Elections

Pink, orange, white, gold, light blue, yellow, red, blue, cream and green. Ten colors. Ten political parties. The first prime minister of our new to be formed country Curacao (by 10-10-2010) will be elected today. Wednesday was the last campaign day and  that evening I spend at the party house of FOL. Like every other party, FOL painted their party building in the party colors.

Orange party house - Frente Obrero Liberashon

There I decided that if by Friday, I still did not know what party to vote for, I could always vote for orange. The Dutch would certainly get that. Anyway, we were standing outside the orange builing. There were orange flags everywhere and two stages. On one stage the well-known band from Aruba 'Tsunami' was playing. On the other stage a well-know band from Curacao 'Simplemente Perfecta' was playing. And that was the main reason, I was  there. Of course to experience some culture, but also because my cousin was playing. And that was fun! 

Green party house - PNP Partido Nashonal di Pueblo

Cars were driving around and there were real traffic jams. Only a few parties celebrated the last day of their campaing that evening. The other parties already celebrated the evening before. So you actually had the chance to visit different parties....to get free drinks, free t-shirts, free poker cards...and some people went to sell their vote; in exchange for cash, or by having their electricity bill paid. Yes, this really happens here. Two radio DJs actually sold their votes on air to the highest bidding party! And apparently, that's legal....I should have tried to sell my vote for my car insurance or something. But honest as I am, I did not sell my vote.

Pink party house - Laboral

I went to the school  building today to vote. I brought my neighbor...how else was I going to find that place. Entering the voting hall, I saw tables that were covered by paper boxes, apparently to give the voters some privacy. I handed by voting card and my ID to the gentleman behind the desk. He called out my ID number. Another lady then called out my name, there were persons from different polical parties present to coordinate the process (to eliminate corruption). I received a voting sheet and went into one of he cubicles. With a red pencil I colored a dot on a voting sheet. After that, I entered my voting sheet into another paper box. It was certainly interesting. Not an easy task...since I don't know the history.

The streets have been decorated with flags in all party colors for weeks.

Voting is a big deal here. Some people don't like to vote because of how the politicians behave. Apparently, they tend to call eachoter morons instead of presenting their political program when they have air time and they make no progress. But what else is new in politics..... Since 2 pm today, everything is closed, supermarkets, gym, public offices, etc. Everyone get's time of to vote. Some call it that, others call it ' just another excuse not to work'.....

More flags: people are proud of the party they vote for
and put the party's flag on their car.
This flag on my car is just for demonstration purposes...I did not vote for FOL.

Children seem to have the most fun: during the campaign parties they dress up in the colors of all the parties; the more colors you wear, the better. Imagine this: yellow pants, pink shirt, green belt, white cap, gold earrings, blue left shoe, dark blue right shoe, cream, red and orange bracelets.

I got to vote for the first time here and it makes me feel proud.

Here's an opportunity I couldn't miss;
in a picture with the party leader....
even though he was just
made out from paper.

The birthday party

Party Decorations

My grandmother and my aunt & uncle celebrated their birthdays in the same week. So, I got a new experience: the traditional family party. As my aunt and uncle turned fifty on the same day, they organized a big party. Already the day before, my - other - aunt backed some cakes and again another aunt helped to tidy up the house. My cousin also helped out a lot and once the party started she looked so tired that I dismissed her of her duties and told her to enjoy the party since it were her parents celebrating. Meanwhile, I got experience in waiting tables. By the end of the evening I was able to carry three plates and remember about 6 drinks!

Kala

Anyways, enough about me. The party preparations started with decorating the house and preparing snacks. My aunt (yet another) made kala and pika balls (spicy meatballs). There were also oysters in ham topped with cheese (delicious and spicy) and sausages wrapped in bacon.

BBQ-box

Already hours before the party my uncle started the barbeque. He’s my BBQ-King, he makes the best meat. So once everyone arrived, dinner was served. It came in a nice box (luckily for my cousin who came between his daytime job and his nighttime job - he plays in a band – so he could take some food w/ him). And then there was the cake. In the Netherlands we start serving cake when guests arrive. Of course that cake is accompanied by a nice cup of coffee. It’s a little different here. Once you arrive at the party, the cakes are presented on a table.

Presenation of Cakes

Sweet Take Home Candy

They stay there all evening. Once you are ready to go home, you take a piece of cake with you. It is tradition, so people at your home who were not at the party, can share the cake with you. In addition, you receive some kind of candy – I don’t know what it’s called – but it’s made of condensed milk and tastes very sweet. I tasted it ones...this time I put mine back in the basket without anyone seeing....I just wanted to make sure some enjoyed that piece of candy.

Oysers w/ Ham & Cheese

Sausage w/ Bacon

Pika Balls

B-day

Me at 39

OK....it's been almost a month that I turned 39 and celebrated my birthday, but it's never too late to tell you about it. Since my birthday was on my day off, I had the whole day to prepare for the party. It was a beautiful day, and I have lunch with a close friend at Zanzibar, on the beach of Jan Thiel. What a beautiful location for a birthday lunch. And my first present: a voucher for a massage at Beach Body. Wonderful. I've finally made an appointment for next Monday. Looking forward to that. Ok. Back to the party.

Ready to party

Since I have a small apartment and a small yard and only a few chairs, I decided to keep it small.

Some more family

Just family, some neighbors and a few close friends. Unfortunately, some could not make it due to car issues...the reoccuring problem of the island. I'm glad my car is great.

More family

So, in the evening about 22 people arrived at my doorstep. It was wonderful. We ended up putting my sofa bed outside to have more seating places.

My neighbor let me borrow a couple of chairs and my other neighbour brought some extra chairs. I invited a cousin whom i never met, but who was on vacation here at the moment. He brought his girlfriend and they are the most wonderful people.

After Party

Two days later we had an after party at Cinco's. A local discotheque. It was a wonderful day, it was the first time celebrating my birthday with my family on the island of Curacao.

More After Party

Grandma and aunt

My grandmother was amazed; she never expected to see so many people at the party since I've only been here a couple of months..but hey, what can i say, it's a really large and great family!

Presents

When the party was over, I had some time to unwrap my presents. Thank you everybody! By the way, I'm sitting on one of my presents, outdoor chairs from grandma.

Unwrapping presents

B-day presents