“Wah gwaan” gets you in the door, but it’s not going to carry a whole conversation. Patois has its own rhythm and logic, and picking up a handful of everyday phrases — beyond the ones every tourist learns — goes a long way, both for getting around and for showing you’re actually paying attention. Start … Read more
Long before streaming, before radio even had much reach into rural Jamaica, there was the sound system — a stack of massive speakers, a selector behind the decks, and a crowd gathered in someone’s yard or a vacant lot. That tradition never really left. It just moved indoors, outdoors, and everywhere in between, and it’s … Read more
Every December, masked figures appear on streets across Jamaica — horned devils, towering “Pitchy Patchy” costumes made of rags, a man dressed as a horse, another as a king. This is Jonkonnu, one of the island’s oldest surviving traditions, and most visitors never get to see it up close. The tradition traces back to the … Read more