The Many Faces Of Jamaica

from NBC News this is today with Lester Holt and general live from Studio 1a in Rockefeller Plaza there is something that Jen and I have in common you may not know about Jamaica my grandparents my maternal grandparents were born in the Caribbean island and I was actually born on the island we recently returned there together to retrace our routes and visit some old family and friends for centuries Jamaica has been calling from European settlers to today's American tourists which if you didn't know any better you might have mistaken Jenna and me for but hold on this was no boondoggle well actually the catamaran cruise was sort of on the line ah but seriously a real intention was to explore our Jamaican roots the two of us share a connection to this crowd island nation mine began here so you think they're gonna remember you well if they don't remember my face I can guarantee you they'll remember my voice we're at the maternity ward of Kingston's natal hospital where I was born 4:20 a.m. Sheila green found baby wolf found baby wolf al that was me that's so great that's a normal normal normal it's all written right there a normal that odd was normal contrary to what a lot of very real tomato baby well I have no birth claim to the island however my maternal grandparents were born raised and married in Jamaica six years ago I made my first journey here with my american-born mother so this is where your mother grew up yes just the house on that trip we traveled to rural Manchester on our own emotional journey of discovery never thought I'd see it I didn't even know it was still here you know it's like now I'm cold this is this is just unbelievable it is good see this so when my mom and I came here we were really telling the story of her mother my grandmother my grandfather however is from where we are now Spanish town and you still have family here in Spanish too we don't know we don't know what about my grandfather he was the you know one of 14 kids born to an Indian from Calcutta and a white English woman he dropped out of school his father died when he was very young they were very poor but this we know is with him meanwhile I left Jamaica when I was five but I returned often over the years things look pretty familiar as we drove to the Kingston neighborhood where my family lived to reunite with some very special people in my life nyla d'andrea back in my toddler days a neighbor and second mom who last saw me when I look like this and when I had a vastly different personality yes you're so different on TV no because when you were here you were so shy and snow did we get the wrong address yeah I sons were like crazy man Jenna was the sweet little always perfectly dressed and one of those sons and Denis know my first unofficial boyfriend here's Anthony no trying to impress me by hopping a fence here's me looking in the opposite direction used to hold on to Nina's did I really yeah was it cute very cute buddy he was a bigger boy you see so he had to look after you oh we Jamaicans never forget the family so once the families no matter where they are they're still family later a stroll through the courtyard by my old apartment brought back some sweet memories especially of one neighbor in particular who could never quite keep the music down here the drums going at we let's get outta here re on this stupid town what is he do make it on and who was it Bob Marley can you believe that yeah with Bob so when this guy brags that he likes reggae he doesn't know I know reggae grew up with it right in our backyard that's right Bob Marley was Jenna's neighbor I love the Bob Marley story now we're at the Museum but they used to be his house which was in the shadow of where you live right next door tell me again how did you end up being born in Jamaica my father had a chain of leather manufacturing companies that started in Puerto Rico and they moved it to Jamaica they made leather buttons and me and my brother were born here and this is where I called home for many years I never set foot in Jamaica until I was an adult but when I got there I met plenty of extended family god it's great to see you again we're it even a while I would like you to meet Jenna Jenna's money I've seen you on TV Scott Wilson is my second cousin and guess what start your engines he's a broadcaster too a voiceover announcer and turns out Scott is also a record producer and he invited us to sit in on a session for a new reggae CD Gregg a Jamaican soul it's music easy pace and beaches or what Jamaica is known for Kingston however is a port city no fancy resorts here but if you stick with a local we're actually going to a little key called lime key and it's not much more than a sandbar but it has a little bit of vegetation on it and it's big enough for everybody to come on weekends you can actually dock right on the beach we're swim and it was a great place for Scott and me to reflect and reconnect to make us a lot smaller so everything is more intense yeah so so um you know we're related and I almost feel like I've known you forever but but the bonds of family in Jamaica are traditional really before we left lime key we insisted Scott teach us some of that wonderful local Jamaican dialogue how would you say we had a wonderful time we can't wait to come back yeah I did sweet yeah we had four foul yeah they're sweet I can't wait for forward yes that's very good it's we looking way too forward yeah should a route sound like a cartoon it sounds like a New York yeah just we two can't wait for far away yeah it's sweet yeah sweet I can't wait for far away the funk picked apart one useful phrase Scott didn't teach Jenna slow down how could we possibly leave this island without tasting one of its most daring offerings the Jamaican bobsled at Ocho Rios mystic mountain slow down please wait was he saying slow down yeah I was it's gonna be the ask now by the way but anyway slow down is a fitting response not just to the bobsled but to life in general did you make an Way of life where the rhythm of reggae and the waves will always welcome you home on the back yes yeah if we did it once a week for the next 52 weeks I'm not sure budget-wise that should be a problem that's not a problem and the bobsled thing by the way didn't look fast there but that's you were driving and you had the control was Lester like it and apparently you want to wear that the ride sheet breaking no no brakes we also thank Robert sir Don and Kim Cornett our producers there Billington gee who did great jobs with us shooting that that's me that's back in your shy period back when I was super shy and I wear long dresses apparently cuz that was fancy back heck man but you know what even folksy but you're not related to you there is a welcome-home quality to Jamaica I mean people are worn they're embracing their way of life is so peaceful and so still that everything is Irie everything is laid-back and easy just smile and it all just sort of politicial we just pave the way for another paid trip there just like New York City all right just ahead as America's Got Talent gets ready to crown its newest star I go backstage talk to some of the hottest acts and the two cowards who helped make or break their dreams but first these messages

Channel: Jamlink & Friends

Views: 520,518

Rating: 4.7961431 out of 5

Keywords: Jamaica, NBC, Today, Lester Holt, Jenna Wolfe

Id: blJY8-aF0mQ

Length: 8min 45sec (525 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 15 2012