Day 9- "Ports and Preschoolers" -Izabella Curtis

Ports and Preschoolers

This trip has shown me a lot about the true side of the growing port city, Falmouth, Jamaica. Today I learned about the difference between the port walls on the inside and the port walls on the outside and I learned more about the purity of Jamaica.

            Walking around the outside of the ports walls is a different experience then the inside. On the outside, you can feel and see the truth of Jamaica. You can see the love that Jamaica has to offer. You can see the happiness and you can see the true downfalls of Jamaica. In the port walls, you see the contrived version of Jamaica. In the walls, you see a nice shopping mall with orderly shops. This could be found ANYWHERE in Texas, and it doesn’t look like anything w have seen elsewhere in Jamaica.

Outside of the port walls hits you with all it has to offer; the inside is stark, and lacks the true culture and essence of what it means to be Jamaican. No love, no spirit, no nothing. (My recommendation if you are going on a cruise to Falmouth is go outside the walls and the true history and beauty of Jamaica! Also, you can get the best deals for the coolest merchandise!)

            Today working in the Oral History group, I got to record and talk to store owners, police officers, and the preschool students. They told us all about their life and what it was like living in Jamaica and what it was like making a living here. When we went to the preschool we asked the little 5 year olds “What do you want to be when you grow up?”. All the little kids said 3 main carriers: Teacher, Doctor/Nurse, and a Soldier. As we were interviewing one girl stood out more than the rest to me: Jada. Jada was 5 and she wanted to be a soldier, when we asked her why she told us she wanted to kill someone. Without thinking the group interviewing her started laughing, thinking “Aw this little kid is so cute and clueless” and when we told the teacher what she said she told us a little more about Jada. Her father was murdered in Montego Bay and her family was forced to flee her home because her family was being hunted. This child had been through so much and she was only 5 years old, her story had changed my perspective of the people of Jamaica.  

            I chose these 2 topics because I felt very connected to them. How the cruise advertises Jamaica is not how it actually is and how they advertise the people is not true either. Falmouth is a wonderful growing city with amazing historical contexts and honestly it changes you once you cross the walls of the port. The people change your perspective and give you an insight on the truth of Jamaica a place in itself with much beauty and compexity.