Latest in the Series: Illegal Alien

Here is the latest (#39) in the series -- Illegal Alien -- from Jamaicans.com. Once again, it makes for compelling reading!

http://www.jamaicans.com/culture/illegal/illegalalien39.shtml

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Thinking About Living in Jamaica

This is one of those times that people turn their attention to Jamaica, and thoughts come to mind about what it would like to live here and experience the weather, the beauty, the music, the culture, the sports, the people, etc. While most who come do so as tourists, there are many I hear from that would live to move here for a year or more, to experience the real Jamaica that exists beyond the beaches and all-inclusive hotels.

However, most I hear from have an idea that they also need to pay attention to the reports of crime and poverty, and before they buy the ticket that brings them to Jamaica, they need to take the whole reality of Jamaican into account.

Many come to this blog looking for assistance, and I haven't been able to help until now.

I am in the process of writing a book for those who are thinking about moving to Jamaica that's called "You're My Jamaica." It's not finished just yet, but anyone who is interested can click here for more information on the e-book.

Visit the following link for information on "You're My Jamaica."

P.S. How about Usain Bolt's run in the 100m sprint at the Beijing Olympic Games? There is talk that he might run the 4x400m relay also, and go for four golds.

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A New Discussion Forum for Returnees to Jamaica

After lots of requests, I am happy to announce that I am creating a discussion forum for every Jamaican with an interest in Moving Back to Jamaica.

I continue to receive lots of email from readers with specific questions, and I enjoy getting them. At the same time, I know that some questions have easy answers, and the forum would be the place to ask for help from the community of readers of this blog.

The forum is divided into four sections:

1) Jamaicans Moving Back to Jamaica

2) Anyone interested in moving to Jamaica to live

3) Expats who are in the process of moving to Jamaica to live permanently

4) Those who recently moved to Jamaica and would like to share experiences and information

I welcome your participation -- it's free -- and I plan to place information in the forums that I don't really want to put in my blog, such as some of my more personal observations that are really intended for those who are truly interested in Jamaican living from many different perspectives.

Logging in easy -- if you have any trouble, just ask by leaving me a comment here. You can login as a Guest, but won't be able to actually make any posts.

Click here to be taken to the Transition Jamaica Forum. Or type in http://urlcut.com/transja

Here is what the screen looks like -- clicking on the images below will also take you to the forums.

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The Store is Re-opening for "My Move to Jamaica" Part I

I haven't been online to update my blog in a while, mostly because I have been spending a great deal of time in airports.

But my wife and I have been thinking that we should offer the MyMovetoJamaica Part I product again in time for those who are moving to Jamaica in August, just time to send their kids to school in September.

Over at her blog (http://transitionsunshine.info) she has been getting a great deal of interest from those who are about to move to Jamaica.

When her store was open a few months ago we had a great response, especially given how new hew blog was at the time. It's still new, but the information remains the most up-to-date source of specific information for those who have already decided to come to Jamaica.

One of the key things we learned is that the same information that we developed in the products included in Part I are not just useful to expats -- we found Jamaicans buying them also. I felt a bit of regret -- and a feeling that we should have addressed more of the concerns and questions that returning Jamaicans have.

Nevertheless, I believe that average Jamaicans who have lived abroad for more than 10 years, or who left Jamaica before they were 25 will find that the information is quite valuable, and will answer some questions that they probably aren't asking.

Stay tuned, the store will re-open on August 1st -- Emancipation Day.

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Making the Decision

All of my writing in this blog up until now has focused on what has happened in my move to Jamaica AFTER I made the decision to come home.

However, I am slowly realizing that it might be helpful to share some of what I haven't shared, about the process of deciding to come home.

There actually was a moment when I had resigned myself to living in New Jersey... a deep, dark time that I thought about staying in what some called "the arm-pit of America."

I think many Jamaicans are living in the middle of a decision of whether to come home to live or not. There is an ongoing mental argument that includes the pros and cons, with the decision probably finally coming down to "the money."

Or maybe not?

I'd love to hear from the readers of this blog, either privately or publicly, anonymously or not...

