Curaçao

Bon Bini!!!

Arrived here after a nice blow last night and it is still windy, which mitigates somewhat the heat and humidity. Willemstad, the capital city, is a delightful port of pastel Dutch style gabled buildings on a natural harbour.

Curaçao, a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is the largest and most populous of the three ABC islands (for Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao) of the Lesser Antilles, specifically the Leeward Antilles. It has a land area of 444 square kilometres (171 square miles). As of 1 January 2009, it had a population of 141,766. Dutch and the local patois, Papiamentu, are spoken here. Papiamentu owes a great deal to Spanish. The most accepted theory of the origin of the name of the island is corazón(Sp.) or coraçãon(Port.) because of its heart shape.

“Discovered” in 1499 by the Spanish, who exported most of the native Arawaks to other island, Curaçao was occupied by the Dutch in 1634 where the Dutch West India company made it a center for the Atlantic slave trade. The island changed hands among the British, French and Dutch several times in the 18th and 19th centuries, but Dutch rule returned in 1815. Slavery was abolished by the Dutch in 1863, but this caused hardship and a form of neo-slavery, akin to the tenant farmers, was instituted. This lasted into the beginning of the 20th century. The discovery of oil in Maracaibo Basin in 1914 brought employment at the refineries of Royal Dutch Shell and affluence. Discontent persisted, however, and the protests of 1969 resulted in more influence over politics by the Afro-Caribbean population. The refineries, some of the largest in the western hemisphere, are currently leased to the Venezuelan state oil company. Tourism, the second largest industry, has been expanded in recent years. Willemstad is a UNESCO world heritage site and a wide range of historic plantations estates and slave dwellings, scattered all over the island have been restored.

The forty plus nationalities which have blended into the melting pot of Curaçao islanders include Dutch, Portuguese, Jewish, African, South American.

One product of the island is famous world-wide: the orange liqueur, especially the blue Curaçao.

We did our own walking tour of the town, heading straight for the oldest synagogue in the western hemisphere over the Queen Emma Bridge. This is a wooden pontoon bridge, known as the floating bridge or the Swinging Old Lady, which links the Punda and Otrobanda districts of the city. The bridge is powered by a diesel engine and it swings open many times each day to allow ships from al over the world in and out of the harbour. (We are too big and we are docked at the mega port – a bit of a misnomer!) When the bridge is open, people can take a ferry across.

The synagogue, Mikve Israel-Emanuel, was built in 1732 and is a superb example of Dutch colonial architecture: rich dark wood and enormous tiered brass candelabras, replicas of those in the Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam. The floor is sand – yes all sand – in remembrance of Moses leading his people to the promised land through the Sinai. Blue demi-lune windows cast wonderful light on the brilliant white sand. At one time there were 2000 Jews here. Another synagogue, built by a group of Reform Jews, is now the prosecutor’s office. It is a lovely building outside and actually looks more like a church. The Sephardic Orthodox and the Reform group merged in 1964 and became Mikve Israel Emanuel- Reconstructionist. 120 families now worship in this synagogue.

We toured the floating market where brightly painted fishing boats bob at the pier and people buy their food as they pass in their cars; the central market, in the round; and the old market, which now serves local food. I was not in the mood for goat stew and rice, much as I like it. We wended our way back to the ship, through Wilhelmina Square, past the beautiful government buildings and Fort Amsterdam which, with, Fort Rif across the bay, protected the city.

Entertainment this evening was a juggler/comedian. He was a very clever juggler, but he also had us rolling in the aisles with his explanations, his use of audience members and all-around clever silliness. I haven’t laughed so hard in ages.