Ever the country girl: By Maurine Thomas
It is indeed summertime in New York City; I go to the green grocer with anticipation to pick up my favorite fruits. I get my nectarines, oranges, strawberries, cherries and grapes. Then there is a slight pause when I pass by the mangoes sitting in a box waiting to be picked up; however, there is hesitation and nostalgia on my part. My hesitation comes from not knowing what kind of “mango” I am about to purchase. This mango does not have a name, it simply says “mango”. My nostalgia stems from my youth as a Jamaican country girl who can pick out a mango from sight or smell.
Memories of the anticipation of summer break from school and all the mangoes I was going to eat were part of my childhood experience. Perish the thought of purchasing mangoes when you can simply trade with your neighbor. East Indian was by far the crème de la crème and if you got to eat an entire East Indian mango all by yourself, you definitely felt like you earned a prize. The thought of the Common mango, Julie, Bombay, Turpentine, Black mango, just to name a few, brings me to a place of knowing that I was blessed to know what it felt like to walk barefoot if I felt like it, to climb a tree, to play hide and seek, to throw a stone and try to “lick a mango off de tree.” The painful experience of having mango sore on the side of your mouth is all part of country life. The memory of my grandmother’s many warnings about getting colic from eating too much. If that was not enough to stop you from mango fever, there was the ever present knowledge of the impending “wash out” otherwise known as Benjamin’s children herb before you would go back to school.
So it is with this memory that while I will indeed purchase a “mango” before summer runs its course in New York, it is not with the same enthusiasm when someone passes by with a bucket of mango in St. Thomas, Jamaica. I will eat this mango because the country girl in me will want to eat a mango. However, I still yearn for my smell and taste of choices of childhood.
Ever the country girl.
Maureen Thomas
Hi Country Girl , Maurine, I was happy to read your post about the mangoes. I found it quite interesting and funny. I had the same reservations about “purchasing” mangoes here in NY. It is so foreign to me to see mangoes in piles and in boxes in the stores.Seemed so unantural
I grew up on the plains of Clarendon and like you wrote so very well, mangoes belong on tree where we can ‘stone dem dung” and know by the shape and smell what kind you were getting. For years I haven’t bought mangoes here for the same reason. I figured they had to be picked, boxed and shipped here and it just wasn’t appealing to me. East Indian is my absolute favourite also. Thanks for the post. Loved it!
(Oh i partly grew up in St. Thomas too but I didn’t attend MBHS, my sister did. I went to Seaforth but had many friends from MBHS. Lata!
Comment by Carmen — September 20, 2011 @ 8:48 am
Maurine – I enjoyed your story very much! I am still having a hard time buying mangoes in New York after living here for over 25 years. They have no smell and sometimes the outside look really ‘pritti’ but the inside have a sick looking yellow color”. Thanks for the laugh!
Comment by Grace — October 14, 2011 @ 11:13 am
Hi Country Girl , Maurine, I was happy to read your post about the mangoes. I found it quite interesting and funny. I had the same reservations about “purchasing” mangoes here in NY. It is so foreign to me to see mangoes in piles and in boxes in the stores.Seemed so unantural I grew up on the plains of Clarendon and like you wrote so very well, mangoes belong on tree where we can ’stone dem dung” and know by the shape and smell what kind you were getting. For years I haven’t bought mangoes here for the same reason. I figured they had to be picked, boxed and shipped here and it just wasn’t appealing to me. East Indian is my absolute favourite also. Thanks for the post. Loved it!
(Oh i partly grew up in St. Thomas too but I didn’t attend MBHS, my sister did. I went to Seaforth but had many friends from MBHS. Lata!
+1
Comment by Sammy — October 16, 2011 @ 7:45 pm
Hi Country gal, this is country bwoy Pud. Sis, I think we all have the same reservations and nostalgia about MANGO in North America. To say the least, I do not care for mangoes anymore. I had too much to eat when I was growing up. There was a wide variety where I lived. Why on earth should I pay for a mango now. I have had my fill, and there is no prescription for a refill. At this stage in my life, mango is not the thing that the doctor ordered for me. My mango woes are long cured.
Comment by Trep Sdrawde — January 19, 2012 @ 3:21 pm