Are you thinking about moving back to Jamaica? What are some of the things that you think about? What are some of the pros and cons? What is the percentage chance of you returning to live before retirement?

In this case, my decision process was not typical, for various reasons I'll discuss soon, and I think we'll all benefit from hearing from a few people other than me!

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Store Now Open

My first full package of products for expats moving to Jamaica is now available for order at MyMovetoJamaica.com.

While it's not for a Jamaican who has been away for a short time, and is returning home, it can be put to good use by everyone else who is planning a move to Jamaica.

The store will be open thru June 19th, and the introductory price will be in effect until then.

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Expat First-Hand Accounts in Jamaica

There is a lot on this message board that is useful to anyone looking to move back to Jamaica. Although the writers are expats, there is a great deal of overlap between their experience,and that of Jamaicans who return.

Visit http://talesmag.com, and register as a user. Click over to the Real Port Reports -- there are over ten stories submitted about Jamaica.

I am sure to include a feature like this on this blog at some point, but first I need to migrate to Wordpress!

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Moving to Jamaica -- Assisting Expats

In a recent post I asked for help in doing some research my wife and I are doing for an e-book that we have decided to write for expats moving to Jamaica.

We have been asking around and getting lots of ideas from expats on what information they have been looking for, and it looks like we are going to offer a variety of information products. Some of it will be free, and the rest will be for purchase. It will probably be presented in the form of 2 e-books, but we are looking at other ways of providing helpful information in the form of podcasts, a message board, etc.

The need is great...

Although we moved back three years ago, she in particular has experienced the challenge of moving to Jamaica as an outsider, with its ups and downs, and twists and turns. She has been tentatively writing about her experience at her blog, in addition to providing some useful information - http://transitionsunshine.info

What I find most compelling of all are the first-hand stories that she has been documenting, from expats who have moved to Jamaica. She has been surveying them for the past few weeks, and putting their stories together.

It makes me think that I should do the same for those who have moved back to Jamaica!

In fact, there is a lot in what she's doing that should be useful to Jamaicans who have been away for more than ten years or so.

Join the mailing list at her site for updates on her progress. There should be some kind of output produced in the next few weeks or so.

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The Four Kinds of Information Available in Jamaica

Anyone who has lived in Jamaica for more than a few weeks knows what I am talking about.

There are at least four kinds of information, or in other words, four kinds of answers to an innocent question posed to a company or government entity. Those who move to Jamaica as either expats or returnees are the last to appreciate this fact, and get themselves in all sorts of trouble when they think that their should be only one.

For example, the answer to a simple question such as "How do get a driver's license if I already possess one from an overseas jurisdiction?" seems easy enough. However, the complexity offered by different answers makes it rough going for someone who is not used to "the runnings."

The Internet Answer
Only someone living far away would find, let alone believe, this first answer. Everyone in Jamaica knows that the project to put the organization's information on the "world-wide-web" was launched to further a politician's career, and once the lights were turned off the whole thing was abandoned due to either mismanagement or lack of funds.

The Written Answer
Once the overseas explorer has determined that the information they are reading online was useful for perhaps only a week or two back in 1999, they start looking for printed information. They might send a friend or relative to ask for information at the organization in question, and ask for it to be "sent up" to them.

Once the information arrives six weeks later they devour it, until they reach the last page where they read the fine print - "Copyright 1998." It turns out that their trusty agent either picked up stale information, which was all that was left, or didn't bother to ask whether or not there was more recent information printed.

The Spoken Answer
By now, some important deadline is looming, so the search turns to making phone calls in the hope of finding someone who can help. At first, no-one seems to work at the companies numbers, and it's curious to find that there are sometimes 10 numbers listed, or more. They all just ring and ring and ring.

The game is on to find a number that actually will be picked up. Time and money are wasted waiting and waiting until the caller learns that lunch-time, child-pick-up-time, work-soon-done time, too-early-in-the-morning-time and too-close-to-lunch-time are all bad times to call. This leaves a 15 minute gap between 9:30 am and 9:45 am when someone will actually pick up the phone, but of course the gap caries between companies.

