Aruba 26/06/2005 The ongoing news story of Natalee Holloway's disappearance on the island of Aruba has incidentally highlighted an area of ignorance for me. I had vague memories of having heard of the island before but had no idea where it was. Knowing from the reports that it was in the Caribbean, I put it tentatively in that long string of islands from Hispaniola to Trinidad, the Windward and Leeward Islands. Most European countries have had an interest in these islands at one time or another and it seemed likely that the Dutch might have one or two of them therefore. And there are plenty of them to go around, little scraps of land that were up for grabs in the early years of New World colonization.But the question has nagged at me; it was a hole in my geographical knowledge that I should do something about. The matter of Dutch involvement needed to be cleared up as well. There seemed to be a strong connection to the Netherlands still and I wondered if Aruba might be a remnant of Dutch control in the same way that the Falklands are for the British. Then Curacao was mentioned in the reports and this really had me interested. Curacao is a much more renowned name in history than Aruba and yet again I found myself with only a vague idea of its position on the earth's surface. Google beckoned.And now I know that Aruba and Curacao are two of the Dutch Antilles Islands, an archipelago running just north of Venezuela in the far south of the Caribbean. I found a map of Aruba that also gives an idea of its position relative to better known areas of the world. My geographical perspective shifted quickly to accommodate this new information.Scanning the place names on the map, I could find none that I remembered from news reports but there were interesting hints at other things: Gold Mine Ruins, Petroglyphs and Huliba Caves & Tunnel of Love.Digging a little deeper, I found this description of the island: "Aruba is among the most southern of the Lesser Antilles islands (ABC islands = Aruba, Bonaire & Curacao) and is the farthest west of that group. It's a mere 15 miles (24 km) from the coast of Venezuela. On a clear day the Venezuelan mainland is visible from the south-eastern coast, and about 42 miles (67 km), or 20 minutes by airplane, to our nearest Caribbean neighbor, Curacao."The oblong island is fronted by heavy surf and a jagged coast on our northern, windward side and by seven miles (11 km) of honey-colored sand beaches on the southern leeward coast. It's some 75 square miles (193 km2) in area and measures about five miles (8 km) at it widest point and 19 miles (30 km) in length."There remained the matter of Aruba's relationship to the Netherlands to be sorted out. On the same site, there is a short history of the island but it is vague on the present arrangement between the island and the Dutch. It was not until I extended my research into the neighboring island of Curacao that I found an answer.In the summary of Curacao's history, I found this: "After WW II, Curacao joined the rest of the Caribbean in a loud clamor for independence. What it got instead was a measure of autonomy as an entity within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Curacao, along with Aruba, Bonaire, Saba, Sint Eustatius, and Sint Maarten, became the Netherlands Antilles, with the administrative center in Willemstad, where it remains today. Aruba later separated from the other five islands. Today, the kingdom has three partners: The Netherlands, the five islands of the Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba."It seems that Aruba is in some sort of partnership with the Dutch Antilles and the Netherlands, an unusual arrangement at a time when almost all colonial possessions have been granted independence. But it does explain how the legal system has remained the same as Holland's, a fact repeated again and again in the news reports.So my curiosity regarding Aruba is satisfied and another little snippet of geographical information stored in the files. I must admit, however, that I also looked at Bonaire and it looks the most pleasant of the ABC islands...
