Looking at your home ... Again.

by Camille Campbell (United States of America)

Making a local connection Jamaica

Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston Jamaica. The big yellow sign wihh Th the words written across it in green. The sound of patois through the air. “WAH GWAN!” heard with every other embrace. Steel drums playing in the distance and the smell of spicy beef patty from the local vendors quickly fill the air. But my favorite part of coming home is showing my American passport and seeing the Jamaican Airport agent see the land of my birth and smile and welcome me home. This makes me cry every time. My childhood was spent in Jamaica it since the passing of my mother and grandmother I go back yearly to rediscover the land of my birth. One of my favorite experiences of Jamaica is the trip from the airport to Dunn’s river Falls. Follow me Leaving the modest airport you pass hordes of people waiting for loved ones, waiting for tourists or seeking their wares. Jamaicans we are so boldly friendly that this catwalk out of the airport and to tour ride can feel like a soul train line. Enjoy it. Embrace it. Walking over to my family and their car i embrace my aunt, cousin and father and we get in the car. This drive to the river is Jamaica. You instantly see the industry we offer around the airport and heading down our major road you smell the ocean all around you and see people fishing in the nearby shores. You see that what is called a third world country is really just island people living how they feel best, simply. Next time you’re in Jamaica look around, you will notice most drivers drive with the windows down. It’s the air, it’s magical. It heals your soul. Music is always heads in the far distant. You can feel the drums come alive within yourself. But I know that Haifa is a small island and we will soon approach flat bridge. Flat bridge connects Kingston area to Dunn’s River Falls. Flat Bridge is basically a wooden plank used to connect these two areas, opened in 1770. Ok, not really it is actually a Beam Bridge. Flat bridge is scary when it rains the road disappears and you are almost driving through a lake. Sometimes a flash flood occurs and you can get swiped away. Or some days the bridge just rocks a little too much. There is local culture and life around this bridge. Since it connects two major areas and can sometimes cause issues people are walrus close to help and sell some of the best food you have ever had on both sides of the bridge. I’m filled with both fear, anticipation and awe. The road went from industry to open air to now green canopies and straight ahead is flat bridge. We cross slowly, traffic is long today. I look down and the water is low and the bridge feels trustworthy. I look ahead and see street stalls with some of TG w greatest food if my life. About 60 of them. Kids are playing in the street on the other side of the bridge. We make it across and drive slow. As you can hop out and make a quick purchase or call sooner to you. You’re heading somewhere but it’s also a drive through market. 20 minutes later it’s more lush greenery and parking off to the side. I sit in the car with my family so we can finish eating the jerk chicken, hardough bread and ting we got from one of the stalls. Getting out of the car we get into our swim outfits and begin our walk and descent to Dunn’s River. Jamaica constantly smells like after fresh rain has fallen and you hear the laughter as we get closer to the river. Straight ahead and there’s it is the cascading waterfall that every Jamaican and most travelers worth their soul of enjoyed and played in. Yeah, the trip to Dunn’s River is an adventure. The connection of Flat Bridge between the two parts of a whole reminds me of who I am; a Jamerican: Jamaican American.