The Aruba Tourism Authority (ATA), as part of the “Authentic Aruba Culinary Festival,” presented a culinary competition among EPB and EPI students at EPB Oranjestad. This competition provided the students with the opportunity to work closely with professional chefs and experience the pressure of a real-life culinary competition.

A total of six students were selected to assist three local chefs during the Iron Chef 2024 competition, which will be held on October 13th at The Pavilion on Wilhelminastraat. Organized in collaboration with #wheninaruba and #wheninarubaTV.

The judges for the competition were Chef Juan Ludeña from Papilon Restaurant, Chef de Cuisine Jeanclaude Werleman from Infini Aruba, and Sous Chef Moises Ramirez from Lima Bistro. They served as judges during the student competition at EPB Hato. These three local chefs will also be the ones competing in the Iron Chef 2024.

After the students presented three series of dishes, the final moment arrived to choose the six students who will be assisting during Iron Chef 2024. The winners were Micheal Padron, Kahlil Mullers, Shandon Helder, Jayden Heyden, Dylan Cardona, and Annie Ortega. We are excited to see their participation on the main stage during the “Authentic Aruba Culinary Festival,” a combination of EPB and EPI students.

The invitation is extended to the Aruba community to come to The Pavilion on Wilhelminastraat on October 12th and 13th in the historic Wilhelminastraat area in downtown Oranjestad. Festival visitors will enjoy Aruba’s diverse culinary products.

The festival is a celebration of the island’s varied culinary offerings, created and inspired by local chefs, among others. With a passion for gastronomy, both locals and island visitors will have the opportunity to discover different restaurants and new flavors throughout the week of the event.

Schedule:

Ticket Information

Tickets are now available at www.autenticofestival.com. You can purchase a Weekend Pass for AWG 54, which includes an F&B credit of AWG 30. Or you can buy a Day Pass for AWG 36, which includes an F&B credit of AWG 20. Each ticket includes a reusable glass, F&B credit, entry to the Bartender’s Brawl on October 12th, and the Iron Chef 2024 competition on October 13th.

Unused credits will be donated to a good cause. Follow the Authentic Aruba Culinary Festival on Facebook, Instagram, and www.autenticofestival.com for more information.

Aruba’s Art Week in its 7th edition, featured over 100 local artists and artisans and was nicely attended by the Aruban community, September 6th, 7th, and 8th, 2024, in San Nicolas.

The art week program included different attractions and performances, workshops, and exhibits, including the Art-Fashion spectacle on opening night, which I regrettably missed for the first time, ever.

Earlier in the year, AAF published a call for action for Artists & Crafters to get ready to ACTIVATE their creativity. In fact, art week created a platform on which to REBEL, MARCH, and CHANGE the art world, and the island. Artists were asked to showcase their unique work within a revolutionary movement where every piece told a story of transformation.

The theme REBEL, MARCH, and CHANGE, dictated the message of the artwork, and each of the artists taking part chose his/her own cause and present issues close to their heart, aspects of life on the island they would like to see changed.

Organizers set up two galleries, Artisa, where established artists showed their evolution, finding news paths, for their recurrent themes, and Space 21, dedicated to Mother Nature and Human Nature, where artists elaborated on their relationship with nature and with people. The contemporary art exhibit was the third gallery, and if you did not walk past Kulture Café at the end of the main street, you missed it.

The addition of a Contemporary Art show was special. Art week included exciting contemporary art shows, in the past, presented by Atelier 89, but then the building that housed them, was renovated and rented to the ministry of the nature and environment. For 2024, the abandoned two story, neo classical government building on the square, past Kulture Café, was used to host the installations, by an eclectic group of artists. It resulted in a rewarding and thought provoking experience for visitors.

The repurposed first floor presented Velvet Ramos, with the Feast. Velvet threw a thick carpet of fallen leaves and garden clippings on the oblong’s room floor on which she prepared a feast, an ancestral herbal tea one day, and two traditional vegetable stews on the next days. Velvet is a nature advocate, and her installation showcased the riches of nature, earth, soil and indigenous plants, and the need to preserve these for our own sustenance.

