A British born and raised girl with a West Indian upbringing, a genuine love for music, an entrepreneurial spirit and a huge heart for helping people and a big lover of life! I’ve been in Dubai for just over two years now and one of the first questions I’m asked when meeting someone new is ‘Where are you from?‘ I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that goes for all of us as one of, if not thee most popular question when meeting someone new in the UAE.
If I say ‘London’, I’m further probed with the question, ‘“No, where are you REALLY from?” which in turn opens so many doors for the direction of the conversation because I can see they’ve heard me speak but can’t match my face to a location they can familiarize themselves with or matches the ideal in their head. I’ve had people guess all kinds of places from Rwanda, Kenya and Ghana to the USA and even more. When I say “I’m British born but my heritage is West Indian/Caribbean“, I’m often met with amazement or confusion depending on whether or not the person knows where that is. No matter how many times or what order I say “Grenada, Trinidad and Jamaica” most of the time, all they respond with is ‘“Aaahh, Jamaaaacica‘. The ‘ah-ha’ moment when they have ‘figured me out’ or even surprised there are black, British Jamaicans now in the UAE.