Some background information you need to know before you read about our experiences.
Jamaicans grow up speaking a language native to Jamaica. It can be called many things such as Creole, but they refer to it mostly as Patois (Patwa). Most Jamaicans have been taught over the years that Patois is not a language in its own right but a “gutter English”, a slang used by the uneducated and poor in society. In school they are taught English, but they don’t learn English by way of their native language (in the same way that we would use our knowledge of English and English vocabulary to learn Spanish, or any other foreign language). Jamaican Patois is spoken by everyone, but no one really knows how to write it, and therefore they don’t know how to read it. Although Jamaicans learn English, there is still a lot about the language that they don’t fully understand because it isn’t their native language.
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After arriving in Kingston it was finally our turn to approach the passport control agent. He did his typical job of asking us why we were coming to Jamaica. We told him about OneVerse and the translation project and he began asking a lot of questions. David did a good job of answering him while being sure to tell him about salvation through Christ, etc. The whole time I am thinking to myself “Wow, this guy is really interested in hearing about Jesus…that’s great!” He slowly continued working on our paperwork so that he could keep talking to us, and before long he asked us if we would be willing to die for what we believe because he believes that that is the true test of how much you really believe in something. He kept emphasizing very specific things about Christianity until I finally asked him, “Are you a Christian?” His response was immediate and a very enthusiastic “Of course!” It was funny, because the whole time we thought we were ministering to him while in reality he was testing us. As I think back I guess it makes sense that he would be “screening” people who claim to be Christians that are entering his country, especially if he is one. Youth Groups and Mission Teams travel to places like Jamaica all the time (and we saw multiple groups on our plane alone), and this guy just wanted to make sure that if you were coming in the name of Jesus you weren’t just messing around. It was great. Heaven is going to be so diverse.
We headed towards the exit to look for our driver. I’ve never had anyone pick me up from an airport before holding a sign with my name on it. And this would have been the first time it would have happened too if our plane hadn’t been late and our driver hadn’t left and then come back! But, when he did come back he had the sign! But I think it was too easy to pick us out of the crowd. He knew he was supposed to be driving the white people. Errol was the drivers name and he was very friendly. We had a great experience driving on the left hand side of the road. We drove all the way around the Kingston Harbor into downtown Kingston to our hotel, Hotel Four Seasons. We arrived at the hotel too early to get our room so we grabbed our sunglasses and started walking to find an ATM, sun block, and Gatorade. Walking around the streets of the city we really stuck out. We didn’t see anyone that looked like a foreigner. But, we were pleased to see that we didn’t get bothered too much. We did have one guy follow us, and when we stopped at the bank to try to use the ATM he slowed down so that when we were done he could continue following us, but we were on to him, so he wasn’t going to fool us! I think our other experiences traveling, especially to big cities, has us prepared fairly well.
(our hotel room)
We went back to the hotel having found sun block and Gatorade, but no open ATMs or banks. Using our credit card at the grocery store was quite the hassle since we had to carry our receipt from the cashier to the lady with the credit card machine and then back again, but at least we were able to use it. We flipped through some TV channels and then decided to go to the pool because we were so hot!
At the pool we met a little girl named Leanna, her Mom, and her Mom’s boyfriend, Shawn (he was from the Bahamas). Leanna, 8 yrs, was so grateful that we were willing to play with her and I think her Mom was just as happy that we were willing to occupy her daughter for a little while to give her a break. We had a great time helping her gain confidence to swim the length of the pool and taught her games like marco polo. David even held her up in the air and made her feel like a cheerleader. Eventually Shawn joined us in the pool, after much begging on Leanna’s part, and we were able to talk to him about the translation project. He was glad to hear that the project wasn’t affiliated with any denomination and thought it was a good idea that the people would be able to have the bible written in a language that they could better understand. Leanna, a resident of Kingston, told us that she went to church and really likes it. She also insisted that instead of going to May Pen (central Jamaica) as set in our schedule, we just go to church with her the next day so that afterwards we could play in the pool with her again. She also told us that at her school she is in a class with 40 other students and they have one teacher. That’s a lot! Math is her favorite subject and one day she dreams of living in America. She wants a house with 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, 2 pools, a Jacuzzi, and a guest room. Her plan to pay for it all is to be a lawyer. She also has an aunt that lives in Florida named Susan. David and Shawn then continued talking about engineering.
The other thing I learned from our first day in Jamaica is that “Yah mon”, and “No problem!” are used just as much as you see in the movies. For some reason it still took me by surprise…just like “voila!” did when I heard it in France. I wonder what catch phrases Americans are known for these days…
(another picture of our hotel since everyone thinks I don't have enough pictures up yet. We didn't take a lot of pictures the first day!)
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