The following is an interview with Semeria Malcolm, a freshman student who visited Jamaica for a week in January. Semeria talks about her time on the island and gives some insight into what life is like in Jamaica.

Q: How many years did you live in Jamaica?

A: I lived in Jamaica for 13 years and moved here in the middle of 8th grade. I’ve only been back once since then, but I hope to go again. I didn’t really want to move here, but it wasn’t too hard to make friends and adjust to life in Pennsylvania.

Waiting for the sunset in Jamaica

Q: What do you miss the most?

A: I miss that I can’t hang out with my friends and family anymore. I also miss going to the beach.

My family

Q: What is your favorite thing to do there?

A: I love to go to the beach with my family or to hang around in town. I spent a lot of my time in Savanna-la-Mar (a coastal town) with my grandma when I was growing up.

Q: What’s something that you think people should know about life in Jamaica?

A: People there usually work on the streets selling clothes or food, washing cars, or driving taxis instead of working in buildings like they do here. Jamaicans are very happy people because we communicate a lot more than Americans seem to. We spend more time with our friends at parties or at each other’s houses hanging out or having barbecues. Community is very important to Jamaicans.

Shop where my mom used to work

Most people who visit Jamaica go to the beaches or the cliffs or on other adventures with their tour guides. But for fun, my friends and I would spend time in the streets playing soccer, riding our bikes around town, or just chilling with each other, talking and gossiping.

Popular cliff diving spot at Rick's Café in Negril

Charlie, the parrot at our hotel

Another interesting thing about Jamaica is that there are no seagulls anywhere at the beach! The skies are clear.

Jamaican sunset