The Jamaica CourseJOURNALS
Though we’ve now only been in the country for two days, our time has already brought a range of cultural experiences, starting first thing in the morning with a great breakfast that included breadfruit and a fish and egg dish. Both of these were new tastes for many in our group. As good as it all was, I think fish for breakfast might be a one-time experience for me- my taste buds may need a little warming up before fish really sounds appealing. Breakfast was followed reassuringly with a lecture on food-borne illnesses that included the claim that 90% of the time people get sick, they really enjoyed the meal. I think that left several of us wondering how great we really thought breakfast was… The rest of the day involved several grocery store runs amongst our large number of students, complete with a rousing game of ‘how many people can you really fit into the car safely and avoid any unwanted encounters with the local cops’. If nothing else, I think we served as a source of amusement for many of the locals who stopped, stared, and laughed as we went by. Perhaps our most anticipated cultural event for the day was to come later in the evening. We had been informed the night before that there would be a play at the theater on campus after dinner tonight. Though no one knew what play it was, we were all excited for the diversion and chance to see Jamaican actors take the stage. It wasn’t until later this afternoon that we found out what was in store for us- a rendition of the musical ‘Dicso Inferno’, complete with flashy costumes, afros a-plenty and all of the greatest hits of the disco era. As one of the lead actresses broke into the song ‘I Will Survive’, the whole audience, Americans and Jamaicans, joined together in anticipatory cheers and applause. It seems some things transcend all cultural bounds. Christy Wahle |
