Caribbean Island life

I’ve had it. That will be enough. I am getting older, I can now say I’m in my “mid twenties.” No more boredom. No more idle sitting waiting for the world to come to me. I’m wasting my prime sitting in front of the television and computer. I want to get out. Go exploring, go to the world, go see everything. I have the means, and I have no wife and kids to keep me from being completely irresponsible with my time and actions. Dont try to stop me.

From hence forth, I will be documenting my travels, adventures and general insanity on my camera (thanks Vally!!) and sharing it with whoever cares enough to get on ringo (or wherever free image hosting will be) and here to check it out.

History, geology, economy, people, language, and beer. I will evaluate all these things wherever I go.

For my first act: Curacao. Many people would pronounce it “cur-a-ko” like we call the drink in the states, but its “Cure-a-sow.” The first thing to know about Curacao is that it is in the Dutch Antilles, located just north of Venezuela (Basically the south Caribbean, next to Aruba and Bonaire.) The residents consist of Dutch, African, and South American descendants.

History. This place has got some. In WWII, Curacao housed the largest oil refinery in the entire Caribbean. This refinery led to the US putting a few installations in protecting the harbor that it was in. Two in the front of the bay, one at the entrance and one further back. These have all since been decommissioned and are now generally used as restaurants or lookouts. The Dutch took the island in the 1500s from the resident Indians, and have held it nearly since then. In the 1800s, the Brits sailed into the harbor and took the island on New Year’s Eve. The governor of the island was too inebriated to even order the military to fire on the invading British. 4 years from then, the Brits gave the island back to the Dutch as a peace offering.

The geology of the island was quite interesting. Coral forms most of the island, but to get it up and out of the sea (and in the process making a few large and abrupt “hills”) it had a bit of volcanic help. It would spring up through volcanic activity, then the coral would form around it, and just as the coral got close to the surface, the magma would rise once again, forcing the coral up and out of the sea. This happened several times, giving the island an interesting layered lay out. No real minerals of interest could be mined from the coral. There was one funny side note to the rocks of the island. Millions of years ago, only the “hills” of the island were visible above the water, and thousands of generations of birds nested on it. This led to an eventual build of several tons of bird dookie that lined an entire ridge. This has since hardened into stone and is now excavated for building material (such as mortar mix) and nutrient additives to food and drink (yum.)

I got to know some of the people who shaped the economy of the island while I was there. The currency that is used was called “guilders” and one American dollar was about 1.8 guilders. It made for some decently cheap drinks. They took American dollars at any establishment, but gave back guilders. Mr. Steve Boom (pronounced Boam, due to the Dutch heritage) was involved in much of the major city’s development. We strolled through the streets of Curacao as he recounted how a lot of the inner city buildings were commissioned by him. I also got to know the man who exports Curacao Blue, (of which many imitations have been found) as well as many other different liquors.

The people of Curacao. My goodness, they were all so friendly that I couldn’t help but make several friends while I was there. I even now can go back at any time and stay and my new friends Egan (pronounced E-HAUCK-an) and Marianna’s house. (son and daughter in law of Mr. Boom.) I also made a friend of Rewault, Mr. Boom’s other son. Egan took me out on his boat while I was there. What a fun bunch of people out there! We met up with several of their friends while tied off at a beach, and I made friends with a Canadian IT guy Scott and his family. I also went to something called “Mambo Beach” where a ton of the Dutch youth get together and speak one or more of the many languages they all have at their disposal. I even was taken to a club, where they attempted to hook me up with several cute Dutch girls, however apposed I was to their “sleep first ask questions later” attitude. I got a few numbers that I never called.

Language(s). I really was taken aback. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was fluent in at the very least 3 languages. Most knew more. Popiamento-a was the general language of the island, and it’s a mix of Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch. Being that mostly latin languages were in its make up I could pick up about 25% of words, and sometimes get the general meaning of sentences. Dutch was spoken mostly in front of me when it was not English, and Dutch is what I took the most interest in. I know very little German, but I really would like to learn both German and now Dutch someday. I could pick up on some of the syntax with my German experience but no where near enough to be dangerous or speak anything other than normal greetings and thank-you’s. Spanish was spoken by some people, and I have enough experience with that to converse on a very light subject. Overall, I was very impressed with the ease that the inhabitants of the island took to other languages. Mr. Boom knows Dutch, English, Popiamento-a, and Portugese fluently while also being able to converse in Spanish, Italian, French and German.

Ah, beer. Yes, I have always enjoyed tasting the different styles of alcohol that are around the world, but beer is the closest to me. Unfortunately there aren’t many good Dutch beers on tap. Being on the beach I asked Egan if they served Corona, or anything similar to it at the bar. I was pointed to something called Amstel Bright. To my surprise, it was an exact clone of Corona extra, but cheaper. A very good beer. After a few of those I asked around what beer is the favorite among the Dutch people, and was pointed to Polar. It was a nice lager with a decent amount of bite to it, I found myself ordering that from then on. I wanted to experiment a bit but there really was not that wide a selection wherever I went. It seemed it was either Guiness or something much much lighter. Overall, I’d rate the Polar in the top 10 lagers I’ve had.

I suppose I will end up writing the whole sequential story of my time on the island (and a little bit of fun back at the Miami airport on the return trip) but I’ll save that for later.