Conversation with Taryn Ayton

Adrian: 0:00 In recording progress, okay, I think the recording has very so we can get started on I just sent you over the questions so that way there was no surprises. So thank you for doing the that ethics form, which I have, I need to also sign myself. But anyways, um, so let's firstly, do you want to know a bit about the project to kind of just start? So basically, this project is for my anthropological studies in the Caribbean and Latin America. Basically what we're doing is that we're interviewing people in Canada that are from those continents. And basically we're going to take their stories and put them all into one website so that way people can view it, experience, learn, and it's overall, going to be this incredible, beautiful thing. So I have a partner. He's he has actually done another interview. So this is my interview with you. And yeah, we're gonna get started with the general introduction. So here we have, like, what part of the Caribbean are you from? What brought you, you and your family to Canada, and how much family do you have here living in Canada with you? From the Caribbean?
Taryn 1:27 Feel free to introduce

Speakers 2 1:29 Okay, so my family's from Jamaica, and majority of our family is now either in Canada or the United States, mostly being in Canada. My mom has eight siblings, and I believe three of which are still in Jamaica. But the rest are here. Actually, the rest are

Unknown Speakers 2:01 sorry. Let me do quick now, three in Jamaica,

Speakers 2 2:07 or here, one in America.

Speakers 1 2:10 And this kind of diving a bit deeper. Where in Canada would you say most of your mom's siblings are located in throughout Ontario, throughout Ontario, and I can seem closer to Toronto. Yes, yeah. So for this project as well, we were looking for people from Ottawa, but I wanted to particularly tackle the GTA area, because I feel like there's a huge Caribbean culture there as well, and I think that's very lovely. And for the one that is in the US, where are they from? Where are they located right now, in the US?

Speakers 2 2:51 I don't think he's there legally, so I don't know.

Unknown Speakers 2:57 Well, you know, it's the experience.

Speakers 1 3:01 Who knows, but totally cool. I'm so best aware about that. So let's get into the community and heritage part. Um, so do you live in an area where a large Crimean community, what language, slash vernaculars are spoken, and do you speak or understand any of them?

Unknown Speakers 3:19 Okay, so

Speakers 2 3:22 being from Richmond Hill, no, but being slightly north of Toronto, yes, if you understand what I mean, I do. I do because, like living in Richmond Hill, the the Caribbean culture is absolutely zero, but driving just like 15 minutes south into Toronto, it's huge, right? And I do not at least Jamaica's dialects patois, which is English. It's just broken English. I don't speak it, but I completely understand it. And it's honestly, so funny, because it's something I grew up with, and it's something I've always, like, understood before. Whenever my mom is speaking Pato in front of me, and my friends are around, and they don't get it, I'm like, but she's speaking English. No

Speakers 1 4:15 exactly. I feel that actually, when I'm looking up and like, reformatting the questions I put in the notes here, Pat was because I was like, obviously, but I think that's really cool. Like, what are kind of some of the words that like stick out to you a lot? Or what are some very common sayings? Um,

Speakers 2 4:35 common sayings. My mom doesn't use common sayings because she doesn't. I feel like a lot of parents have their go to sayings. My mom doesn't do that. She has a go to look for every situation.

Unknown Speakers 4:53 I love that. Honestly,

Speakers 2 4:56 it's actually really funny, because the other night, I'm like, Hey Mom, I'm going out and. She's, like,

Unknown Speakers 5:04 iconic, iconic, um, not.

Speakers 1 5:09 And I think that's like, really, really cool that we're looking at podcasts in different vernaculars. Um, anyways, what are some notable celebrations when? Which ones are the most important to you? Okay,

Speakers 2 5:23 so I did look at that question and I'm like, Hmm, nothing really differs, because Jamaica is a very like Christian country, right? So typically, everything we celebrate here is celebrated there in the aspect of faith, but they do have carnival, which we would look at as Caribana or Toronto Caribbean carnival. But a lot of people don't realize they're completely different times during the year. So Carnival in the islands is typically right before Lent. Oh, so a carnival time just actually passed, and carnival there is completely different to what we do here. Like,

Unknown Speakers 6:16 have you ever seen like a holy celebration?

Speakers 1 6:18 I've no holy celebration. I have definitely seen, like, a couple videos of, like, the parades and whatnot, and like, the kind of pageant aspect of it, okay, yeah, Unknown Speakers 6:28 they do that too. But

Speakers 2 6:32 with Holi, it's an Indian celebration. It's a lot of colors, and they're, like, bright colors and like, pinks and stuff they do that during Carnival, like balloons. It's like paint filled balloons. And so it's like a mixture of holy and Caribbean carnival as we see it here, like kind of mashed into one. It's actually really cool.