Clive
Ned I know very little of Aruba except as often mentioned by coworkers planning honeymoons, it seems to be a very popular site for those. Until the recent news explosion about the island due to the girl's disappearance, I will admit I knew nothing of the island's relationship to the Netherlands. I think I probably have several such holes in my geographical knowledge, places we hear of often and have some vague place for them in our mental map of the world. Sometimes it can be surprising to see how far off we were. In this case, I wasn't far off. I do, however, resent learning about things due to constant headlines that highlight sensational stories, something the public never seems to get enough of. Date Added: 26/06/2005
Gone Away Ah well, the news stories have led me to fill in that particular hole in my geographical knowledge so I suppose I should be grateful to them for that. There are similar places in British folklore too - Lanzarote for instance, a favorite holiday destination. It was years before my irritation at not knowing where the heck it was led me to do a bit of research and establish it as one of the Canary Islands... Incidentally, every time I see the word "coworkers", I can't help reading it as all Dilbert fans will: "cow-orkers". :D Date Added: 26/06/2005
Ned It all hangs on a hyphen. Date Added: 26/06/2005
Gone Away I used to hang my coat on a hyphen, especially when making a dash for it... Date Added: 26/06/2005
Ned I used to dash after I took a speed reading course. Then one day, while reading at top speed, I had the bad luck to run headlong into a bookmark and lapsed into a comma. Date Added: 26/06/2005
John (SYNTAGMA) There was a book published a few years ago which speculated that the Antilles were the remnants of Atlantis after some catatstrophe. I can't remember the title or the author now, except that it was deeply researched and the author has a high reputation. That's my twopenneth (two cents). Date Added: 26/06/2005
Gone Away Well, Ned, I reckon that must have brought you to a full stop. But for how long a period, I can't guess... Date Added: 26/06/2005
Gone Away Interesting, John. But I reckon that Santorini is still the best candidate. Date Added: 26/06/2005
Carolyn Hi, Thanks for sharing this informative narrative. I was afraid I was the only one who used headlines to gain insight into countries or happenings from which otherwise I may never investigate. There are probably very many of us who do. I had heard of Aruba, but also only in the vacation paradise sense. Since I never planned a trip there, I did not investigate any further as to where it actually is or how it's governed. I have followed the news story about the missing girl-- what a mess! Other than sending some Texas hounddogs over there to search, I can't help but wonder what the US can do to prosecute those who may be found guilty of her disappearance. You have raised my curiousity on the legal system now :) By the way, thank you for stopping by and commenting on my "Argumentative" poem. I love receiving any and all feedback on my writing, good or bad, so I hope you come by again. I shall drop by here again too. Take care :) Date Added: 26/06/2005
Gone Away Good to see you, Carolyn. Thanks for dropping by. And, to answer your reply to my comment, I may be Gone but there are times when I am not gone... ;) Date Added: 26/06/2005
Glod Do you and Ned prearrange all these things? Are you sure all her poems have actual meaning, and aren't just wordy smudges? Date Added: 26/06/2005
keeefer It was probably a wise move by the Dutch to hang on to some of its land. After all if the seas keep rising they will be among the first to run out of their own. Incidentally, have you noticed that if you turned holland upside down, all of those windmills suddenly become propellors.....suspicious hey Date Added: 26/06/2005
Gone Away LOL Nothing is pre-arranged, Glod, I assure you. Read carefully, weigh the words, and the meaning will be clear. Date Added: 26/06/2005
Gone Away All true, Keef, and I'm afraid you've stumbled upon the darkest secret of the Dutch: all those windmills are indeed propellers and, in the event of a rise in sea level, they will all be turned on, thereby lifting the land above any possible flood... The wooden shoes are an early attempt to invent a means of the population floating to shore in a similar crisis. They didn't work (nobody could balance on the things when floating), so they sold them to tourists instead. Date Added: 26/06/2005
keeeefer aaaaahhhh that makes sense, they realise the shoes dont work so they decriminalise drugs so the population can remain high enough to avoid the issues.........Is Edam really just ballast? Date Added: 26/06/2005
Glod Damn you're wise. Date Added: 26/06/2005
Gone Away Yes, Keef, the drugs thing is the latest idea from the inventor of the wooden shoes but has yet to be tested outside of laboratory conditions. The edam, however, was a scheme by several Dutch criminals to smuggle cheese out of the country disguised as beachballs. They were caught but the authorities decided to keep the red covers on the cheese because, once again, the tourists seemed to like it that way. Date Added: 26/06/2005
Gone Away Not really, Glod. I'm sure they must have given you some Dylan Thomas to read at school (if not, why not?). He's considerably more obscure than Ned but you must admit his language is almost as beautiful as Ned's. Date Added: 26/06/2005
Glod No Dylan Thomas, despite using the Welsh examining board, but not surprising considering it was chosen so we had to write about less poems ( but "study" the same amount as everyone else). Though his work does look interesting. Date Added: 26/06/2005
Gone Away Well worth a read if you get a chance, Glod. See if you can find Fern Hill - powerful stuff. Date Added: 26/06/2005
