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Welcome to the Visit Aruba Newsletter!
This section will be updated regularly, so keep coming back...

  
News Briefs for July 1- 31, 2002
      

• A mind reading bash at the Royal Cabana Casino
  Opening Night at the Tropicana Showroom:
  The Tropicana Showroom was packed for the Grand Opening of Guy Bavli's Master of the Mind performance. Israeli-born Bavli is the new glittering showroom-star at the Royal Cabana Casino. Bavli comes to Aruba from Venezuela were he packed audiences for six live performances.

• The International Female Model Contest
  Just from looking at the spectacular red velvet & gold draped stage, I could tell the show is going to be a magnificent one. Apparently, Ronchi de Cuba’s minimalist days were over, opulence came back, with a vengeance. The International Female Model Contest brought more than 40 young, professional catwalk stars to the island for a contest at the Tropicana Showroom.

• Jamaica Me Krazy now in a new location
  Aruba is blessed with a great variety of wonderful restaurants. The freestanding establishments are privately owned eateries, operated by creative chefs/restaurateurs. You might have already noticed that on the island's Cuisine Scene, ETHNIC is considered interesting.

• Funari - self-esteem in a wheelchair
  Funari, Fundacion Arubano pa e Invalidonan, finds a home in Savaneta, next to the church, and the cemetery. The small gated complex organizes daily programs for 12 handicapped adults, most of them in wheel chairs.

• Working on behalf of Children
  Imeldahof, The children's home in Noord, is an integral part of our community. We refer to it as the orphanage, though children who find a home there are no orphans. They come to Imeldahof, when their troubled families of origin, can no longer cope.

• $AVE in Aruba with the VisitAruba Plus card! 
  Your VisitAruba Plus card is a convenient and effective way to get the most out of your Aruba vacation with significant discounts and special offers on hotel accommodations, car rental, watersports, sailing and party cruises, spa treatments, entertainment, casinos, shopping and more!

A mind reading bash at the Royal Cabana Casino

Opening Night at the Tropicana Showroom:

The Tropicana Showroom was packed for the Grand Opening of Guy Bavli's Master of the Mind performance. Israeli-born Bavli is the new glittering showroom-star at the Royal Cabana Casino. Bavli comes to Aruba from Venezuela were he packed audiences for six live performances. A member of Royal Cabana Casino's management saw Bavli in Caracas and decided to sign him up for a two-month engagement in Aruba. His producer Sergio Gallero reports the show has been very well received here. Bavli reads minds, detects lies, moves objects telekinetically, divines the shape of hidden objects and bends spoons, in an entertaining interactive show with his audience.

He is a frequent headliner at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, where he performs 3 months each year. Show ticket holders become part of a heated Poker card game, a drawing contest, yet they mostly enjoy learning a thing or two about the power of suggestion, body language, telepathy and supersensory phenomena. Among guests at the gala show opening La Cabana's Lou Roelofsen & Adwina Arends, Divi's Alex Nieuwmeyer, the Mill Resort's Jan de Ruyter, de Palms' agents, the Wyndham's Pat Donovan and Maggy Paz, the Hyatt Regency's Tom Wolf, time share sales representatives, press members, Aruba Tourism Authority's Castro Perez - who was transformed into a mind-reader himself, businessman Eby Arends and many people from the community. The show duration is one hour and fifteen minutes. Showtime is 9:30, Tuesday to Saturday.
For more information call #875001 ext. 700.

 [courtesy of Rona Coster]

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The International Female Model Contest

Just from looking at the spectacular red velvet & gold draped stage, I could tell the show is going to be a magnificent one. Apparently, Ronchi de Cuba’s minimalist days were over, opulence came back, with a vengeance. The International Female Model Contest brought more than 40 young, professional catwalk stars to the island for a contest at the Tropicana Showroom. The event, captured by E-Entertainment Television, is organized every second year by the popular local-born designer - odd years are reserved for the International Male Model Contests. With Moulin Rouge as his theme for the opening segment the models arrived on stage each differently composed in skimpy black & red lace corsets, garter belts, silk stockings, topped with feathers, Diana Ross wigs, beads and frills, a jaw-dropping, eye-popping parade of strutting flesh and skin.

