Jamaica - Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

Culture Smart / Cultuur Bewust

by Nick Davis

Don' t just see the sights— get to know the people. Laid back, sun-drenched tropical paradise, or hotbed of drug-related crime and violence? Neither stereotype is true. Jamaica suffers from a PR problem, created largely by tabloid headlines written thousands of miles away. The reality is more complex and far more fascinating. Jamaicans have a fire that has been hard to douse. It was burning when their forefathers arrived on slave ships, barely alive after the middle passage, and it was there when they fought the British to a standstill in the Maroon Wars. In the English-speaking Caribbean they have a reputation for being brash, but they also have a warmth that is unmatched. They are unafraid to talk to strangers, they' ll laugh at nearly anything, they' ll discuss and debate with passion, and they' ll let you know it straight. Despite real economic and social problems, this beautiful and invigorating country regularly ranks among the top five happiest nations in the world in the annual Happy Planet Index. Culture Smart! Jamaica takes you beyond the cliché s with a fresh, uniquely well-informed look at of one of the most intriguing countries in the region. Have a richer and more meaningful experience abroad through a better understanding of the local culture. Chapters on history, values, attitudes, and traditions will help you to better understand your hosts, while tips on etiquette and communicating will help you to navigate unfamiliar situations and avoid faux pas.

172 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Nick Davis is an Englishman currently living on the East Coast of the USA not too far removed from Charm City (aka Baltimore). He is a former White Dwarf feature writer, now freelance content creator and fully employed Web Designer.

He is married to a very patient Irish American lady and has four children. When Nick is not working, running errands, playing with his kids or burrowing through an ever growing list of ongoing house 'projects'. He can be found plodding away on a keyboard exploring the worlds of his imagination that takes our reality and twists it around just a couple of degrees...

Reviews

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book in general to be a very easy-to-read and also very informative and enjoyable guide to Jamaica.  This is a book that is not focused on the regions of Jamaica and what one may see from the point of view of a tourist, though those books are certainly enjoyable in their own right.  Instead, what this book seeks to do is to encourage the reader to know enough about the values and customs of the people of Jamaica to be an intelligent and understanding visitor of the area who is able to avoid making the sort of faux pas that lead to accusations of being an ugly American or an ugly member of other nationalities, perhaps.  By and large I think this book succeeds at placing the history and culture of Jamaica in such a way that it allows the reader to get a sense of the attitudes of the people, attitudes that someone might be expected to come across.  The knowledge of how people behave and think does not necessarily mean to approve of such things, but it does allow us to be better informed about how to handle such situations and avoid unnecessary awkwardness.

This particular book is a relatively short one at just over 150 pages and it is divided into nine chapters.  The author begins with a map of Jamaica and an introduction along with some key facts.  After that the author discusses the land and the people (1), giving an overview of the nation as a whole.  This leads to a look at values and attitudes that Jamaicans have (2) in a wide variety of areas from pride, religion, and family, to politics, home ownership, sexual encounters, money, color, masculinity, and the like.  After that the author discusses customs and traditions that include Christianity, African religions, and Rastafarianism as well as simple superstition (3).  The author discusses how one makes friends and deals with begging and socializing with the opposite sex (4).  The author discusses family life (5) as well as how to deal with one's time out socializing, eating and drinking, going to the beach, exploring the nightlife, and watching sports (6).   After that comes some discussion on travel, health, and safety, including taxis, planes, and dealing with where to stay (7), a chapter on business briefing and dealing with the custom of doing business in Jamaica (8), and a chapter on various aspects of communication (9), after which the book closes with some expressions in Jamaican English, suggestions for further reading, and an index.

As is frequently the case, most of my experience with Jamaicans comes from those who have left their home country and traveled elsewhere.  It has always been my desire to visit a place knowing at least something of its history and culture, so that I may not be entirely unaware of the lay of the land and what life is like in a given place, and this book is certainly a useful one not only for tourists but for those who wish to have longer lasting ties in the area as well.  The author has done a fair bit of work in observing and reading about and likely speaking with a great many people from Jamaica and this is a worthwhile guide to read if one wants to go to the country and spend any length of time there.  If I find more books in this series for countries I wish to explore I will definitely take a look at them, as they are without a doubt very interesting and worthwhile.  Hopefully, if you find reason to read the book, you will think the same as well.

[Andy Zehner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This small book provides a quick overview of many topics, from history to tourist tips. I was glad to read it and absorb the essential details and big picture.

[Connor Forberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks for the travel guide, Dad!

[ChaCha Ala Mode · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative easy read. Fully of information, not entirely geared to tourist, which I hope will be helpful living in country.