Jamaica Irie

Jamaica boasts a rich culture complete with it's own unique language and the vibes can only can only adequately be described as irie, pronouced like eye-ry. You'll want to say this word in a mellow tone to suggest that you're feeling good and everything is all right. Use irie to descibe every positive state of feeling or being. Anything negative or ugly or that doesn't taste good, or that's violent or messy cannot be called irie.

 The minute you step off the airplane into the warm breezes, you step into an irie kind of other atmosphere, even if it's raining. Depending on how close you are to the coast line you will smell the salt in the air, contrasting with the raw energy of the music, attitudes and hustling. You'll ge the feeling that something spiritually special is always happening or about to happen. You'll feel the excitement begin stirring up in you, as you notice the smiles, the raucus laughter, hear the verbal exchanges often offered in colorful so called bad words and you'll think people are arguing when really they're just afectionately greeting one another. How do you get so much buzzing energy delivered in such a laid back lifestyle? It only happens in Jamaica so it's not so easy for outsiders to fathom.

But, visitors who are so accustomed to the rippin' an' runnin' of faster cultures beware! We take our time in Jamiaca so please prepare to slow way, way down. It is no big deal for us to be a little late and rain is a good excuse for anyone to miss work. We are working hard and making strides to keep up with the rest of the world, therefore we are trying to adjust some habits to fit in with the global marketplace but trust me, our fast might still be quite slow for you. Prepare to wait for anything from important documents to ordering food, to getting someone's attention in Jamaica. We are usually in not much of a hurry because we believe in the philosophy, Jamacia, no problem man! And we do mean man, when you think you think we are saying mon. It's just our accent that makes the a sound like an o to you.

But seriously, you have to visit Jamaica even once in your life. it's just one of those places to experience before you... you know...