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Being a proud holder of the Jet Blue All-You-Can-Jet pass, it was only natural that I would give in to the urge to head to one of their more far-flung destinations. While I could not justify going with my original plan of heading to Bogota for three days, I thought, hey . . . Aruba? Since I chose to do no research and just head south equipped only with the Beach Boys ‘Kokomo’ as my mental soundtrack my experience was a little uncomf/adventure-y!
Like, who knew (probably everyone but me?), the entire island is crawling with newlyweds, some of whom are carrying embroidered ‘Bride’ totes, and the rest of the gang on the island are basically people from the Eastern Seaboard who maybe, wanna gamble? Fun . . . but not what I expected. Having spent a month on the nearby island of Grenada, that post-independence experience was diametrically opposed to this Kingdom of the Netherlands Caribbean Isle which felt more like Pinocchio’s bizarro Pleasure Island. Not necessarily, my cup of tea. But, can I argue with heading to a place for two days that is just 21 miles long and just 17 miles north of Venezuela? Certainly not! Adventure on dudes! Sand, sun and sea? Holler at your girl!
I spent 80 percent of my time immersed in the beautiful Southern Caribbean Sea. I swam, and snorkled. And generally, chilled. When coolin’ on the beach wasn’t in the cards, I ventured from the beach to the island’s capital, Oranjestad. Here I found bright colors, Dutch snacks and lots of languages.
It is an election season in Aruba right now and people are SERIOUS about showing their colors. They are super down with car/flag and car/decal technology and I was more than impressed. American sports fans need to catch up. Arubans are choosing right now, and the two largest parties are the front runners, the AVP and MEP. MEP currently holds the most seats in Parliament and is led by prime minister Nelson Oduber. AVP is the challenger, and Mike Eman is their man.
Oh, to be back in the sea! Leave a Reply |
