal]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

Originally posted by Smileawhile:
[qb]
Yes I did come across one or two people that tried to fight me down or such but I stood my ground and then it was done. [/qb]

Yes...and that is typical...once you stand your ground...for the most part...you will succeed.

Originally posted by Smileawhile:
[qb]
Even when bad things happened they were different then here in the states. I was robbed once while at Runaway Bay public beach. People I didn't know helped me to get my things back. People I had never seen. I don't know that if I were robbed in the states if anyone would run to my aide like so many did in Jamaica.

I was harrassed in Ochi one evening leaving work and my husbands cousin whom I never met made sure I got home safe because I was Chiney's wife. [/qb]

Smile...THIS is one of the things that made my life of 8 years there one I will never regret...and that is the GOOD people you do encounter...they are there and they are everywhere.

I posted a story once about an experience I had where our home was invaded in the middle of the night by men with cutlass's. We survived the attack and our neighbors came out of the woodwork to help us...what was frustrating was calling the police...they wouldnt come...thought it was a prank call...so we drove to the police station and still they wouldnt come cause the detective "in charge" was sleepin and didnt want to get up...they told us to come back in the morning...

So we went home to a house spattered with blood and sat there all night wondering if "the men" would come back for revenge...our neighbors ALL sat with us...every man with a cutlass in hand. It was a wonderful feeling to see the neighborhood ban together against the badness. Unfortunatley the Law Enforcement officials didnt have the same "caring spirit".

Dont get me wrong...I am not...nor have I ever whined or complained about my life there. I was blessed and fortunate in how I lived and having a long period of my life be there. I just knew when my time was done...knew when my patience had worn thin. I blame no one or nothing...but I had other options and choose to excercise that.

J-can...you have every right to your feelings...and NO...you have broke no rules...hence why I did not edit any of your post. I just prefer that this forum be a place where people SHARE their honest experiences. IF some people dont like another posted experience thats fine...I just ask that civility be used.

As I said before and will say agian...WALK GOOD and feel free to share some of your thoughts on life in Jamaica...the good and/or the bad. We (or maybe I should say I for one) would love to hear more from you.

[j-can]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

Thanks Ochi...But my post was in response to Q numbers ..I am still waiting for his answer

[777]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

Ochi,
u haffe share dat deh story deh missis..
You actually have me interest...

[Ochigal]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

777's

Heres the link...the story is more about my re-migration back to the US...but includes that night.

http://www.jamaicans.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=22;t=000565

[barosa]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

Quotes in bold originally by Ochigal:

One day on the drive to Kingston...there was a big truck and trailer jack-knived and blocking the road. So we all sat there for an hour or so waiting for the tow truck to get it out of the way. IN front of me was a taxi full of people. As we sat...some one in the car decides they are done with their box food and throws it right out in the street...(Litter is another thing I despise in such a beautiful country). So I got out of my car...walk up...picked up the box and handed it back in the window saying "I think someone dropped this" Well of course you can imagine the arguement that followed.

Ochi, I've read most everything concerning your time in Jamaica. Your paragraphs selected give me a chance to say something. To the one above, I actually gasp when I read what you did by taking up the litter and presenting it to the owner... Most Jamaicans including yours truly, would NEVER attempt something like that. With the wrong people you could have been shot! especially now that guns are commonplace. You are one brave soul! but I share and understand your intolerance for litter.


Another day...I get up to the bank teller after waiting in line for close to an hour...just as I get up there..her cell phone rings...she answers it and proceeds to argue with her boy friend about where he was the night before...I finally tap on the counter and ask her to please continue the phone call on HER time cause right now she is on MY time. She proceeds to cuss me about how "She nuh werk fe me...me nuh sign her paycheck...blah blah blah"...so I proceed to explain customers and how she DOES work for me and everyone else in the line. People started clapping, and her supervisor finally intervened...BUT...I ended up with my blood boiling.

What can I SAY Ochi? This is Jamaica!! and I can understand your frustration because we who were born and grew up there learnt to accept the rudeness, contempt and poor manners from our bank tellers and govt "employees". In fact, they are suppose to be our "servants"(not in a perjorative sense if you get my drift) but somehow, the culture gives them this "dominance" over us and relegate us into a form of subservience. (I think it maybe a throwback to slavery) If you notice that if something appears complicated though it may not be, and that person did what you did, he/she could be punished by having to wait on someone else or made to come back the next day!

Now all these things might seem small...but when something like this happens EVERY day...it wears on your very last nerve.

WHAT I didn find out...was I came back to the USA a much more patient and calmer person. The experience is something I will NEVER regret.

