Global Voices Online » Aruba

Dominica: Fruit Cake

Janine Mendes-Franco — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:02:26 +0000

Dominica's Gourmet Global is getting ready for fruit cake season and posts a mouth-watering recipe!

Aruba: “Election Reflection”

Janine Mendes-Franco — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:41:01 +0000

Arubagirl reflects on the country's recently concluded elections.

Aruba: Election Results

Janine Mendes-Franco — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:16:59 +0000

“It's still sinking in. It was an incredible night. I'm fairly sure that this government is, at one point going to disappoint me, but today I'm very happy”: Arubagirl reports on the outcome of elections in her country.

Aruba: Quiet Election Season

Janine Mendes-Franco — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:23:04 +0000

“Could it be that the recession has hit the political parties and they're less inclined to print up flags and such? Are people still undecided and have therefore refrained from putting a sticker on their cars?”: Arubagirl notices that all is quiet on the election front.

Aruba, Suriname: Journey of Discovery

Janine Mendes-Franco — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 14:28:18 +0000

“It was so incredibly beautiful. The big trees rising from the gorges. The river flowing seemingly endless past the jungle…”: Arubagirl visits Suriname and posts some photos from her trip.

Aruba: Election Season

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:52:02 +0000

As Aruba gears up for this year's national elections, Arubagirl says: “I don't mind campaigns. What I do mind is that pronunciations made by politicians who are clearly campaigning are presented as ‘fact'.”

Aruba, U.S.A.: Hubble Engineer

Janine Mendes-Franco — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:08:47 +0000

Repeating Islands profiles Dr. Edward Cheung, an Aruban of Chinese descent who is the Principal Engineer of the Hubble Space Telescope Service Project.

Bermuda, Curacao: G20 on Offshores

Janine Mendes-Franco — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:41:01 +0000

Vexed Bermoothes has been following the G20 Summit and notes that “Bermuda is on the greylist of 39 ‘jurisdictions that have committed to the internationally agreed tax standard, but have not yet substantially implemented'”, while Karel's Legal Blog is pleased that “The Netherlands Antilles and Aruba do not appear on the OECD blacklist of international tax havens”.

Dominican Republic: Upset at World Baseball Classic by Dutch Team

Eduardo Avila — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:42:27 +0000

The 2nd edition of the World Baseball Classic is underway in 4 sites across the globe. This international baseball tournament features Major League baseball players representing traditional baseball powers like the United States, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. This year, the team from the Dominican Republic was one of the favorites to take home the championship and whose roster was filled with professional All-Star talent.

Photo of Dominican slugger David Ortiz taken by James W Carras and used with permission. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rsnlaud/

The tournament also features countries with less tradition playing this sport, such as the Netherlands. Tapping into other territories like Aruba, Netherlands Antilles and Curaçao, the squad featured only one current Major Leaguer, several others who are no longer playing, and other younger players with little experience.

It had all the makings of a lopsided mismatch. However, the Dutch team pulled off a 3-2 upset in their first meeting. In a game that was crucial for the Dominican team to remain alive in the tournament, the Dutch team squeaked out a come-from-behind victory to eliminate the Dominican team from the tournament and leaving their fans stunned in the process. Twitter user Trompeta sums up the mood across the country:

Me imagino que toa la bandera dominicana tan a medio palo hoy…

I imagine that they'll have the Dominican flag at half-staff…

Joan Guerrero of Duarte 101 [es] reported on the scene on the street during the highly anticipated game:

Perdimos. No somos dignos de decir comentarios sobre este Clásico Mundial que, desde el principio, se encontraron todas las debilidades del mundo para que nuestro equipo pasara al menos, su tercer y último juego, en una derrota que le está doliendo a más de 10 millones de dominicanos en estos momentos. Sin embargo, los colmadones —sin importar la crisis— estuvieron repletos de fanáticos a la espera de que el equipo dominicano hiciera su mejor esfuerzo.

We lost. We're not worthy of commenting on this World Classic where, from the beginning, all of our team's weaknesses were shown in the third and final game, a loss that is hurting more than 10 million Dominicans right now. However, the bars and restaurants - no importance to the (economic) crisis - were filled with fans hoping that the Dominican team would put forth their best effort.

However, the result was the least expected by the Dominican fans and they are left to wait for the next edition of the World Baseball Classic or even try another sport altogether.

Como decía una amistad, durante la noche de hoy: «mejor nos pongamos a jugar fútbol, de ahora en adelante. A ver si les ganamos a los holandeses»

Like a friend said to me tonight: «it's best that we start to play football, from now on. Let's see if we can beat the Dutch»

Some bloggers and baseball fans also analyzed why their team lost in this fashion. Luis Corcino of Dominicana en el Mundo [es] sees a big difference in the motivation of the two sides:

Para un jugador dominicano, jugar en este encuentro no les aporta nada en terminos económicos, excepto el amor a la patria, encima de eso se consideraron superiores; los holandeses por su lado, querian demostrar que podian con un rival como el domincano, se armaron de valor y ahi esta el resultado.

Los holandeses estaban mas motivados!!