Ronchi continued to drive a diverse and entertaining three-ring-circus with genuine French Can-Can dancers following a brilliant troupe of performers dressed in traditional Indian garb, moving to an oriental-techno beat and Hindu chants. The sound engineers remixed Rhythm of the Night to reflect A Night at the Moulin Rouge. They also married Madonna’s Material Girl with Marilyn’s Diamonds are a Girls Best Friends, to better show off the models’ treasures.

Three of the contestants were Arubans, Shamaira, Heidi and Cassia. They regularly work for Ronchi’s own agency, Knockout Models. Three rounds allowed the cheering crowd and the celebrity judges to pick the winner: A Chilean skinny elf, Alexandra Cata, who wore a Roberto Cavalli-like, orange and blue floral creation for the evening gown show-down. She had one large dangling peacock feather for earring, golden skin and truly feminine, romantic, soft looks - her long curly strawberry-blonde hair all sexily bunched to one side. Maria Fernanda Leon, a large breasted girl, naturally, or rather unnaturally, from Venezuela was also very beautiful; Zulema Sosa from Cuba, appeared alluring and removed; Alexandra Rivera from Chile, had shaven off her hair and looked like a big gorgeous cat; Adriana Digizari, Miss Body, from St. Thomas, was indeed an Evangelista look alike. Elizabeth Antocha, Miss Photogenic, had a big shock of chocolate colored hair over a white scalloped evening gown. Worst walker, a colt called Maggy Li Kwie. Nicest eveningwear: A crochet dream-work worn by Eva Arias and a black, sheer lace number with poof-skirt worn by Ariana Charon. She looked like a princess. Among judges: Mario Lopez, Saved by the Bell, and Ignacio Kliche, Mr. World 2001. Ronchi we had a fabu time!

 [courtesy of Rona Coster]

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Jamaica Me Krazy now in a new location

Aruba is blessed with a great variety of wonderful restaurants. The freestanding establishments are privately owned eateries, operated by creative chefs/restaurateurs. You might have already noticed that on the island's Cuisine Scene, ETHNIC is considered interesting. Our appetite for world cuisine is growing as evident with the opening of many Oriental - Japanese, Chinese and Indian places, besides Cuban, Brazilian and Argentinean kitchens.

Jamaica Me Krazy, situated at the Mega Mall is the first Jamaican restaurant with a distinct fun style. The restaurant displays the beauty of Jamaica as an island not just its cuisine. While enjoying deliciously piquant goat stew, patrons are invited to get an educational tour of the island, by just looking at the colorfully postered walls.

JMK proudly displays an inside photographic view of Bob Marley Foundations’ museum. It was a gift from Marley's graphic designer, a classmate of owner Danny Wilson, a man by the name of Neville Garrick. The refreshments and the food, says Danny, are irie, which is the biggest compliment one could give, meaning, second to none. The restaurant has recently moved, just across the parking lot, Danny banters, to a new location. There, music is played inside and outside, which is naturally an integral part of the JMK experience. As you enter, you immediately get this irie feeling, inspired by the ambiance and the portraits of Bob Nesta Marley. The late singer is watching you while you feast on jerk chicken! And the restaurant is endorsed by many of the tourist hotels Danny states, as tourists and locals drop in for a culinary adventure in soul food.

Jamaica Me Krazy markets to the adventurous palate, also to lovers of soul food, natives of the Caribbean islands. This is definitely the place where locals eat.

Jamaica Me Krazy specializes in nicely marinated jerk everything. Danny reports Jerk cooking is an old Jamaican tradition. During the seventeenth century when African hunters were brought to Jamaica enslaved by British masters, they also imported cooking over fire in a closed, smoky barbecue pit. Scallions, onions, hot peppers, and dozens of other fresh herbs were used to rub chicken, pork and beef then the food was slow-roasted over low coals. That same cooking method is employed to this day. The unrushed process results in a pungent, hot, sweet and spicy flavor, which is truly unforgettable. This is what food must have tasted like in the cave days when our ancestors had nothing better to do than hang around some burning sticks, cooking in community.