How can you ever forget the experience of living in Jamaica?.. and it's says something about you that you have no regrets. You are the wiser for having lived through it... For the idle rich and those who can afford surrogates(paid people) to do for them, Jamaica can be a paradise. Most of us Jamaicans who post here would have to go through the rigors as you did but not so brave about it. Thanks Ochi for sharing your experience with us. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

--------------------
In an age of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. - George Orwell

[Ochigal]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

Originally posted by barosa:
[qb] Thanks Ochi for sharing your experience with us. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/qb]

Your Welcome Barosa...nice to see you down in my area of the board...ITs funny though...never thought of myself as a brave soul before...guess just passionate about what I beleive in.

[Travellah]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

Originally posted by Q3210:
[qb] Pesha 1, come put your toes in before you wade again fully.
14 years, things can either have gotten better or worsterer.
Canada? Is it the cold that`s getting to your bones? [/qb]

Q...you know you right...its the damn cold that has gotten to me...i am 33 years old and already have arthritis in my feet...we are planning to go down in november to renew our vows and will look around and try to stay a couple weeks...things has cetainly changed ...my mom and grandma have both died and now i have no one there much..so it will seem and feel different ...also i just found out that the dollar is worth nothing and we will need quite a bit of cash before we try to venture down for good....
well my research continues...

[Q3210]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

Originally posted by j-can:
[qb]

Originally posted by Q3210:
[qb] J-can, your post in this thread is most un-gracious and if not, NASTY.
Why you bring your envy in here, I do not know.
Amanda has posted on the Board for many years. She has stated her Truths, what she sees in and about Jamaica. I have never seen her being a target for being in a hellhole as you say Jamaica is. I have never seen Amanda and anyone here in any nasty chat.
For you to come in here and distribute your rightful opinion is fine, but to be wishing Amanda good riddance is quite out of order and rude.
Thanks Amanda for your input here on the BB whilst living in Jamaica and before. We hope that you`ll continue dropping in and at least update us on your Jamaican dogs going to Atlanta. [/qb]

Envy?....What has she got That I need to be envious of?....
I stand by my posting 100% if it was not within the rules I am sure the powers that be would have gotten in touch with me...
The same way you all can speak about your truth
Is why I retain the right to speak my truth
whether you like it or not
You think my comments are nasty?..well tough...This is how I fell..I am a lone voice in here in defense of my beloved country....
We all know how it is in jamaica it's tough as hell...
But you dont leave the first world and go to the third world and then whine constantly about how tough it is [img]/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
Why am I out of order to wish her good riddance
What is so different about her that I cant wish her good riddance?.....Please enlighten me oh holy one.. [/qb]

Hello J-can, First I didnt say you contravened the rules, so why the guilt trip?
It`s not a matter of what I like or not, sure you have rights.
Holy one! You are the lone voice in here in defense of your country...Mighty grand of you.
Amanda is critical about certain aspects of her experience in Jamaica, so what....just like you she has rights too, to express herself.
Why, are you ashamed or you dont care about those aspects she mentioned in past postings?

And there you are Missis Autocratic lady. You quote as in a command: "But you dont leave the first world and go to the third world and then whine constantly about how tough it is" [img]/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

What else should she be doing and not doing, boss?

It`s in poor taste to wish someone good riddance, like you got a lime in your mouth. You invite confrontation by being nasty.
What is so different abour `her` is that she has never expressed impoliteness on this BB.

btw. You changed your moniker.

[Q3210]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

OchiG, good grief...invaded by men with machettes!!??
Blood spattered house??

What`s all this about? Sounded like you were in a war in Mountain View/ Saunders Lane/ Jaques Rd. area of Kingston.

[j-can]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

Originally posted by Q3210:
[qb]

Originally posted by j-can:
[qb]

Originally posted by Q3210:
[qb] J-can, your post in this thread is most un-gracious and if not, NASTY.
Why you bring your envy in here, I do not know.
Amanda has posted on the Board for many years. She has stated her Truths, what she sees in and about Jamaica. I have never seen her being a target for being in a hellhole as you say Jamaica is. I have never seen Amanda and anyone here in any nasty chat.
For you to come in here and distribute your rightful opinion is fine, but to be wishing Amanda good riddance is quite out of order and rude.
Thanks Amanda for your input here on the BB whilst living in Jamaica and before. We hope that you`ll continue dropping in and at least update us on your Jamaican dogs going to Atlanta. [/qb]