Speakers 1 6:57 And that's like a very huge part of the Caribbean as well, because there's so many different types of people that are coming together. There's so many cultures that are being represented, if you will. And I think your point about like Christian holidays, I am curious, in comparison to kind of prison holidays here in Canada, what are some, I guess, unique aspects that, to me, kind of brings to those cultures, any particular foods or traditions that might differ or unique. So

Speakers 2 7:29 for Easter, I know, like here during Easter, we're not supposed to do the whole meat thing, but there during Easter they typically just, it's just fish and then spice, bun and cheese. Okay, that is food for Easter. That's it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Speakers 1 7:48 I think one thing that my family does is, of course, garlic pork for Christmas. I'm not sure if you do that as well. I think that's a Guyanese thing, right? But no super cool. And I think the different types of foods is, honestly, the food is incredible. Like, that's really, yeah, the food is incredible, incredible. So, um, there's kind of two questions here. Um, how do you celebrate your heritage and what values do you hold most dear to you that come from your community? And those might be kind of odd questions. So yeah, do you have an answer for that? The insight, um,

Speakers 2 8:29 sorry, could you repeat the first one?

Unknown Speakers 8:33 The first one, how do you celebrate your heritage?

Unknown Speakers 8:37 Honestly, I don't

Speakers 2 8:41 in the aspect that being Jamaican is just like a celebration in itself. Because, like, I feel like when you're Jamaican, everyone knows you're Jamaican. I've quite literally been told you look, Jamaican.

Speakers 1 9:01 Would it what does that mean? Exactly? Bucha,

Unknown Speakers 9:05 who knows, but

Speakers 2 9:09 as the most like known Caribbean island, like, when people hear you're from the Caribbean, they go, Oh, Jamaica,

Unknown Speakers 9:19 right. So I don't

Speakers 2 9:21 really celebrate being Jamaican, because I feel like it's a celebration in itself. It's like

Speakers 1 9:30 every day almost. It's like a huge part of who you are. And I think that's a very interesting perspective. It's it's different. And I not different actually. I think it's unique, and I love it honestly, so kind of moving on to that second question, what are some values that you hold that come from that place?

Unknown Speakers 9:51 Okay, well, my mom

Unknown Speakers 9:53 always instilled in me family

Unknown Speakers 9:58 and I. I have

Unknown Speakers 10:01 a huge family.

Speakers 2 10:04 So I have five brothers, sorry, four brothers on my mom's side, and then my dad has 12 kids. Unknown

Speakers 10:12 Huge family, huge

Speakers 2 10:14 family. Um, so I've always been taught to be there when I can be but like also not to exert myself for the good of others, but I like to always try to be there, at least for my siblings.

Speakers 1 10:32 That's incredible, because there's so many of them, little army, little army,

Unknown Speakers 10:40 my dad could have two basketball teams.

Speakers 1 10:44 Honestly, I think that's very incredible. Are Muslim and tall?

Speakers 2 10:48 Oh yeah, oh yeah, not a single short one.

Unknown Speakers 10:53 Genes are strong.

Unknown Speakers 10:56 I mean, other than the seven year old,

Speakers 1 10:59 makes sense. But we'll give it a couple years, we'll give it a couple of years. Um, no, and I think that's super cool. I think actually the aspect of family is, I mean, that's really huge in the carina as well. I think as a stem from that as well as, um, respecting elders is a very huge part of that. How are you can do you feel connected to that part? Is I value your bold um,

Speakers 2 11:22 so I feel like respecting your elders is very instilled in Caribbean children. However, in this day and age, I feel like we've come to a point where we've learned to stand up for ourselves. Because it's one thing to respect your elders, and it's another to completely sit there and accept being annihilated, which 90% of the time is exactly what's being done to you.

Speakers 1 11:54 I see it's very, very interesting. So looking at the next question here, would you like to share? Sorry, what would you like to share about yourself or your community that you think is important for people to know?

Speakers 2 12:12 Nothing specifically about myself, but not every Caribbean is Jamaican.

Unknown Speakers 12:18 No. Speak on it, speak on it.

Speakers 2 12:21 And I feel like that's something so so many people get so offended. Because, like, when people are like, Oh, my God, you're Caribbean, you must be Jamaican, it's like, no, there are so many countries in the Caribbean, and like other other Caribbean countries, just feel so looked over

Unknown Speakers 12:44 because of Jamaican.

Speakers 2 12:45 And as a Jamaican, I'm sorry, but we are the center of attention. I understand that. But there are others.

Speakers 1 12:54 There are other you want to give Friday. You want to give praise. Exactly, interesting, very interesting. I love that. And I think we touched on this question kind of beforehand. But what foods remind you of your home, and where do you purchase your groceries to prepare any traditional meals if you cook

Unknown Speakers 13:21 so? Danforth food market,

Unknown Speakers 13:24 Danforth food market

Speakers 2 13:27 and things that remind me of Jamaica, per se, ackee and salfish. I love a good ackee and selfish, which, honestly, I didn't realize until I spent the summer there when I was 10. But that is a breakfast food, okay? Because I, yeah, I always grew up eating it for dinner, because that's when my mom would make it. But it's a breakfast food. Breakfast

Speakers 1 13:54 food, and sorry, the ackee and saw fish describe the meal a bit more. So

 Unknown Speakers 14:01 ad is Jamaica's national fruit,

Speakers 2 14:05 but it needs to be cooked, because if it is not cooked, it can be poisonous. Oh, yeah. And then the salt fish is, I think it's cod fish, but salted. Okay. So then you have to boil off, like majority of the salt, otherwise, like it, like it's inedible because of the

Unknown Speakers 14:27 amount of salt,

Unknown Speakers 14:30 high sodium, high sodium, yep,

Speakers 1 14:34 sounds like it, um, out of curiosity, like, Are there any particular like, desserts or any kind of spots that you can find in Toronto or Ontario that really like hit home for you.

