A Welcome Description

Working at 4-H has given me a greater insight into Jamaican life than working with the Malvern Science Resource Centre ever did. This could be because the MSRC consisted of Khaled, me and Monica. We didn't have any money and relatively few community connections. We being American coupled with the fact that Monica is a 'returned resident' kind of kept us separated from the population of Malvern at large.
So the 4-H has been pretty enlightening. First is the fact that I am contributing to existing programs, programs that were initiated by Jamaicans. I realize that may sound strange but with the MSRC that just wasn't happening. Next is the actual work environment. I work with regular Jamaicans who have lived here all their lives. They have a very different view from the 'returning residents' that I've known. 4-H recently took on some "summer workers". This is a kind of strange concept as we already have an overcrowded office, only one computer and most of our programs/meetings aren't held in the summer because school isn't in session. That said 4-H has close ties to the National Youth Service program that trains high school graduates and gives them intern style jobs for 6 months. Jermaine, my baousty friend, started out as a NYS and his enthusiasm was so great that he keeps on coming to work, even though we got a new NYS already.
So the other day the new 'summer workers' were talking to me and Keisha ( 4-H secretary with some excellent accounting skills that keep us out of the red) about a girl they both knew.

Keisha- "you mean Taneisha, she mi uncle baby motha'
Ms. Elliot- "the fat one"
Keisha - "what dark and nappy hair?"
Ms. Elliot-"no, no, the brown one wid red weave"
At first this rolled over me and I was wondering "do I know this Taneisha? I know 'nuff Taneishas but not one with a red hair weave, but maybe she's changed it since I last saw her?" Then I started to think about the description overall. I tried to picture how it would go in the States...

Keisha- "you mean Taneisha, I'm related to her"
Ms. Elliot- " the pretty one with a plump face"
Keisha- "with dark skin, kind of unruly hair?"
Ms. Elliot- "no, no, with lighter skin and reddish hair"
All this to determine if we know the same person! I realize that the way Jamaicans describe people would make an American cringe. First, calling someone fat is no big deal here. Of course if she's fat, you call her fat. And if she's too fat to small up in the taxi's back seat, the driva says 'come nah fatty, yah too big fi fit'. This isn't offensive to women, perhaps because they are still sexually attractive even if they are big.
When you see someone, how would you describe them? I realize here they can't say "she has brown hair and brown eyes" because that's everyone. It's easier to describe someone when there is a range of hair and eye color. But Jamaican's rarely use height as an indicator. Even though I'm really tall for a woman here they don't tend to call me tall, except when we're in a taxi and my legs are 'too tall' to sit forward. But tall can mean many things, for instance my hair is tall (meaning long). People do use weight as a describer, as well as skin tone. I couldn't tell the difference at first, but they see lots of shades. Someone who is black is very dark, brown is what we think of as black in the States, light brown is more a Latino color and white is light but still darker than me. That said I get called brownie a lot, but I used to be called whitey more but maybe my tan got better.
Anyway, I also want to give a BIG UP to GROUP 77!! They arrived last weekend looking shellshocked and shockingly white but excited and happy! We are so happy to have them, lets hope they get some interesting sites where we can visit.
Pictures
1. Kingston Drummers play at welcome dinner for Group 77
2. Khaled and I at the Welcome Dinner. We got all dressed up! Khaled looks nice in his Jamaican graduation shirt I bought him at Maxie's.
3. Khaled pickpockets Kaelyn during a safety skit for trainees at UWI.
4. Bus ride to the airport to meet group 77. It felt like training all over again!