Miss Jamaica gives a culture lesson

The Gleaner continues to keep its eye on the Miss World competition, more specifically Chantal Raymond. Not just her chances at victory, but her experiences in China. She has been writing a series of missives to her countrymen about those experiences.

Ni hao Jamaica! The second stop on our trip to China was Ordos, a vast but rustic city in the inner-Mongolian district of China.

Our hotel in Ordos was amazing! The contemporary room furnishings nicely complemented the modern architecture of the surrounding area but, most importantly, the desserts were phenomenal!

All the ladies took time to indulge in the cheesecakes, brownies and delicious Nestle Ice cream, Yum!

I am not sure why people believe beauty queens don't eat. You should see the amount of potato chips, Oreos, and chocolate we share with each other and, no, I am not getting fat! I promise (smile).

Very cautious

We are all very cautious about the food we eat outside the hotel, especially after discovering that we were fed burgers made of donkey meat on our Air China flight. Luckily, I only ate the bread.

In Ordos, everything is two hours away, so we had many early mornings and late evenings.

As the trip progresses, I find myself bonding more with the other ladies. Funny enough, we always refer to each other by country. So rarely do you get a chance to hear someone's real name.

I became instant friends with Australia, who is half-Jamaican, and Cayman Islands. Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Cayman Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and I love to get together and laugh all night while we listen to reggae and share popular dance moves from our various countries. Belgium and Australia even asked me to teach them the 'Dutty Wine'. Watching them practise the controversial move is quite hilarious!

Actually, music has been bringing many of us together and helping us learn about each other's culture. Malawi, New Zealand and I spend a lot of time singing dancehall songs on our long journeys through Ordos. Apparently, reggae is also very popular in New Zealand.

Jamaica is not in Africa

Other ladies prefer to listen to some of the more popular pop and top-40 songs.

While listening to Shakira's Waka Waka, one contestant asked me to translate something that she referred to as "native African". I smiled and told her that my country is located in the Caribbean.

Another contestant told me that I do not look Jamaican because all Jamaicans look like Sean Kingston. Ha ha! Needless to say, we still have much to learn about each other and our home countries.

Much Love,

Chantal Alicia Raymond

Miss Jamaica World 2010

• While Chantal is away in China making our country proud, she still very much wants to be in touch with what is going on in Jamaica.  If you have questions for Chantal about the Miss World competition, feel free to send an email to grandison.garfene@gleanerjm.com  and keep reading The Gleaner for continued coverage of the 60th annual Miss World Pageant.