Recently back from Bonaire where he ran the Oceanfront Restaurant, Danny feels like Aruba's prodigal son, back from his travels. The Oceanfront, Danny reports, enjoyed a great location, right on the water. Each Friday, Danny dressed the place up with green, red and yellow banners, played old reggae favorites and allowed the terrace to erupt. Friday’s Reggae Jerk Boogie Festival was my busiest night at the Oceanfront, he recalls. It didn’t take long for the coin to drop. Danny made up his mind to return to Aruba and open a Jamaican eatery. Back to my roots, he quotes Steel Pulse, whose album the Prodigal Son is one of his favorites.

One of his greatest assets now, is his music collection. Danny started a compilation of records, later CDs, in 1955 when King Stitch was hot. His brother George Wilson, became Marley’s attorney. He was an excellent direct source. Danny’s cousin Allen Skill-Cole, a soccer player, was Bob’s best man at his wedding, later at the funeral he was entrusted with the eulogy. Close to the dynasty of Jamaican music makers Danny owns rare recording pearls, which he plays nonstop at his eatery. He very frequently gets requests for copies and willingly complies.

Today, Satta Amasa Gana, is Danny’s business philosophy, a heartfelt belief in god, coupled with old-fashioned hard work and sharing with others. Far from Rastafarian churches or the Abyssinian culture, he is nevertheless a student of the Bible and a spiritual man. A big thanks, he concludes, goes to the ever-faithful local public. Big up Aruba JMK Nuf respect and give thanks.

Jamaica Me Crazy serves beverages, including Red Stripe beer, Ting and Ginger Beer, also Big Bamboo, a fortifying drink made of bamboo-like seaweed. The place has a full take-out and eat-in menu. It is nicely air-conditioned. Jerk Chicken is available every day. Ital cooking - very tasty and health-conscious is a house specialty. The tropical yellowish fruit Acke, is stewed with onions, salt fish and green peppers it's to live-for! Rice & peas, festival, dumplings and Mackerel Run Down, are just a few menu items. Pepper Pot is the name of a hearty soup, and the Front End Lift Punch is unforgettable. For more information call: #834692.

P.S. Soon to come: A sequence of weekly events, such as Reggae Night, Fish Fry Night, and more in the Certified Mega Mall’s parking lots. Oldies but goodies night, soon to come, says Danny, Trust me.

 [courtesy of Rona Coster]

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Funari - self-esteem in a weelchair

Funari, Fundacion Arubano pa e Invalidonan, finds a home in Savaneta, next to the church, and the cemetery. The small gated complex organizes daily programs for 12 handicapped adults, most of them in wheel chairs. It's a two hour bus ride in the morning, the clients explain, starting at 7 a.m., when the Funari especially-equipped-with-an-elevator vehicle stops at their homes. Activities start at 9 a.m. The main goal? Fund raising for Funari, naturally. Funari's famed Christmas bazaar is the focal activity all year round. It takes place during the last weekend of November and features many charming, original home-made articles. I have been buying angels for the past three years, as well as freshly-baked cakes, sweets and coffee, on my annual Christmas Bazaar pilgrimages.

There are two hubs of activity at the home; the men are working in the carpenter shop. They are constructing bird houses, and making the wooden bases for wreaths and table center-pieces. Those will be decorated by the ladies, in the adjacent room. This year's hit will surely be roses and carnations made of dyed FISH SCALES. Those are unbelievably life-like, and gorgeous. The fishermen in Savaneta have been saving fish scales for Funari, even those of very large varieties which make for incredible translucent petals. With much dedication and infinite patience, the ladies have been making flowers for the Christmas Bazaar. We rely exclusively on volunteer work, they reveal. The drivers are volunteers and the group leaders, those who lead the arts & crafts sessions, are volunteers, and all materials are donated, in short without a generous community, Aruba's wheel-bound population would be doomed to stay put, on the sidelines, away from mainstream activity, entertainment or distraction. The group reports working two hours a day, chatting, drinking coffee and socializing for another hour, before heading back home, by bus. Once a week an activity takes them to Bingo, or the movies. The group is looking forward to visit the new Aloe factory this week. We go to the theater, we take in shows, we answer all invitations, they say! We love going out! So, do include Funari in your plans, and most importantly, earmark the last weekend in November. Come support the bazaar.

