Jamaica Mon

Doing the "Jamaican happy dance" with my friend at work this morning I had to laugh and think "it really is all about culture". She was wearing her Jamaican hat today at work and telling me with her lovely Jamaican accent how proud her country was of "their boy" Usain Bolt for winning the Gold Metal.

She had a Jamaican happy dance she taught me. It's a fun little jig. She also shared about how Americans can misinterpet their culture at times. She told me that American reporters saw Usain pounding his chest after winning the Gold and didn't realize it was not pride saying "I am great" but part of what they do when their heart is pounding after a race in their culture.

She also shared about how when she was home working at a bank in Jamaica she had the Jamaican bobsled team visit her bank. I always love to hear her lovely accent when getting her on the phone at work.

Hearing her share about how her culture was misinterpeted reminded me of a missions class I took when I was attending Azusa Pacific University in California.

In the class we went on a "passport" to several countries in a seminar and were told to observe a "authentic" African tribe ceremony in one of them. We were told to also observe and then share what we believed was happening from our observations of the people and how they were feeling and thinking.

We were told we needed to respect this culture of the African tribe who were visiting APU and not to interfere with their ceremony no matter what happened. We were brought into a large dimly lit place and told to sit quitely while watching this ceremony.

In the ceremony they were speaking a tribal language we didn't know and it seemed brutal as it had a woman on the ground having her head violently rubbed on the ground by a male along with dancing and a fire. It was a long ceremony and it was a bit emotional to see this woman seem like she was being tortured.

Afterwords we went to a forum where we discussed what we thought was going on. The leaders of our class told us that this woman was actually highly reguarded as a "God" in their culture and was being honored in the ceremony. In this "culture" it was honoring of women to do what they did in the ceremony.

After we had discussed the culture they described to us and how we misinterpeted it. Then we got the lesson that everything is not always how it appears to be and a "zinger".

They had the cast of the "African Tribe" vistors come in and reveal they were truely guests acting as Africans to teach us about culture. In other words they had made up this "African tribe" that was visiting APU to teach us something about culture.

We were fooled but got a good lesson from it. After having been to China and Mexico before this class and dealing with culture differences there I had already seen some of this. Really though when I was completely out of my element to anything I had ever experienced before in this "African tribe" I didn't know how to interpet it.

I didn't have the experience or knowledge about the culture we where thrown into in the class. It just goes to show how valuable researching into a culture before traveling there can be and how as Americans we can misinterpet things.

My Jamaican friend also told me about a porriage recipe she has from home. She said it gives untold amounts of energy to people. Her son eats it before races and just can not be caught. I told her she should market this wonder but with a smile she said "no it's Jamaican secret recipe". I hate to tell her but I googled it and found the recipe. I am so going to try it.

Fruit: Joy

Song in my Head: Give me your eyes - Brandon Heath

Loving this Verse: Psalm42:1For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah. As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. 2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? 3 My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" 4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. 5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and 6 my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. 8 By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.