arubagirl

This 'N That

The elections are now dominating the daily news here. Heated discussions are propping up now everywhere. Only 6 more weeks to go. All non-parliamentary parties, CURPA, MSI, PPA and PDR, were able to garner signatures in order to be allowed to participate in the elections.

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...And the hurricane season is here. As of right now we have a named TS in the Atlantic Ocean, and behind that a Tropical Depression that looks like it means business. Oh, no wait, I just checked and we have two named storms. Ana & Bill. Neither of them look like they'll threaten Aruba, just Aruba's nice breeze.

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I'm on FACEBOOK. I resisted as along as I could. Then I thought "what the heck, let me see what all the hoopla is about. I probably won't like it anyway". HA! It sucked me in like a hickey. I marvel at all the people who put name and last name up there, feeling safe behind the 'authorization' that to view a profile. Of the twenty people who approved me, about half did so without knowhing who I was.

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Last weekend was nuts. That's why there was a delay in posting about the lists. A good friend of mine married last Friday and I had a blast. It was mostly a family party, with a few friends thrown in. The day after that I had dinner with the married couple and another old school friend, and the day after THAT the married couple and I went on a yacht together with his & her family. It was lovely. The water was incredibly gorgeous. I didn't take my camera with me because I wasn't sure what kind of boat it was. Anyway, having been badly sunburned in the past I decided to bring a dress as a sun cover. Ha! Hahahahahahaha!It turns out the bodice of my dress was almost exactly cut like my bathing suit top.... and therefore didn't cover anything. When I looked in the mirror that evening? There was a scream. Anyway, so now I'm peeling. Peeling like a red banana. So attractive.

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Aruba's rumor mill must be broken. Last Thursday at a family party I was asked about my 'boyfriend'. Tsk tsk tsk. Gotta get that thing fixed. Stat!

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We have a sort of Sam's Club on the island, and for the longest time my mom adamantly resisted becoming a member. This month we became members. The apocalypse just came an inch closer.

Vacation Plans

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm going to Suriname at the end of this month. Other than Bogota last year, this will be the first 'new' country that I travel to in quite a while. Besides, Bogota was only a weekend.

Why Suriname, you ask? Well, first of all, I've absolutely fallen in love with books about Suriname. Second, I like to visit countries that are / were part of the Dutch Kingdom. Sort of a "solidarity" kind of thing.

However, it seems to me that my mother and I have created a certain type of reputation among our loved ones. Whenever we mention our travel plans, with eyes shining of excitement, we get the following responses:

"Did you know that there aren't malls there?"

"It's not very luxurious"

"WHAT? You're NOT going shopping? Is something wrong?"

Well, duh, of course I'm not going to Suriname for shopping. That's what the United States is for. I look forward to all the beautiful nature and GOOD FOOD that are hopefully awaiting us. Plus, I get to speak Dutch (mostly) and that's something that doesn't happen very often when I'm on vacation. I promise to post (a) picture(s) of Suriname when I come back. I'm planning on going with my camera, but I'm still doubting because I don't want to put a "rob me" sign on my back. If you have any experiences with Suriname please let me know.

Pink!

Introducing the start of a beautiful friendship

A Day of Ex-Boyfriends

I saw two ex-boyfriends today. One is a friend and one isn't. If you had told me this a year ago I would have never believed it.

Weird how life goes, sometimes.

TEXAS

I thought it would be too disrespectful of Texas' bigness to merely write it in lower capital letters. Proper respect must be observed, of course.

Here I am in the Lone Star State helping my best friend move because after 355 days she can finally, finally, finally enter the United States again. Anyone going through an immigrant visa process, you have my sympathies.

Texas is . . . different than Florida. (Well, DUH). Everything is much more spacious. And I see a lot more boots.

It's also bloody cold, which I resent just a bit, as I am on the gulf coast, but I guess that doesn't matter. Tomorrow it's full time shopping day, as today we to take care of some administrative stuff. I'm going to miss my best friend when I get back to Aruba, but it is good that she is with her husband and they can start their live together at long last.

29

The days leading up to my birthday have been tougher than expected. After all, I certainly didn't plan being single.

To cheer me up, I've made a list:

29 Happiest memories:

In no particular order

1) My class trip to Curaçao. Almost naked guys, pathological liars, tumbling down a mountain, and an iguana that shared its name with my best friend. Yep, this trip had it all.
2) My 10th birthday party. Bustrip & pool party. So much fun
3) Carnival 1995 (I think). Our theme was to mock an unfortunate remark made by one of the politicians. The public's response was overwhelming.
4) Orlando 2007: three girls, no boys. Enough said
5) Orlando 1991: First time I went to Disney World. Really enough said
6) Watching "Nothing to Lose" with half a dozen friends in an almost empty theater
7) Going to Daimari with my friends. Any of the times. Except perhaps the one where I fractured my ankle
8) New Year's 2001. It wasn't at home, so there was nothing to do and most especially nothing to clean up
9) As odd as it may sound, the dinner inmediately after my grandmother's funeral. Rarely was the family so together ever again
10) Becoming godmother to my goddaughter
11) Gloria Estefan's concert
12) The 1st praise evening organized by my church
13) Experiencing non-dial up internet. Why yes, I'm obsessed
14) Italy 2007. Also, there's nothing quite like driving on Italian roads to appreciate how beautiful life is.
15) Getting this job
16) Graduating highschool
17) Doing my first "ribbon dance", succesfully (= a folkloric dance with ribbons (duh) where an even amount of dancers intertwine the ribbons and then have to seperate again. So much potential for things to go wrong)
18) Working for a political party in 1994
19) First time I saw my house
20) Off-roading. Doesn't really matter which time
21) Reading Dubbelspel for the first time
22) Reading any books by J.K. Rowling & Diana Gabaldon for the first time
23) Shopping in the U.S. with my mom.
24) I never ever thought I'd write this, considering the sheer amounts of stress: My best friend's wedding
25) Voting for the first time in 2001
26) This is a recent one: watching Carol Burnett shows. I laughed until I cried.
27) The first time my second ex-boyfriend kissed me.
28) Rapelling, every single time. Nothing beats that feeling that you're flying
29) Standing on Aruba's north shore, watching the waves and feeling the wind

I thought at first it'd be tough to make this list, and then I realized that I have so many happy memories. Life has not completely been a bitch, I must say.

Cherry On The Top

I just got in a car accident (minor, obviously), but this just puts the cherry on top of a less than pleasant month.

And the dash of whip cream is that although I'm not at fault, the other driver does not have a driver's license or insurance. Lovely.

Yesterday

I know that I wrote yesterday that I was going to take some pictures, but sadly that fell through. The first thing was that I forgot to charge the camera battery. That was a bit blondish, I know. Also, it was raining. That has been an issue lately. As I wrote to someone recently,I think I'm moving to a drier climate, like the Netherlands.

But then I got a text message from my mother saying that there was no power at the house and it was getting dark and she had nothing to do. She sounded so sad that it pulled at my heartstrings and we turned the car around to go and pick her up so that she wouldn't be alone in a dark house, because that is boring

We ended up at Rembrandt, a recently opened Dutch cafe near the high rise hotels. It has quickly become my favorite spot to get a bite to eat and to relax. It's very cozy, with dark brown wood everywhere inside and a sunny (when it isn't raining) terrace outside. I highly recommend this place. It's got delicious sandwiches, main courses and snacks (mmmmmm bitterballen) and the prices are extremely reasonable.

So there are no pictures yet, but as an attempt to make it up to you I present a picture that my mother recently made in our garden. I just love the vibrancy of the colors.

Realization part two

I've just realized something AGAIN (they're happening fast and furious lately).

I must have been very tiresome to live with for this last week, but on the other hand, it's not every week that a girl gets dumped. At least, Lord, I hope not.
But I'm feeling a lot better now. Listening to a lot of country music helped (ack! Country music!) Also, The Daily Show is having new episodes again. Coincidence? I think not.

Tomorrow I'm going to be taking me some pictures.

Whooohoo, I'm back, baby.

Miami, FL

I think I should make a new category titled 'travels' or something.

Last week I was in Miami, FL, for the usual shopping spree. It was exhausting, but fun as usual. May I give big props to the Courtyard Hotel at the Dolphin Mall? While we chose the hotel for their location (ON the parking lot of Dolphin Mall), we were impressed by the rooms and the service. It was truly one of the most comfortable hotel beds I have ever slept on. Good job.

Anyway, I forgot to even check the weather forecasts for this southern city in the "Sunshine State" and as such I was caught completely unawares of the FREAKING COLD WEATHER. Ahem.
If you'd ask me last week which city would be colder, Bogota or Miami in October, I'd reply: "Bogota, of course". Turns out there is no of course about it, as my mother and I were seriously contemplating just taking a cab ACROSS A PARKING LOT because it was so cold. Only fear of the possible pithy replies from the taxi drivers made us bite our lips and walk head-first into the cold.
However, the driving in Miami is much, much more civilized than the traffic in Bogota. So it wasn't all bad. Kind of a relief not to murmur prayers under your breath when seeing the sights.

Anyway, we shopped, then shopped some more and oh yes, there was some shopping as well.

But that's not the point of this post and I know that I'm taking my time in getting there.

So I was in Florida. A state that is a battleground in this election, as they call it. And I saw: ONE SIGN (of McCain - Palin). I saw NO bumper stickers, I saw NO yard signs, I saw NO posters. I also didn't see any television because I was too intimidated by the flat screen, so I couldn't tell you how saturated the television markets were.
The only way that I noticed that there was an election going on was on the radio stations that the cabdrivers had on. There the ads were kind of non-stop. It seemed like all the cabs were only playing one radio station, which must have a deal with Lou Pearlman or something, because all I heard were songs of old boy bands of yore. I lip synced to "Quit Playing Games With My Heart", I kid you not. But radio stations aside, is this how an election is in the States? Where a 30 min INFOMERCIAL was the big news? Oy. How boring.

Also, my mother and I have made a solemn vow to NOT go to Miami for a year. We'll see.

Next up: an entry about Gossip Girl, the show. Possibly. Maybe.