Coming from a family where everyone is born and raised in Jamaica and then my baby brother and I are the only ones that come from America, adjusting to my culture can be difficult. There are times where I feel like I don’t belong and I can’t relate well with my own family. Growing up some family members wouldn’t allow me to say I was Jamaican, I had to say I’m Jamerican. Find out how over the years I’ve learned to embrace my culture despite the minor cultural differences.
Growing Up “Jamerican”
My entire family was born and raised in either Kingston or Montego Bay, Jamaica. My one-year-old brother and I are the only ones who were born in the United States of America. No matter how much I tried to claim to be fully Jamaican my family would shoot that dream down and call me “Jamerican” or “Yankee.” I knew I wasn’t born in Jamaica, but my entire life I was raised around the West Indian culture so I felt like I was basically Jamaican.
At the family parties, there were things I didn’t understand, like why dominos were mandatory or why everyone was constantly dancing even while they were eating or why we had a barbeque every weekend in the summertime. When it came to food, I always wondered why every savory food had to be spicy. My grandpa once told me, “You were born with a scotch bonnet pepper in your mouth.” It’s a good thing I love spicy food.
I quickly had to adjust to patois at the same time I was learning English. Understanding my grandma and grandpa who have a strong accent was a bit of a struggle as a child. Although it wasn’t a different language entirely, it was still broken English that had differences in vocabulary. I’ve been speaking patois since I learned my first few words.
Learning As Much As I Can
Growing up in multiple Jamaican households I tried to pick up as much about my background as a child. Whenever I went to my grandparent’s houses I would ask a thousand questions and ask to see pictures from when they lived in Jamaica. My grandpa would tell me a bunch of stories of how he grew up as a child and how he met my grandma. One of my favorite stories would have to be their wedding day. I remember coming across my grandparent’s wedding photo with their song in the background and being so in awe.
Through all the stories and photo albums, I learned that there is a huge cultural difference between Jamaica and America. From the music to the arts to the traditions to the holidays, I could go on and on. My favorite cultural difference would have to be food. Growing up 90% of my diet was Jamaican food and I was quite happy about it. Now that I’m away from home and in college I miss the food more than anything. My second favorite cultural difference would have to be the style of dance. Watching my aunties, cousins, and mom dance all the time around the house and at parties made me want me to dance just like them. Now I’m the one whining at the parties.
Surrounding Myself With Those From My Culture
Now that I’m in college I’m not surrounded by my family or my culture as much as I’m used to. I find myself feeling disconnected sometimes, which isn’t the greatest feeling. During my second year of college, I came across an organization on my campus called Caribso. Caribso happens to be a Caribbean student organization on my campus that gives students that come from a Caribbean background a place to express themselves and learn more about their culture. Caribso reminded me of the history of my background, the events they held reminded me of family parties, and every now and then I get food from my culture. Thanks to Caribso I’m surrounded by other students who share the same background as me and I feel like I’m at home.
Finding ways to embrace my culture over the course of my life has been an interesting journey. Dealing with the cultural differences, my family always reminding me that I’m not fully Jamaican, trying to connect with my background outside of my household; I’ve learned a lot. Although I wasn’t born in Jamaica, it’s not going to stop me from saying I’m Jamaican.