For a Dominican player, to play in this tournament does not provide anything in economic terms, except for their love of country, on top of that they thought they were superior; the Dutch, wanted to show that they can play against a rival like the Dominican team, they were armed with courage and you see the result.

The Dutch were more motivated!!

The next round of the World Baseball Classic continues with 8 teams that have qualified from their group.

Aruba: Calling the Socialists

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:03:33 +0000

“Some Arubans are also affected because they invested in Stanford's company and are now, as we say in quaint Dutch, sitting with the baked pears”: Arubagirl examines her government's reaction to the Allen Stanford story and wonders where all the socialists have gone.

Aruba: Putting on the Ritz-Carlton?

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:19:02 +0000

The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain is apparently in Aruba to stay, causing Lost in Smallness to exclaim: “Does the government realize that this will put extra pressure on our infrastructure? Oh wait. It's an election year. This is just a campaign stunt, not necessarily something to improve the island.”

Aruba, U.S.A.: Battleground State?

Janine Mendes-Franco — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:48:58 +0000

Arubagirl makes a shopping trip to Florida, “a state that is a battleground in this election, as they call it,” and comes away asking: “Is this how an election is in the States? Where a 30 min INFOMERCIAL was the big news? Oy.”

Caribbean: Omar Rains Down

Janine Mendes-Franco — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:42:00 +0000

“Looking Towards Pte. Michel” - Photo by Steve Mc, used with permission. Visit Steve's flickr photostream.

The Caribbean is officially in the midst of its wet season, but many regional territories are battling more than their fair share of sogginess, thanks to the torrential rains that accompanied Tropical Storm Omar - a storm that was soon upgraded to a Category 3 Hurricane as it forged a path through the northern Caribbean.

Cuaderno Latinoamericano said that the region was being “pounded”:

Shortly before approaching the islands as a Category 3 hurricane, Omar's maximum sustained winds had increased to 125 mph, but slowed a bit to 115 mph after moving rapidly away from the islands.

“Waves break on the Roseau Bayfront” - Photo by Steve Mc, used with permission. Visit Steve's flickr photostream.

Blogging form the US Virgin Islands, News of St. John was very concerned about the approaching weather system, but soon reported that things looked a-okay after it had passed:

Beautiful weather has returned to the Virgin islands, to judge by a report this morning filed by a Weather Channel meteorologist from Puerto Rico. He said PR got .25 inches of rain, St. Thomas about 2 1/2 and St Croix nearly 5, suggesting St John got something like 3 or 4.

Despite the minimal disruption to the Virgin Islands, Omar was being taken very seriously, causing several flights to be canceled, according to Discover TnT Blog:

LIAT has advised the suspension of several flights as a result of anticipated severe weather conditions generated by Hurrican Omar. Omar is the 15th hurricane formed in the Atlantic during this year's hurricane season, which is supposed to end on Novemeber 30.

Storm alerts have been posted for the islands of Guadeloupe, St Maarten, Saba, St Eustatius and St Barthelemy. Luckily, storm-battered Haiti, Cuba and Jamaica have been spared.

Meanwhile, Omar's effects were being felt in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Abeni wrote - almost incredulously - about the storm's impact:

It didn't rain last night-well not in a manner that was noticeable. Yet, this morning we awoke to the news that the sea had wreaked havoc in coastal areas and town. Would you believe we got surges from Omar? On my way into Kingstown, I looked towards the harbour and the Grenadines and saw some angry looking waves and realised that peacefulness had not yet returned.

She continued:

It underlies how really vulnerable we are to natural disasters. In the twinkling of an eye everything can literally fall down around us and we are powerless to stop it. Mother Nature, when not showing her softer side can be one deadly woman that we would be well advised to steer far from. I guess the events of last night are a reminder that we really should shed our lackadaiscal attitudes to disaster preparedeness.

“Tail End of Hurricane Omar, Bay Front Dominica” - Photo by TropicallyTied, used with permission. Visit her flickr photostream.

Dominica Weekly said that the “nature isle” also experienced a taste of Omar:

Within the last 16 hours there have been numerous reports of coastal damages to the west coast villages (i.e. Pointe Michel, Newtown, Dublanc, Portsmouth, etc.) of Dominica due to high sea swells…

“Pte. Michel Road after Hurricane Omar” - Photo by Steve Mc, used with permission. Visit his flickr photostream.

Miraculously, though, Omar seemed to have wreaked much less havoc than his 2008 Hurricane Season predecessors. His bark was worse than his bite - soon after threatening the north-eastern Caribbean, Omar weakened back to the level of a Tropical Storm.

Aruba: Rain, Rain, Go Away

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:41:01 +0000

Tropical storm Omar is giving Arubagirl a hard time: “I want the rain to stop, damnit. This storm has a HELL OF A LOT OF WATER. I know it's only an eyeless cat 1 hurricane, but good God, it feels like it wants to drown us in rain.”

Aruba, Venezuela, U.S.A.: Wonderful World?

Janine Mendes-Franco — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:35:51 +0000

arubagirl blogs about everything from Sarah Palin to Hugo Chavez' expulsion of the US Ambassador to Venezuela.