 [courtesy of Rona Coster]

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Working on behalf of Children

Imeldahof, The children's home in Noord, is an integral part of our community. We refer to it as the orphanage, though children who find a home there are no orphans. They come to Imeldahof, when their troubled families of origin, can no longer cope. Then the home sets out to guide parents, comfort kids, and together attempt to improve the situation so that kids can ultimately go back to live with their families of origin.

A troubled family is better then no family, says Director Dynia Muller, stating that while available, Imeldahof prefers a short stay of a year or two. We now have two kids, she adds, whose parents disappeared. Perhaps in jail overseas, or perhaps even dead. The children will be with us until they are mature enough to cross the playground and become the residents of Cas di Hubentud. Aruba's home for teens you understand is situated within the same gated complex, in Noord, adjacent to the church, and the cemetery.

Imeldahof Children's home is about 50 years old Dynia reports, and it was built by Dutch nuns who ran it for over 40 years. In the last decade the home was taken over by the local child welfare authorities and Dynia has been the director ever since. We get a small government subsidy Dynia states, about $6 /Afls 11 a day per child, but our needs far exceed this meager official allocation. The money donated by the community via fund raisers and donations, Dynia adds, helps us purchase anything from playground equipment to educational games and curtains.
The home, Dynia continues, is open 5 1/2 days a week. During weekends, the resident children go back to their families of origin, or to foster ones, yet there is a great need, Dynia continues, to expand the hours of home operation, allowing those who cannot go home, the stay in a safe, nurturing environment. Ninety percent of the home population is Aruban, Dynia states, with about ten percent of kids from Latin, and Caribbean origins. Most of them have suffered physical or sexual abuse or neglect, and were removed from their families as a result, by child welfare authorities, or the courts. At Imeldahof they are treated lovingly and respectfully, and are allowed to be kids again, play and enjoy themselves without the added burden of adult dysfunction, alcoholism, or criminality.

Some kids come in so disturbed and confused, they can't even function, Dynia reveals. We strings a series of snapshots over their bed, depicting them getting up, putting on shoes, brushing teeth, folding the face towel, eating breakfast. They can't even hear us, at the beginning, so we give them structure via visual stimuli, she explains. When they relax and learn to trust we start talking, then the pictures come off. And Dynia recently with the help of donations set up a snuggle room, it's dim and quiet, and has a nicely upholstered mattress on the floor, cluttered with cute stuffed animals and velvet cushions, the music is soft. Troubled children are allowed at the end of the day, when they struggled with new structure and new discipline to enter the room with a warm bottle of chocolate - they rest and relax; reward themselves by regressing, shutting off for a while. Psychologists help us find ways that are effective and inexpensive to ease the children over the hump of coming here, Dynia declares. The goal is to get them to accept the past and cope better with the present, even entertain thoughts about a good future. And Imeldahof is proud of its high-achievers, kids who are successful at school and manage to enter the academic stream at Colegio, Aruba's premier high-school.

The fifty Imeldahof residents live in four small homes run as separate communities, each with its own home-mother and councilors. They go to regular schools in Aruba like any other ordinary kids, yet return to Imeldahof in the afternoon. We try to schedule activities for them, to give them a structured, rich and varied experience, as much as our budget permits. Donations are naturally welcome, and Dynia thanked any well-meaning institution for its much-needed contribution, whatever it may be.

 

 [courtesy of Rona Coster]

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$AVE in Aruba!

Your VisitAruba Plus card is a convenient and effective way to get the most out of your Aruba vacation with significant discounts and special offers on hotel accommodations, car rental, watersports, sailing and party cruises, spa treatments, entertainment, casinos, shopping and more!

The 2002 card is being offered at a price of just US$10 plus shipping & handling! You can even ask for your card to be delivered to your hotel to be ready for you once you arrive in Aruba.

A night at one of the hotels, a meal at one of the participating restaurants, or a trip to one of the participating shops is all it takes to recover the price of your VisitAruba Plus card. In most cases, by using your card just once only, you will have recovered the cost, and after that it's pure savings over and over again since you can use it as many times as you like and always receive the discounts.

As a cardmember you will receive your personalized VisitAruba Plus card. Present your card at participating locations to take advantage of discounts and special offers. The 2002 card is valid for UNLIMITED USE until December 1st, 2002. For more details and ordering, see the VisitAruba Plus section.

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