Once someone is reached, it's important to know that the person who answers is unlikely to be someone who actually knows anything. Their job is to answer the phone. Don't bother them trying to hold them to account for having accurate information. That's the exclusive province of those who don't ever answer the phones.

They will have some information to give. Just don't believe for a minute that it's accurate or complete. It's not to be believed, but at least it's based in part on the training they received back in 2005, so you know you are getting warmer.

The Only Answer that Counts
The deadline is now upon you and you are starting to get desperate. You spend your hundreds (or thousands) of US$ to fly Jamaica with all your feelings of frustration and your knowledge of "how things work so well in Toronto." You visit the offending office in person. As you walk in, your dress, hairstyle and accent give you away as a foreigner.

Behind the counter, the defensive forces start marshaling their tactics.

They know that you are not getting through in time for your flight, whenever that is, and they are not about the change the sacred process to fit your need to catch AJ015. This is bureaucracy at its finest.

You quickly learn that all the information that you gathered before is outdated. Acts of Parliament, new laws and new owners all combine to render your facts obsolete. You inevitably don't have the right documents with you. You need to visit another office to get a copy of your water bill in order to open a new business. You must come back tomorrow.

If you are loud and obnoxious, the way life in North America has taught you to be, you are in for several trips to the office, each designed to exact a penalty for your failure to "have some manners." Prepare for the long haul, by bringing something to eat, drink and read.

A nice German man called Kafka wrote some insightful books about being trapped in situations of never-ending torment. One book focuses on a man who woke up as a cockroach. Another is about a man who is forced to answer un-known charges made against him that are never ever shared with him, until he is mysteriously exonerated. You can more than identify as you start to deleriously believe that your tormentors are targeting you by name.

You complain to anyone who will listen. After all while, your audience seems to be getting tired of you.

After delaying your flight home and missing some days of work, you are talking with your friend/distant cousin / high-school classmate who out of the blue remembers that their good friend heads up a department at the office you have been visiting.

You wonder why they are now just remembering this important fact...

They tell you not to worry, and half an hour later they call back with mysterious instructions. Give them your information and all will be taken care of by that evening. So said, so done.

You have escaped from your purgatory and have no idea what you did to deserve it.

On the flight back home you realize that the only information that matters in Jamaica is the information given by someone who actually makes decisions, and all the information gathered before was really just window-dressing, and didn't really count. What counted was who you knew, or who you knew that knew the right person.

If you are still complaining that this is all not fair, that it is exclusionary, biased against foreigners with your last name, etc. is to engage in the irrelevant. Don't waste your time.

Instead, learn to fit your tactics into the "runnings" as that's the only way to be effective.

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A Certain Vehement Pride

This entire episode regarding Parliamentarians and their dual citizenship has driven up a certain kind of Jamaican pride that I am ambivalent about.

The sentiment is a typically forthright Jamaican one.

"Anyone who run tings a yard must be Jamaican."

To this all Jamaicans would undoubtedly agree.

However, things get murky when we add on other stipulations regarding which other citizenships they are allowed to hold to still be allowed to run for office.

For example, here is what it seems to current law tells us about the eligibility of Jamaicans with overseas immigration privileges.

Those who CAN run for office:
-- a Jamaican who has lived all their life in the U.S. or Canada but never bothered to get their new citizenship
-- a British/Indian/Barbadian citizen whose grandparent was Jamaican, and has just claimed their Jamaican citizenship last week

Those who CANNOT run for office:
-- a born Jamaican whose parent took out US citizenship for them when they were children (as is the case of Daryl Vaz) and who might never have left the country for a day
-- a US citizen who has become a naturalized Jamaican or claimed citizenship through a parent/grandparent, but has not explicitly renounced their US citizenship

The situation is quite unclear, and in some cases it can be argued that it's unfair.

But the reaction of some Jamaicans has been a proud, reactive one -- no-one should be running the country who is not Jamaican. It's just that the definition of "Jamaican" has become murky indeed.