Envy?....What has she got That I need to be envious of?....
I stand by my posting 100% if it was not within the rules I am sure the powers that be would have gotten in touch with me...
The same way you all can speak about your truth
Is why I retain the right to speak my truth
whether you like it or not
You think my comments are nasty?..well tough...This is how I fell..I am a lone voice in here in defense of my beloved country....
We all know how it is in jamaica it's tough as hell...
But you dont leave the first world and go to the third world and then whine constantly about how tough it is [img]/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]
Why am I out of order to wish her good riddance
What is so different about her that I cant wish her good riddance?.....Please enlighten me oh holy one.. [/qb]

Hello J-can, First I didnt say you contravened the rules, so why the guilt trip?
It`s not a matter of what I like or not, sure you have rights.
Holy one! You are the lone voice in here in defense of your country...Mighty grand of you.
Amanda is critical about certain aspects of her experience in Jamaica, so what....just like you she has rights too, to express herself.
Why, are you ashamed or you dont care about those aspects she mentioned in past postings?

And there you are Missis Autocratic lady. You quote as in a command: "But you dont leave the first world and go to the third world and then whine constantly about how tough it is" [img]/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

What else should she be doing and not doing, boss?

It`s in poor taste to wish someone good riddance, like you got a lime in your mouth. You invite confrontation by being nasty.
What is so different abour `her` is that she has never expressed impoliteness on this BB.

btw. You changed your moniker. [/qb]

First of all did I mention anywhere on here that I was a female....What would make you assume I was female,dont you know what occurs when you ASSume?......My children will be very surprised at this revelation not to mention my wife of 21 years..

[Ochigal]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

Originally posted by Q3210:
[qb] OchiG, good grief...invaded by men with machettes!!??
Blood spattered house??

What`s all this about? Sounded like you were in a war in Mountain View/ Saunders Lane/ Jaques Rd. area of Kingston. [/qb]

Nah...not Kingston...No Jungle or Rema...Good Ole Ocho Rios...Marvins Park to be exact. Its happening in those areas now too. Soooo many stories I could tell...ones that happened when I lived there and ones that I have heard from friends since I have left. TOO graphic and tragic to share on the board. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Q3210]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

Ocho Rios has been infiltrated by outsiders of many causes, mostly economical. So original folks say.

Apologies to you J-can, your username bears no gender, just like mine. Now I know you`re a male.
Please do not be offended.

[Jacko]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

Originally posted by Ochigal.:
[qb]

Originally posted by Q3210:
[qb] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] OchieG, thanks for expressing some of why Jamaica made you leave. Let me tell you that I admire you for going after that road-hog. They do it because nobody says anything. I bet he had think twice next time. [/qb]

Q,

I hope so...thats just one example...let me tell you EVERY DAY I got into an arguement with someone.

One day on the drive to Kingston...there was a big truck and trailer jack-knived and blocking the road. So we all sat there for an hour or so waiting for the tow truck to get it out of the way. IN front of me was a taxi full of people. As we sat...some one in the car decides they are done with their box food and throws it right out in the street...(Litter is another thing I despise in such a beautiful country). So I got out of my car...walk up...picked up the box and handed it back in the window saying "I think someone dropped this" Well of course you can imagine the arguement that followed.

Another day...I get up to the bank teller after waiting in line for close to an hour...just as I get up there..her cell phone rings...she answers it and proceeds to argue with her boy friend about where he was the night before...I finally tap on the counter and ask her to please continue the phone call on HER time cause right now she is on MY time. She proceeds to cuss me about how "She nuh werk fe me...me nuh sign her paycheck...blah blah blah"...so I proceed to explain customers and how she DOES work for me and everyone else in the line. People started clapping, and her supervisor finally intervened...BUT...I ended up with my blood boiling.

Now all these things might seem small...but when something like this happens EVERY day...it wears on your very last nerve.

WHAT I didn find out...was I came back to the USA a much more patient and calmer person. The experience is something I will NEVER regret. [/qb]

Ochigal I have a similar story where we went to Chelesa jerk chicken in new kingston and the woman that was preparing her food was putting pepper on both orders and I said no I don't want pepper on mine she told me that she did not take an order from me. I had to enlighten her in a likkle patois that I don't want any pepper on jerk chicken. However I am able to laugh about those things [img]/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Q3210 I am coming home, I am just getting certain things in order.

[remo]

Re: I'm saying bye to Jamaica

Originally posted by Q3210:
[qb]
Apologies to you J-can, your username bears no gender, just like mine. Now I know you`re a male.
Please do not be offended. [/qb]

Q3210 .. yuh caan tell di difference between man an woman [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]