Jamaica - still okay!

 Naseberries from St Thomas, mangoes and 'jimbilin' from my yard!

(excerpt from Jamaica Observer column by Jean Lowrie-Chin - 25 June 2012)

We sat on my friend’s cool verandah last weekend with her relatives from abroad.  Of course, talk turned to the headlines they read on the web about Jamaica and yes, we agreed that there is a lot to be addressed in this little island.  Then my friend who has been running a demanding business for over 40 years offered, “Well, every time a Government changes or we hear a new budget, people say the country is done for. We have to struggle, yes, but we are still here.”

As we enjoyed her delicious Jamaican dishes, her guests began extolling our food.  “My wife there is going to be eating a mango right up to the plane door when we’re leaving,” a man chuckled.  His wife laughed, “Boy I tell you, the East Indians sweeter than ever! I am glad we’re here for mango season!”

Since they live in the US, they became very jealous when they heard what we were packing to take to relatives in Canada: mangoes, avocado pear, breadfruit, ‘jimbilin’. We also took Jamaica t-shirts for every family member, even the infants – we want the little ones who were not born here to remember that this is Jamaica’s Golden Jubilee.