Before independence 1962, there was not such thing as a Jamaican, as everyone born on the island was British (without all the rights of a British subject.) Jamaican citizenship is a relatively new invention.

The recent court challenge has shown that the original 1962 definitions are inadequate for the complex, interconnected world we live in. When our own laws disqualify people like billionaire Michael Lee-Chin from ever becoming a parliamentarian, it must give us pause for thought.

Who exactly are we, in our pride, trying to exclude?

Obviously, we don't want, for example, a Cuban who has only spent two weeks in Jamaica to be able to run for office.

Also, we DO want to wholeheartedly encourage all Jamaicans to be eligible.

It's just that we need a 2008 definition of the word "Jamaican" in our constitution to match the world we live in.

Those Jamaicans who want to return should involve themselves in this debate, and in the Constitutional changes that are likely to come. As major stakeholders and providers of remittances that exceed earnings from tourism and bauxite combined, their future is woven into the future of Jamaicans living back at home. They are the umbilical cord that has kept the economy afloat.

I wonder if, in our vehement pride, we might alienate them, discourage them from coming home with their expertise, turn them off from sending their remittances and lead them to conclude that Jamaica is turning its back on them?

If so, that would be tragic, and we would all be worse off.

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Dual Citizenship and the Jamaican Diaspora

This article asks why Jamaicans abroad don't care more about the ruling that Daryl Vaz cannot serve in Parliament while being a dual citizen.

Click here to be taken to the article in the Jamaica Observer.

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Technical Issues and a Free e-book

I have been battling a series of technical issues related to moving my company website, while launching a new time management product... so Moving Back to Jamaica has received little or no attention lately.

The good news is that the readers of Moving Back to Jamaica will receive a benefit, in the release of an e-book that is the first of its kind.

My wife and I have been focusing our efforts on an e-book of resources that are useful to those who are thinking about moving to Jamaica. We have written it for everyone -- for expats moving to Jamaica for the first time to work, Jamaicans returning to live at home and for those who just want to come and explore for several months, while living as a local.

To be sure, the content is directed towards those who have never lived in Jamaica before, so it may not be for those who have been away for a short time. We are hoping it has broad appeal, however, and fills a gaping need for information.

This free e-book will be available for download in the next few weeks, so stay tuned to this space.

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Aggressive Politeness

One thing that I have learned from moving to live in Jamaica is the importance of being what I call "aggressively polite."

It's a bit difficult to explain, except by contrast.

In the U.S., people assume that they are strangers, and that they have little in common, and that they need to keep to themselves and out of other people's affairs. (Unless they are famous, in which case the very opposite rule applies.)

By and large, people ignore each other.

Here in Jamaica, sometimes ignoring someone can be seen as disrespect. On the other hand, actively greeting someone, and assertively being polite is a practice that is welcomed, and is usually very warmly returned.

"Good Mornings" and the introductory chit-chat that is often just skipped in the U.S. are essential here, and people are taken aback when this small respect is not accorded in day-to-day conversation. The easy informality and geniality of Americans is seen as typical tourist behaviour when a foreigner oversteps their bounds in a conversation, and tries to get too friendly too quickly.

For anyone coming to Jamaica, these pleasantries have to be learned (or re-learned) as they can turn a simple conversation into a suspicious or even hostile one without warning.

Here in Jamaica, there are few virtues that are more prized than having a sense of humility and of respect shown to others, and these practices go a long way in helping to create it.

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Jurassic Park in Jamaica

I know plenty, plenty "big man and big woman" who will never move back to Jamaica because of the lizard situation.

In other words, dem 'fraid.

Upon moving to a new place in January, we found that a monster-sized lizard (by my standards) had been living outside the window of the office. As you can see from the picture of him posed beside a 12 inch ruler, he is thick and long and fat.

He's just big enough to keep a few thousand Jamaicans from ever moving home permanently.

(If you want a really good scare, click on the picture to see the speckles, red eyes and steady stare.)

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A Documentary on Jamaican Crime and Elections

Follow this link to see parts 2 and 3, on YouTube.

