
Originally Posted by
rtitle
I keep getting called naive and ignorant so I thought I'd give a little context about myself, because I think many of you are making wrong assumptions.
I first visited Jamaica 20 years ago. On my first visit I was invited by the hotel housekeeper (Negril hotel) to her home in rural Hanover where she lived with 3 small pickneys. I became a friend to this family and kept visiting regularly, usually staying with them on subsequent visits. I became like a father to the 3 girls. Grown now, the oldest is living and working in the US, the middle one living and working in Jamaica, the youngest now in nursing school in Jamaica. I helped along the way by paying for college for the older 2 & am now paying for nursing school for the youngest. They call me "dad" and are like family.
What I loved from the start was the less-developed lifestyle. Coming from a big city in the U.S. where everything is rush-rush and life is full of stress, I would immediately relax in the Jamaican countryside. Life felt more real. People seemed more connected to each other and to nature. There was so much love within that simple household, and a sense of community in the town. Some visitors from the U.S. come to such places and say things like "these people are so poor, we should *help* them". My reaction was different, more along the lines of "these people live a nice life, I shouid *join* them".
Later I met my now-wife in Kingston. She is a sophisticated city girl. Spending time with her in Kingston opened up a different side of Jamaica to me. Later through my wife's relatives I became familiar with another side of Jamaica which is the expat communities in London, New York, Boston, Toronto (sometimes referred to as "Kingston 11, 12, 13, 14,..." - real Kingston postal districts go up to 10), Sometimes tourists say things like "I want to see the real Jamaica" but in fact there are many real Jamaicas. Just like there are many real USA's.
At some point I decided I wanted to move to Jamaica and retire there. The rural countryside that is, not Kingston. My wife BTW is younger and not ready to retire so this'll be me alone moving. Since at this point I know many Jamaicans, I got a number of offers from people to sell me land. I would have conversations like "Do you own this land?". "Yes, it's capture land". "What does that mean?". "I put a fence around it 10 years ago so now it's mine". "I don't think it works that way". "Yes it does. You can buy it from me and build a house on it". "But who actually has title to it?". "Mi nuh know". "I wouldn't build on property I don't have title to". "Well, you can apply to the government for title if you want that". Yes I really had conversations like that.
Eventually I went through the official process involving realtors, lawyers, etc, and am hoping soon to own my own place.
So, umm... I probably *am* naive and ignorant about a lot of things, but I think at this point I know Jamaica pretty well. Always learning though. Thank you to those who help out with informative replies!
Peace and love,
Richard