Unknown Speakers 14:49 No, I can't say so, because

Unknown Speakers 14:53 I've never really been one for Jamaican desserts.

Speakers 2 14:58 Honestly, most it's like. Black cake and then pudding. And it's not like, yeah, it's not like a westernized pudding. It's like a it's like a cake, per se. But

Unknown Speakers 15:12 I do love black cake,

Unknown Speakers 15:13 but I make

Speakers 2 15:14 my own. So absolutely I don't have any recommendations on that aspect, and I have tried to make in restaurants. However, couldn't recommend any of them either, because I can't say anything is better than my mom's cookie.

Speakers 1 15:34 I think, I think a parent's cooking, a grandmother's cooking, even it will surprise any restaurant really, exactly up until the grandmas decide to open up their own truly, um, but no, I think that's like, very interesting. Black cake is also really good. I I've had some myself, um, I would grab it by the slice and eat it, um, and I don't think my parents knew, but we don't tell anyways, so kind of moving on to the last section here. Apologies, we're looking at the project questions. So I told you a bit earlier about the website, and I just want to ask you, since this interview is part of a larger project to tell the stories of Latin American and Caribbean Canadians using a website that displays this information. Does this sound like a concept that you would be interested in, or communities in Canada would be interested

Speakers 2 16:35 in? I would definitely be interested in it, because I feel that there are a lot of

Unknown Speakers 16:42 first gen

Speakers 2 16:44 Canadian children that feel neither here nor there in the aspect of you're too Caribbean for the Canadian kids, or you're too Canadian for the Caribbean kids, and just someone that falls in the middle. I feel like it could be very intriguing for like, finding more people like you that can relate to you, whereas you've just been living in a state of

Unknown Speakers 17:14 purgatory, in a way,

Speakers 1 17:19 absolutely, I think that education, it would bring a lot of education, and would really help to bring a huge asset of history. I'm not sure if we've talked about it as of now, but Toronto, especially Caribbean people, have contributed an immense amount of culture, and even, like the Toronto man accent, a lot of that is just a Caribbean accent. And I think that would be a huge part actually, you know what? Like? Let's speak on it. Um, you've obviously been to Toronto. You're in the GTA, um, how have you seen Caribbean people like influence the culture?

Speakers 2 17:58 So, um, I would say that they are a huge influence. However, they are definitely disappointed in the Toronto man action, because 90% of them feel like they're just being mocked. First off, secondly, none. None of those Toronto mans actually sound like that.

Speakers 1 18:17 Yeah, no, the one thing on the

Speakers 2 18:21 internet, yeah, it's awful. It's so bad. It's It is, yeah, and they're making, they're making a mockery, and they don't care. And I find it so funny and entertaining, but I understand how people are offended by it.

Speakers 1 18:40 Yeah, it's something to it's, yeah, it's, I'm not sure, to laugh uncomfortably or to laugh at them, like, what are we doing? It's, you know, what? Lock it up. Truly, I think the most shocking part is when I hear a trauma and accent come from someone in Ottawa. Oh, no, yeah. Um, you know, especially when they are a young child who grew up in, like, suburban Ottawa, it's like, what are we doing? Why? Um, but that's, that's a whole separate conversation. Um, going back to the website for a moment, how would you use this website? Um, I think we kind of already touched on that. But what are some ideas that you personally would contribute to the projects?

Unknown Speakers 19:28 I feel like adding,

Speakers 2 19:32 like, not a dating app aspect, but like a find a friend aspect, you know, to be able to see, like, if this person's nearby, maybe, like, make a friend.

Speakers 1 19:44 Networking, exactly, networking, connecting communities. I think that would actually be really cool. So you want, like, from this website, not only for a place to be educated, but also to connect people a variety. Of cultures sound about right? Yeah, and we can shed light on other Peruvian countries as well. Right? Absolutely, absolutely. And do you have any final comments, questions or concerns that you would like to ask about the project or at all speak your mind, truly? No, we're all good. Okay, well, I think with that, thank you so much for being a part of my interview today. This has been an incredible experience, and I hope that maybe when we get the final project all finished up and done, you'll be able to see it for yourselves. I think with that, we can end things off. Have a good day. Right turn. Thank you so much. Okay, no problem, bye, bye, bye.