Learning Jamaican in a Foreign Environment

As I mentioned before, two of my coworkers Kim and Katanya are originally from Jamaica. Well, over the last few days I've had some really interesting conversations with them discussing the Jamaican way of life. They have such fascinating stories to tell, but they think nothing of it. For starters, the family systems in Jamaica are completely different than they are in the U.S. For instance, it is completely common for men to have multiple illegitimate children from multiple women. Both Kim and Katanya told me some disheartening stories about this. Another cool/scary thing about them is that they have both been robbed at gunpoint! How many people can say that?

Nevertheless, these girls are so funny together. Natalia, the girl from Moldova (near Russia) is even beginning to speak a little more and loosen up. These girls have been teaching me and the guys certain Jamaican and Moldovan/Russian words and Katanya and I even have a handshake. She has a strong Christian faith and knows exactly how she wants to live her life. Tomorrow we're going to church together in town.

I hope by the end of the summer we can convince some of our non-Christian co-workers to come with us. I know it sounds weird, but I think that could be one reason God has led me here. Maybe I'm supposed to have some impact on these people's lives...maybe I'm supposed to help open their eyes to things they have neglected to see in the past...maybe I'm supposed to learn something from them about the "real world's" attitudes toward faith. Coming here has really been surprising in that aspect. Back at Concordia it seems like everybody you meet has some type of faith life, but I'd say about 75% of the people I've met here don't. This is definitely a foreign experience for me, but I hope that something changes in them this summer...and I hope I change for the better too. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.