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A License to Drive in 12 Steps

Moving Back to Jamaica means dealing with the ugly face of corruption,and one of the agencies with a poor reputation is the Examination Depot at Swallowfield Road. It is a little like the Ellis Island of Jamaica -- the place where those who are moving to live in Jamaica must pass through on their way to fully authorized,and acceptable driving.

The law in Jamaica states that a Jamaican driver's license is needed after living on the island for more than three months. Or perhaps that's six months... and this is where the problem begins. Rumor has it that if you end up in an accident with a foreign license after this period, then the insurance company can refuse to provide coverage. But then again, this is just a rumour.

Getting a Jamaican license while having a foreign license is a tricky business, as the information is scanty, there are no clearly written procedures and everyone seems to have a different story to tell.

And, there is the matter of corruption. many traffic and driving problems in Jamaica can be whisked away with the right payment to the right person, as the three reports below attest. The estimate I heard is that 40% of our drivers have no legal drivers licenses, having received them through bribes. Again, another rumour.

http://urlcut.com/gleaner11
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20070128/news/news2.html
I vowed to document the process of obtaining a local license once I received one, and here I am going to lay out the ideal set of steps to take, leaving out the part where we hunted down a lawyer, a JP, 2 trips to the photographer and 2 trips to the examination depot.

Step 1: Visit the Tax Office on Constant Spring Road between the 5th and 20th of the month. Stay away from the days nearest to the end of month, as that is when people rush to the depot to pay fees at the last minute. Pick up an application for a driver's license (unavailable on the internet.)

Step 1a. Pay the fee to take the test -- $1500 at the Tax Office. Carry cash, for fear of hearing that "the credit card machine not working."

Step 2: Get 3 pictures taken at PhotoExpress in Liguanea or someplace similar. Avoid going at rush hour. Time: 15 minutes to wait for development. Cost $900

Step 3: Fill out the form WITHOUT signing it.

Step 4: Find a Justice of the Peace (NOT a lawyer.) They must be willing to say that they know you for more than five minutes... Have them sign and seal the document over your signature as well as certify the pictures

Step 5: Visit the Examination Depot on Swallowfield Road (near the stadium) with your documents (the form, the pictures, the receipt of payment from the tax office) and set an appointment to take the exam

Step 6: Purchase a copy of "The Jamaican Driver's Guide" from 2007 and study the contents. If you cannot read English, then learn. If you cannot learn English, then methods of your obtaining your license are beyond the scope of this blog. Cost $359. Time to find it: most pharmacies and book stores. It is very popular here in Jamaica.

Step 7: Visit the Examination Depot on the day and time appointed. Be prepared to use your biggest foreign accent. Carry no cash. Pretend you know nothing about any "drinks money."

Step 8: Take the reading test. Answer a few questions on road signs from page 40. Be exceedingly polite, friendly, helpful and helpful. This is like Ellis Island -- you may get turned down for merely looking "like an imbecile" which in Jamaica also includes "being too damn rude."

Step 9: Take the driving test in the yard. Do a hill start. Do the reversing test.

Step 10: Sit and wait a few minutes for the examiner to tell you when you can pick up your license. Ask him to assign it to the Constant Spring Tax Office.

Step 11: Visit the tax office again on the right day, with $1500 in hand. Pay, and pick up your license.

Step 12: if you haven't already started, learn how to drive like a Jamaican.

The entire process can be completed in a matter of 2-3 weeks, if everything is lined up in advance. The longest unexplained wait is for the examination date.

All in all, the process was fairly straightforward, once we had gone through it. Consider this post to be the definitive account, as after a few hours searching I could find nothing on the internet that described the entire process. I met a few foreigners who had different accounts, depending on who they knew at the Depot.

Here, I have assumed that you know no-one, and that by now you know how to "look foreign" when you need to. If you don't know what that means, then just dress "normally."

---

It turns out there is an important Step 13.

Step 13: Visit the tax office with J$1500 in hand and some kind of picture ID. They should already have your paperwork there. They pull it out from the stacks of papers piled all over in manila folders (almost to the ceiling) and after filling out another form, you pay the fee (credit cards accepted) and then come back to wait for your official picture to be taken.

