Happy Independence Jamaica! A letter for you

Happy Birthday dear Jamaica.

You're certainly getting on in age. Can't believe you're now 44! Wow! For a tiny island, you've made some serious strides boy (or are you a girl? hmm, I wonder). What I like about you is that you put so much energy into things that you get involved in and so you're relatively well-known. Unfortunately, you're known for the bad as well as the good. So yes, you've made your mark in the world of sports and you have the fastest man in the world now (Asafa Powell). You're known for the warmth and talent of your people, your beautiful beaches, and of course the pulsating reggae music. But you're also known for the notorious 'yardie' gangs, and drug mules. I guess I have to take the good with the bad, but it's really not nice being circled by sniffer dogs when I disembark from a plane coming directly from Jamaica. I don't get that treatment when I'm coming from another country. I remember while studying in England, my university mates from the other caribbean islands complained that everytime they tell someone (a non-West Indian) that they're from Trinidad, Barbados (or wherever they're from) the person would enthusiastically reply "Oh yes, I've been there. Isn't that the town next to Kingston?" I remember also while in England, during our independence celebration, BBC Tv did a week long feature on you. I remember feeling so proud, that big, big England rated us so much that an entire week was dedicated to us. It brought tears to my eyes and a big lump in my throat then.

But you know, I wish you'd grow up in other ways too. The other day I was online checking on your literacy rate and was shocked to see that it was among the lowest in the region. If I remember clearly it was like in the high 70's when everyone else seem to be in the 80's and 90's. And shouldn't your leaders get it together by now? Why is it that the people entrusted with your finances squander it so? You're too old to use that old, worn out excuse of 'youthful exuberance.' Why is it that you still do not have enough jobs so that more persons can live in a dignified manner-especially when they have invested much in education?

Oh, I don't know. You're probably going to say that I'm being hard on you - afterall even though you're no longer on the cusp of adulthood, you're still a small, small island. I know you're going to say that other big countries have similar problems. I guess I'm being like my mother. When I was a teenager and pointed out to her that the other parents were allowing their children(my friends) to go partying she'd say "I don't care about what they do, you're my child and I love you." So it's the same thing here, I complain because I care.

Anyway, let me not spoil your special day by giving you a lecture. Like the typical birthday celebration, you put aside the negatives and enjoy the party. Let me focus on the many things that I love about you, the things that I missed and dreamt about during the short period that I was away. The things that make you so very unique, things that us Jamaicans laugh about and say, only in Jamaica. Like the fact that I can pull up to a roadside vendor and get the sweetest jelly coconut in the world and probably some sugar cane to go with it. Or the fact that we turn anything into a profit making business - hence the rise of the 'rent-a-dread' that's so popular among white female tourists. There are so many things to love about you, the vibes, the energy, the language, the people.

Happy Birthday Jamaica.