The Backyard Farm
There’s nothing like meeting your own people at an event where you thought no one who knows your culture will attend.
Meeting someone from my island home at any event is always pleasurable especially if those I meet are receptive to being who we were taught to be…nice people. To meet someone who speaks my language (Patois), eat the food I grew up eating, dance the way I dance, listen to the music I love, and believe the things I do, is refreshing.
Recently at a book fair, I had a delightful opportunity to have such an experience. It was a book fair where 99.9% of the participants were other than Caribbean. The others making up the remaining .1% were Jamaican authors.
As we have been taught in childhood, you take your place wherever you are, and do what you are supposed to do. At this event, the tasks of my partner, and myself were to first greet people warmly, second be courteous no matter what, and third try to sell books. We knew the participants were likely going to be 100% Non-Caribbean but were hopeful that some of “our people” would show up.
I had gone on Twitter and other Social Media venues to advertise where we would be, and hoped someone would see the tweets and come out to support. I love the support of everyone, but there was a part of me that wanted to see hundreds of Caribbean people at the fair, especially Jamaicans. If one showed up, it would make my day.
As expected, not many Caribbean people came to the fair but one person visited our table and made my day. A former Jamaican expatriate showed up and proceeded with his wife to look at the books. I started to give my “sales pitch” and when the male realized that the people trying to sell him books were Jamaicans, the whole atmosphere changed. We the authors were no longer sitting conservatively at he table greeting patrons with a smile and speaking Standard English. The moment was no longer about just selling books but became a reunion of sorts, and of what some would think were long lost families. Everyone began to laugh, talk loud and in Patois. Suddenly, all of the Jamaican phrases I had not heard in a very long time began to roll off everybody’s tongue. Hearing people talking in patois something I don’t always hear made me laugh hysterically. I have been so immersed into the American culture that is it always refreshing to hear and speak my language and for whatever reason some of the phrased bring me such pleasure, I can only react by laughing.
Bunny (name changed for this story) brought “the Caribbean flavor” to our book table. As soon as the “Jamaican style” greetings were out of the way, the talk about music, food, and anything Jamaican began. The longest discussion filled with laughter was about the callalloo, yam, and other Jamaican food items being planted in Bunny’s backyard. This man said he had planted everything he ate in Jamaica in his backyard! I laughed until my belly began to hurt. I am not a planter, and the thought of anyone planting anything other than callalloo in America was hilarious. Callalloo is easy to grow and is a welcome food item for most Jamaicans. But yam, sugarcane, mango, turnip, orange, grapefruit, etc., is going too far I thought. I asked Bunny why the need to plant so many things and would he have a need to ever go back to Jamaica to eat the “real” Jamaican food. Jamaicans love Jamaican foods and with all of the items in his backyard I was thinking he wouldn’t miss the food in Jamaica. In between the belly laughs he said yes, he would go back to Jamaica, but he wanted to eat some of the foods he ate as a boy here in America. Can’t blame him.
The conversation turned to growing kids, kids leaving the house, traveling, eating, and then we came back to the real purpose of us being in the building. Bunny and his wife bought books for their grandchildren and were proud to have authors who shared a culture similar to them at this gathering.
Before we left the facility Bunny went home and brought back some callalloo seeds and orange for us to take home. We were all also given a standing invitation to his house in the future to continue the cultural gathering. I will take him up on that offer if for nothing more than to see the backyard farm.
Here’s to culture and heritage.
I had gone on Twitter and other Social Media venues to advertise where we would be, and hoped someone would see the tweets and come out to support. I love the support of everyone, but there was a part of me that wanted to see hundreds of Caribbean people at the fair, especially Jamaicans. If one showed up, it would make my day.
As expected, not many Caribbean people came to the fair but one person visited our table and made my day. A former Jamaican expatriate showed up and proceeded with his wife to look at the books. I started to give my “sales pitch” and when the male realized that the people trying to sell him books were Jamaicans, the whole atmosphere changed. We the authors were no longer sitting conservatively at he table greeting patrons with a smile and speaking Standard English. The moment was no longer about just selling books but became a reunion of sorts, and of what some would think were long lost families. Everyone began to laugh, talk loud and in Patois. Suddenly, all of the Jamaican phrases I had not heard in a very long time began to roll off everybody’s tongue. Hearing people talking in patois something I don’t always hear made me laugh hysterically. I have been so immersed into the American culture that is it always refreshing to hear and speak my language and for whatever reason some of the phrased bring me such pleasure, I can only react by laughing.
Bunny (name changed for this story) brought “the Caribbean flavor” to our book table. As soon as the “Jamaican style” greetings were out of the way, the talk about music, food, and anything Jamaican began. The longest discussion filled with laughter was about the callalloo, yam, and other Jamaican food items being planted in Bunny’s backyard. This man said he had planted everything he ate in Jamaica in his backyard! I laughed until my belly began to hurt. I am not a planter, and the thought of anyone planting anything other than callalloo in America was hilarious. Callalloo is easy to grow and is a welcome food item for most Jamaicans. But yam, sugarcane, mango, turnip, orange, grapefruit, etc., is going too far I thought. I asked Bunny why the need to plant so many things and would he have a need to ever go back to Jamaica to eat the “real” Jamaican food. Jamaicans love Jamaican foods and with all of the items in his backyard I was thinking he wouldn’t miss the food in Jamaica. In between the belly laughs he said yes, he would go back to Jamaica, but he wanted to eat some of the foods he ate as a boy here in America. Can’t blame him.
The conversation turned to growing kids, kids leaving the house, traveling, eating, and then we came back to the real purpose of us being in the building. Bunny and his wife bought books for their grandchildren and were proud to have authors who shared a culture similar to them at this gathering.
Before we left the facility Bunny went home and brought back some callalloo seeds and orange for us to take home. We were all also given a standing invitation to his house in the future to continue the cultural gathering. I will take him up on that offer if for nothing more than to see the backyard farm.
Here’s to culture and heritage.