Once the picture is taken, you wait again for the license to be handed to you. Then you complain that the picture looks ugly.

The whole process took about an hour, and didn't feel all that long because you are going through a few different steps. Remember, the tax office is a place to avoid from the 28th of one month to the 3rd of the next. The best time to go is from the 4th - 15th, to avoid the long lines.

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An Interesting Chat on the Runaway Bay Forum

I was sent the following link by a friend who came across it on TripAdvisor, speaking to whether or not it makes sense to move back to Jamaica.

The thread is called "Wishing, Wanting, Dreaming of Moving to Ja.... Why?"

It picked up on the post I did on Reasons Why Moving Back to Jamaica is Easy.

Interestingly, I wrote that post after writing The Top 7 Reasons that Make Jamaica a Tough Country to Move to and got an email from a reader in semi-protest.

But this is to be expected here in Jamaica -- vehement (sometimes violent) opinions in opposite directions. We are in election mode after all, which is the Mother of all differences!

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Reasons Why Moving Back to Jamaica is Easy

In a reader's comment to the blog today, I was challenged in no uncertain terms.

I wrote about the seven reasons why Jamaica is a tough country to move to, or move back to.

It made me think.

The truth is, Moving to Jamaica is easy, for many reasons, some of which are related to a Move Back, others of which are related to an expat move.

Here are some reasons why a Move Back to Jamaica can been so very easy:

1. Family
One big reason I have always wanted to come back is to take care of my parents.

n an earlier post, I mentioned that we Jamaicans are way too enamoured of the idea of sending away our young to live in "farrin." The separation that results is painful to observe, and I think that many parents regret not being able to see their children and grand-children for more than a few days each year.

It's just not what they had envisioned.

They also aren't too keen on getting into the "rush-rush" life of Toronto or New York by moving there, away from their plants, pets and people they love.

The result? A lonely and slow process of getting old.

As the years pass by, Devon's success on Wall Street starts looking less important than just having an opportunity to spend the last few years living within a few miles of his kids. His sister Andrea's medical degree from the University of Florida is cold comfort when she is treating cancer patients in Orlando, instead of being here now and again to get her elderly mother some milk from the fridge.

Moving Back to Jamaica restores the natural connection that migration disrupts between parents and children.

At one point, parents wiped their children's bottoms, and at a later point it seems natural to expect that ... well... you get the point.

2. Friends
The friends I made in the states are long forgotten. We passed through each others lives like fellow passengers on a long flight. We each knew that the time would be short, and that we would separate, never to see each other again.

Here in Jamaica, at a recent dinner meeting, I ran into my friend Mark who I played with back in 1976, a neighbour on College Common. At the same table sat another fellow I was at JC Hope United's cub scouts with in 1974. Yet another fellow went to Wolmer's with me in 1982. We sat together quite randomly, and I had not seen the first two guys since the years I mentioned.

To say this would never happen in the U.S. is to put things mildly. In the U.S., like everyone else, when I visit I find myself sinking into a sea of anonymous people who don't care whether I drop down dead in one moment or the next.

Coming back has effortless restored me to parts of who I am that I had forgotten.

3. Food
More than the quality of the food back home, is the importance that we Jamaicans place on getting together to eat. We eat slowly, and tolerate, but do not love, fast food (other than patties.)

Eating serves a social function, and the connection that we feel around a shared meal is palpable.

I belong to the Jamdammers running club that has a full breakfast after each Saturday run of 10 miles. That's a FULL breakfast. I realized how full it was when I ran with a Johannesburg running club in December, and they served bread and butter after the run. Here in Jamdammers, we almost spend more time eating than running, but the food itself is only a part of what we enjoy.

4. Foolishness

Jamaican life is exciting. On this week's list we have a hurricane that is wobbling its way towards us, an election looming, my car that broke down last night, rain and floods for four days straight last weekend, water lock-offs each day (due to the drought??) and who knows what else coming our way.

