Ahhh,....Aruba

Ahhh, Aruba. I’ll warn you in advance that this post will probably cause more jealousy!!! We arrived in Aruba today which was a much needed respite from the 2 days at sea. I’m not sure what I’ll do on the crossing to Europe. It’s not too bad, but I just start feeling a bit trapped while on board. Anyway, Aruba is second on my list of islands. I still prefer Grand Turk because of all the unspoiled beauty, but Aruba is just as beautiful except mobbed with people!! It’s a bit like Venice Beach or beaches in Miami (I’ve never actually been to either of these, but I gather that’s what it’s like from descriptions!). The beaches are very glitzy and the malls are full of top designer brands.

So one of my added perks (I know as if I didn’t have enough!!) of the job is being able to go on tour excursions as an escort for free!!! So today, I had a wonderful tour of the island with Lisette and learned all about Aruba. One of the more fascinating parts was the language. I believe it was called papamiento (could be horribly wrong with this, so don’t hold me accountable) and is a mix of English, French, Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish – quite the jumble! I’ll teach you how to say thank you with phonetic spelling – mash donkey – that’s how it sounds! I also learned that the Aruban government provides the lower class affordable housing for 200 USD/month and after 15 years they own the house – pretty sweet deal. Aruba was also formed by a volcano and the eastern side is bordered by the Atlantic. There are tons of cacti and really electric blue lizards slithering around everywhere. The tour also went to a light house where we got on a boat for a ride along the coast. I was able to scope out all the nice beaches for my next visit in a few weeks! Another perk was the open bar on-board – life in the Caribbean is rough, real rough!

The coolest part of the tour was that on the boat ride we were actually able to see Venezuela!! I’ve now seen an entirely new continent. Aruba is very close to Venezuela and because it was such a clear day, we were able to see the mountains of Venezuela. I have trainings and rehearsals the day we’re at Caracas, so unfortunately I won’t be able to see much on this stop. Anyway, I have to actually go to rehearsal now (I do work a few hours a day!) so I hope all are well wherever they may be!