Home    Happenings    Iwa    Word Of Mouth    Photo Gallery   Spotlight      Travelogue   Words Of Wisdom   Contact   Comments 

So you meet someone from Jamaica and you ask him/her the customary question, "What part of Jamaica are you from?" and ninety nine percent of the time you will get this answer "Kingston." So you start to wonder if the whole of Jamaica has only one place, Kingston. How come you hardly hear about other places? You get curious and you start to investigate and you discover that Jamaica has fourteen parishes or states, Kingston being the smallest, and Saint Catherine the largest.

You are still wondering why most people say they are from Kingston and you discover that one of the airports is in Kingston. Maybe they meant to say that they left from the airport in Kingston. This is still not satisfying to you so you decide to do some more research. You find maps of Jamaica. You ask people about the other places on the island and you discover that if the answer is Kingston, most of these people are really from the other parish, you know, the one giving Kingston it’s good name.

You discover the parish that is giving Kingston its name and glory. You discover that because of the proximity of Saint Andrew to Kingston, it borders Kingston on three sides; most people will quickly tell you that they are from Kingston.

Saint Andrew often misrepresented, even in the history books, print media, maps and tourist advertisements, stretches west to the Causeway, east to Bull Bay, north to Border and south to Denham Town and includes all of the developed areas that people like to call "Kingston."  Yes, Saint Andrew border Kingston on three sides, but it is not in Kingston and Kingston is not in Saint Andrew.

In all honesty, people really want to tell you that they are from Saint Andrew, you know, the place that has New Kingston (really old Saint Andrew, with the night clubs and embassies, hotels, and financial district); the two universities, the malls, the zoo and garden, the once hopeful, Hope Garden, the hilltop residences, the clocks (Half Way Tree and Cross Road), the theatre (Carib), the National stadium and arena, the soldiers quarter, the art school (Edna Manley School of Art), and most of the places that end with hill, (Jacks, Stony, Red, Beverly, Manning’s, Warika), many of the areas ending with town (Vineyard, Trench, Irish etc.) address that has Kingston with a number attached, all the neighborhood off the Boulevard, the areas with Springs (Constant, Golden), some of the best schools on the island (Calabar, Immaculate, Micro, Wolmers, STATHS etc.), the exclusive Norbrook, Meadowbrook, Barbican, the ice cream spot, Devon House, and of course, Bob’s museum.

Even Bob, in his ignorance, had the same idea about living in Trench Town, Saint Andrew and thinking he was in Kingston. It is the only parish that can boast of a truly urban area, a suburban area and a rural area. Tell the real Kingstonians to try and top that, without stealing the glory from the best parish on the island.

And if that wasn’t enough, even the Prime Minister’s residence at Vale Royal, and Kings House, the Governor General are located in this versatile, underrepresented and unadvertised parish.

When you meet Jamaicans, and you ask them where they’re from, and they are not from the other thirteen parishes, they should be proud to say, without any apologies, that they’re from the parish of Saint Andrew.

A St. Andrew (STAND) a run tings.

Mi deh yah now!

Reggaedis

Back

[Home]  [Happenings]  [Iwa]   [Word of Mouth]   [Photo Gallery]   [Spotlight]  [Travelogue]  [Words Of Wisdom]  [In The News] [Contact]   [Comments]

MORECULTURE.COM      COPYRIGHT 2003    J. MCFARQUHAR

For graphics info contact Jahja@yahoo.com