Glod Sadly I don't think I'm built to appreciate poetry, the words move too fast without meanig for me, I have to look slowly through it, line by line to get any meaning, and sometimes I think I infer an unintended meaning, but that's (I think) the best way to have eventually read a poem. Date Added: 26/06/2005
Ned Drat! All my obscure wordy smudges have been found out to be hoaxes. Well, guess that's it then. Time to give it all up in favor of crocheting tea cosies. Date Added: 27/06/2005
Gone Away Ah well, I know poetry isn't everyone's cup of tea... Date Added: 27/06/2005
Gone Away You still write the best obscure wordy smudges, Ned. ;) Date Added: 27/06/2005
Ned Oh sure, first they don't like poetry, then they don't like tea. This is a rough crowd. Date Added: 27/06/2005
Gone Away Okay, next post will be a tea party with poetry readings... Date Added: 27/06/2005
Ned Oh and by the way, the wooden shoes float just fine. The only problem is that the wearer was then suspended upside down in the water, which after a few dozen trials and some regrettable casualties, was determined to be an ineffective way of flotation for the population. Actually, that is why they now only sell them to tourists, if they drown enough foreign tourists, they may be able to just walk in and take any country of their choice. Date Added: 27/06/2005
Gone Away Dashed clever, these Dutchmen... Date Added: 27/06/2005
keeefer That explains why they built all those canals to test them in. Poetea with Heckles cakes? Date Added: 27/06/2005
Mad Who's Natalee Holloway? Date Added: 27/06/2005
John (SYNTAGMA) Is "Ned" used in the Scottish sense of "he/she is a Ned", meaning (according to the Sunday Times) someone who plays a vital match at Wimbledon with an iPod strapped on. No, I don't understand it either. Date Added: 27/06/2005
Mad Nah, a "Ned" is a Scottish "Chav", I thought everyone knew that? Date Added: 27/06/2005
Gone Away Natalee Holloway is an American lass who disappeared while on holiday in Aruba, Mad. Everyone suspects foul play but, so far and in spite of massive searches of a very small island, no body. It's all over the news media in the States. Date Added: 27/06/2005
Gone Away Wrong guesses all round. It's just an alias. Date Added: 27/06/2005
Way Ah, the Caribbean. I, like you, knew little of the area until a few years back. Had to go and visit Haiti one cold-ass winter here at the swamp, so went looking for info, as yourself. Never knew exactly where the Spanish Main was located, until then, nor even if it was a place and not just a thing, or an idea. The area you speak of, located at the bottom of a rough cirlcle which encompasses most of all the islands was a gateway to heavy pirate traffic centered in that large nibble at the top of South America, if you can picture a nibble. It's a large, protected bay. Some city thrives there -- the name escapes me -- and was easily defended by standard cannons of the day. I almost wish I lived back in those days. "Heave ho, mate. There's grog a-waitin for us in port." Date Added: 27/06/2005
Gone Away I think that's where I've heard so much of Curacao, Way - the pirating days of the Caribbean. I'm pretty sure Drake attacked it on at least one occasion. Or am I thinking of somewhere else...? Date Added: 27/06/2005
Way Now I know why I get nothing done on this thing. I'm too busy reading all these comments. And who is Ned? Wait, what is Ned.? There. That sounds better. Well, it looks better to me. Date Added: 27/06/2005
Way Dreake, hm? Might be...I forget. Oh, and the Spanish Main...who knows what/where or who it is? This is a test. Do not crawl under some chair. Date Added: 27/06/2005
Gone Away I'd best let Ned answer that question methinks. And I was always under the impression that the Spanish Main was just another name for the Caribbean. Could be wrong. But I did a bit of research on the nibble out of the top of South America (I knew what you meant). The city you mention is Maracaibo and the great big nibble is called (with singular originality) Lago de Maracaibo. "Lago would mean lake, I think, but I wonder if it's where we get our word "lagoon" from... Date Added: 27/06/2005
keeefer I always assumed the spanish mane was one of those ridiculous curly wigs that were all the rage for men back then. There is a surprising ammount of small islands in the area that were the focus of a lot of pirating, privateering and general water based mayhem. The thing that really surprised me about pirates was when i learnt that blackbeards men trekked halfway across south America searching for the spanish city that was hoarding their gold. They suffered all sorts of mishaps wandering blindly through the rainforests and ended up surviving by eating their own boot leather.......You know things are bad when your boss makes soup with your shoes Date Added: 27/06/2005
Gone Away .oO(It was another world really...) Date Added: 28/06/2005
Ned Rule number one is that I never explain myself. Gender identification being a necessary skill for the propagation of the species, one assumes that those lacking in that particular skill will be weeded out of the gene pool by the theory of "survival of the fittest". You can look anything up on the net, you know. Date Added: 28/06/2005
Gone Away .oO(Let nobody say Ned never answered...) Date Added: 28/06/2005
Ned .oO(and no one believes me when I say I'm a hooligan...) Date Added: 28/06/2005
keeefer Ned, there should never be a need to explains ones actions. Just a frantic burial of the implements involved Date Added: 28/06/2005
Ned Keef, a friend will help you move. A good friend will help you move a body. Date Added: 28/06/2005
Mad A poet hooligan! That's kewl... Date Added: 28/06/2005
John (SYNTAGMA) Incidentally, Clive, the Spanish Main was the area that comprises Central America and the Northern Coast of South America. In other words, the Spanish colonies in the Americas.Ned, you sound like a typical Ned to me.:-) Date Added: 28/06/2005
cat poop Date Added: 30/09/2006
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