Week 20: Dennis Brown, Soca Night, St. Elizabeth, & Redemption Live!
Rastafari! Rastafari! A chant heard by much in the reggae scene. February is Reggae Month and Black history month- a time of celebration and remembrance. It consists of celebration with live weekly concerts, and lectures. Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s usually relating to news, social gossip and political comment. Popular singers include Bob Marley and Dennis Brown.
On Wednesday, February 1st – there was a celebration of Dennis Brown’s Birthday at Mandela Park which is named after Nelson Mandela who spent his life committed to fighting for democracy in his native of South Africa. Simply to put it- we sat down on the stairs of a makeshift theatre stage and listened to the sounds of reggae. People flocked down to HWT to listen in and simply dance. Something fun that they do to show respect and love for their music here is they pretend to shoot a gun or a lighter and go “Ble Ble Ble” meaning they want the song to continue. I loved it!
On Friday, we went to MAS CAMP – a stadium that I was there before for Bacchnal and Carnival. We went to celebrate with the Hard Wine for Soca Night and danced the night away. We arrived early at first around 11 PM and it was dead- showcasing how late the parties started. I love MAS CAMP because there is no need to worry about sexualizing the dancing. There is daggering involved but if you want to just have fun- it is allowed and no one will bug you.
On Saturday morning, I left early in the morning to St. Elizabeth with Zoe and her family. Her American family came down and her father was here as well. We drove through Mandeville, Junction and stopped by the most beautiful fruit stand. I love the fruits here! So delicious! We saw the Juici Patty Factory where most are made at the plant and shipped outwards. We drove through Bamboo Avenue- a natural attraction of a 2 mile drive with bamboo shining around the road. We went to YS Falls where we saw a series of natural waterfalls although the attraction has become a highly tourist destination with guides and lifeguards at every turn (local price: 1200 JMD). The best part of the day was when we went to Middle Quarters, a couple km down the road. This area is known for driving up and women will come to your cars holding peppered shrimp and crayfish to purchase. There are many rivers close to the area and they cook it with boiling peppers of water and then pan frying it for a couple minutes. You can eat the shell straight through! It was so delicious – they kept teasing that I wasn’t talking anymore because I was just eating away at the shrimp. Later that evening, we went to Sweetwood Jerk Joint beside Emancipation Park. I had wanted to try this place for so long – they use a pimento wood to barbeque the meat. It was so delicious! We had the Jerk Chicken and Jerk Pork! It was a great night sipping red stripes and enjoying the outdoors- great vibes!
On Sunday evening, we received free tickets to attend the public show: Redemption Live Concert. It was held at the HWT Transport Centre to celebrate Bob Marley’s 72nd birthday. We saw notable singers such as Beenie Man, Sizzla, Spice, Ky-Mani Marley showcasing a range of musicians. (On a side note, I wrote a blog about how dancehall music affects Jamaica : http://blog.icad-cisd.com/?p=1648 ) I had such an amazing time at the concert although I found out afterwards that there was a man who pulled a gun on the security on the other side of the concert from where I was. We were truly oblivious as we walked home around midnight and had no issues. I am excited to continue to celebrate Bob Marley’s birthday this week!
One Love,
Tara