The excitement in the air is, as usual, nerve racking, and any kind of what we call "foolishness" can break out and happen at any point. This has the effect of keeping a recent arrival on their toes at ALL times and there is _never_ a dull moment.

For many, this kind of unpredictability is debilitating. For most, the daily foolishness is awakening.

5. Flora (her, another F!)

Tomorrow morning, on my weekly 4:30am ride from Liguanea to Port Royal and back, I'll be riding back to Harbour View just as the run rises over the hills of St. Thomas and St. Andrew.

The hills will all take on different hues of blue-green, while the sun will spill its rays over the clouds, and send bright darts into our eyes. To the left will be the blue calm waters of Kingston Harbour, while to the right will be the rough surf of the Caribbean Sea.

Easy.

6. Patois (I ran out of F's)

When I lived abroad, I learned to s-p-e-a-k s-l-o-w-l-y so as to be understood.

Back home in Jamaica, I relax and use more words, phrases, tones, abbreviations, grunts and other unnamed sounds than ever before. I am back to being bilingual and it feels ever so relaxed, normal and natural.

7. Fulfilled

No matter how hard I worked in the U.S., it was difficult to get motivated for very long by working long hard hours to make rich people even richer than they were before.

In Jamaica, I give J$50 (=US$1) to a beggar and I can tell from his eyes that this is a LOT of money. Yes, the poverty is widespread and saddening. But the opportunity to make a difference is tremendous, and it makes working and living here in Jamaica an act of contribution and service, rather than an act of personal enrichment (at least in tangible terms.)

Small acts of kindness go a long way.

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For someone moving to Jamaica for the first time, in a later post I'll look at why moving to Jamaica can be easy for a first-timer / expat.


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Sent by Francis Wade via the free Email Scheduler service.
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Kingston the Ghost Town

August is always a slow time of year for expats who go away to escape the stifling heat, but this year the heat isn't only coming from the sun, it's coming from the elections.

While I doubt that this year's election-period will be anywhere near as violent as those we have experienced in the past, the word is out that Jamaican elections can be dangerous, and that the worst increase in murders came during the infamous 1980 elections.

The result is that expats, and especially non-working expat spouses, have been leaving Jamaica in droves, planning to return right after the dust settles in late August or early September.

It seems like a decent strategy.

Thankfully the elections are not being held in the middle of a school term, which could cause a major disruption in the schooling of young attendees of Hillel and the American School. At the same time, it doesn't look like we are in for a violent period.

The kinds of things that are happening seem non-political in nature, or just tribal. Our fingers are crossed, however, and that includes the expats who decided to stay and weather the storm.

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Extra Padding

Living in Jamaica requires some extra padding.

Extra time, extra money, extra safety, extra friends, extra help, extra space, extra energy, extra everything.

One big difference I have found upon moving back to Jamaica is that life here is filled with ups and downs.

Things are always going wrong -- daily life has a lot to do with reacting to surprises, mostly of the unwanted kind. Life in the U.S. for me was marked by its dependability.

Even catastrophes like Katrina and 9/11 had only slow-moving tangible impacts on the vast majority of Americans.

Jamaican life is best approached if the assumption is made from the beginning that things will not work as planned, and that something will get screwed up. People who think this way come to learn, for example, to follow the advice of a friend of mine -- she said that you need to expect to hit long lines wherever you go, and to walk with something to read at all times.

It's a good example of how one needs to operate -- with some extra "padding."

Building a house? Allocate an extra 20% for theft of materials. Cashing a check? Carry a portable radio to kill the waiting time. Mailing a letter? Leave time for it to drag out. Going away for the weekend? Secure valuables or just take them with you. Planning to finish a big project? Do it when you have power.

Now and again, there are surprises, and things actually work as planned. The Motor Vehicle department has a caught me unawares a few times, as I happened to go at the right time of month.

By and large, however, it is impossible to live the way I did in the U.S., with the last amount of extra anything -- lean and mean in almost every way. This is very typical Third World living, and the sooner a returnee or expat accepts this, the better they will be able to adjust.

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