Dushi!

Today we had the great experience of a walking tour in downtown Curaçao, Willemstad. Our local guide, Kevin (“friendly and tall!” read the TripAdvisor comments) was a wealth of knowledge, and took us mainly around two neighborhoods – Punda and, across the harbour, Otrabanda. Willemstad itself is a

UNESCO World Heritage City, and has some of the oldest buildings not only in the Caribbean, but in the Americas as well. Here’s some information & pictures from our tour that we found really interesting, and hope you do as well!

The Flag – The top blue part of the flag represents the blue skies and beautiful weather Curaçao is known for. It’s then divided by the ‘sun’ / strip of yellow, and the bottom blue represents the seas. There are two stars on the flag – one for ‘big’ Curaçao (the mainland) and one for Kleine Curaçao, the little island off the coast. This flag was surrounded by 9 different monuments that embodied the history and development of Curaçao. These were all steel artworks and each centered around a specific theme. Multiculturalism and integration were two highlighted themes that ran

throughout many of the artworks.

History – The Spanish were the first to visit Curaçao. At first, Spaniards were known to nickname Curaçao as “Island of the Giants”. Then, after unsuccessful attempts at colonization and planting a variety of crops that failed, it was deemed “The Useless Island”. The Spanish left, and Curaçao was ultimately colonized by the Dutch. It gained independence in 2010 and is now an independent country from The Netherlands, just like St. Maarten. Curaçao ended up being the hub of trade for the Americas; who’s useless now, Spain?!

Architecture – We viewed the oldest synagogue in the Americas, going on +300 years. The building in itself was impressive, and there is a [if not the best in the city] museum inside that we’ll definitely go back to check out another day. One really interesting fact that Kevin pointed out is that most of the older buildings in Willemsted, including the Rif Fort, were made entirely out of using corals! Since it was a resource they had so readily at hand, it made more sense than using other building materials that would have to be imported or excavated. The outside of the buildings in Curaçao used to all mostly be white, because of the tint the aloe vera gave the plaster. The governor at the time started to complain of migraines and headaches due to the harsh reflection of the sun against the white color. Eventually, he mandated that all houses and buildings must be painted any color other than white, and that you weren’t allowed to paint your house the same color as your neighbor. It was later revealed that the governor’s brother owned a paint store at the time… convenient!

Kaya Kaya Street Parties – In the past, Otrabanda had some rougher neighborhoods that were deteriorating. As a neighborhood initiative, the community got together and modeled street parties after the “Community 13” neighborhood in Medellin, Columbia. The premise is that the whole neighborhood gets together, enjoys some beers, and cleans up an area of the neighborhood. One thing Kevin mentioned was the motto being “leave the place cleaner than you found it” (something my dad was always keen on saying!) Now the neighborhoods have become tourist attractions with incredible murals, colorful buildings and museums, and captivating street art.

Flamboyant Trees – We had these beautiful orange flowered trees in St. Maarten as well, but Kevin told us a very cool anecdote about these trees in his childhood. Growing up, it was a schoolyard game to pick apart the seeds of the flamboyant tree. Inside the seeds were small, under developed flowers. Picking these apart, each child would have a stamen. The goal would be to hit the anther off the top of the other person’s stamen before your own was knocked off. There were ‘rules’ for girls and boys. If a boy were to win, he’d earn a kiss; but if a girl were to win, the boy would have to do her homework! Paul and I were picked amongst the group to tryout this schoolyard game, and needless to say I kicked Paul’s butt.

Dushi – Last but not least, we learned the meaning of a ‘ping’ word here in Curaçao: dushi! Dushi [pronounced like douche-y] is a slang term that has multiple translations into English. It really depends on the context that you use the word, which determines the meaning it has. Usually, dushi means something sweet, great, or wonderful; like you can say the restaurant was really dushi, or the meal I had was so dushi. If talking about a person, it’s akin to calling them a

sweetheart, but it’s informal enough that a waiter or hostess could call you dushi while asking for your order or addressing you for the first time. However, if you use it in the right context, it can also refer to someone being extremely attractive or sexy! So it’s got a LOT of uses, and we see this word all over Curaçao.

I hope you enjoy the pictures, and hopefully I’ve accurately conveyed some of the really interesting information Kevin taught us today. It was such a great walking tour, and we learned a lot about this beautiful island we’re calling home for the time being. It's been one month (today!) that we've been in Curaçao, and we are in no rush to leave.

Have a dushi day!

XO Toni