Justin Croes, across the hall, presented Awaken the Ancestral Ties, highlighting our pre-Colombian culture and way of life. Justin goes back to our roots, by applying rucu to the floor, walls, and his own clothing, allowing the earthy red color made from Annatto seeds, to take us back in history, to our early days on earth, when rucu was used to embellish bodies and give food a special aroma when infused in oil.

Performance artist Natusha Croes, interpreted her family story, her heritage, reflecting on motherhood and her quest to define her identity, with a special show on Saturday.

Samuel Sarmiento, on the second floor, introduced Chants from Oranjestad. He is a folky storyteller and mixes voodoo and mythology in his fantastic, ornamental work. He is now recognized as an international artist.

Jowie Maasdamme, showed a series of non-conformist canvases under the title I have no interest in maintaining your perception of me. Jowie is her own woman, and establishes her female autonomy with her art.

Remember fashion student Darwin Winklaar? He bloomed into a multi-dimensional artist, mixing fashion, music, and performance into an installation titled Coastal, where he paid homage to the island’s two recently lost fishermen.

An artist from St Martin, Lisandro Suriel, shipped interesting video work exploring his Indian roots, to Aruba, and was part of the contemporary art show.

Curator Renwich Heronimo reports getting very positive feedback for his work on the festival. He sees the evolution of art on the island and the progress made by artists and attributes that to the annual art fair that cross promotes and pollinates styles and feeds artistic souls with inspiration.

While at first, he said he would dedicate three years to the effort of organizing the fair, which takes a lot of work, at the end of three years he believes he would stay on, as curator, a short while longer, because the results are so satisfying, the development of artists very valuable, and the emergence of new trends so profound.

Tito Bolivar is the motor behind the Art Fair, each year, and he continues his efforts of adding more murals to San Nicolas, dubbed the biggest open air art gallery in the Caribbean – in competition with Curacao. The new murals also attracted attention of viewers. Some of the artists invited to this year’s edition are Studio Giftig from Holland, Rosie Woods from the United Kingdom, Carlos Alberto from Mexico, Chemis from the Czech Republic, a repeat visitor, and Sabotaje al Chantaje from Spain as well as our local talent such as Armando Goedgedrag, Paul, Wong, Omaira Silva and Robby Solognier in collaboration with Alex Koolman.

A well-organized Media Relations person fulfilled two of my requests, efficiently. Tks

Thank you mosaic artist Omaira Silva, for your assistance!

Tito reports that over 5,500 visited the fair and enjoyed it, perhaps not as many as in previous years but they had a much better experience with more curated artwork in the galleries and many more artists, both beginners and well-established ones, running booths and presenting collections, along the main street.

While the art fair is over, Tito keeps San Nicolas’ art scene awake, year round.

Thank you to sponsors: Aruba Tourism Authority, Prins Bernhard CultuurFonds, Mondriaan Fonds, Departamento di Cultura Aruba, Cas di Cultura, La Cabana Beach Resort & Casino, Unoca, Marriott Aruba Resort & Stellaris Casino, L’Oreal Aruba by Romar Trading, Eagle Aruba Resort y Elite Productions & De Palm Tours. @artweekaruba #artfairaruba2024

To quote Peggy Croes, Chief Marketing Officer at Curacao Airport Partners – she is a successful Aruban transplant, many things have changed for the better in Curacao.

And she is right. People are super nice. Curacao now treats its visitors with courtesy and consideration, people wanted to please us everywhere we went, not a surly, pouty face around.

The Curacao North Sea Jazz Festival: The concerts were professionally orchestrated for the 10th time, with at least two hitches, going into the WTC took more than 20 minutes with people pressed up against each other at the bottle-neck entrance. The token system is antiquated and they’d better take a page out of the Aruba Open Beach Tennis Tournament, and engage CXEvents, cashless event solutions for next year, with wristbands that can be  topped up with money, ready to be spent, before and during the concerts, and QR based tickets on our phones, instead of the old fashioned paper tickets that were flown here from Curacao, for local pick up.

The FRIDAY edition with 12,000 people felt a bit tight, but the other two nights with 6,000 & 9,000 party-goers offered a bit more breathing room. Our shuttle bus driver reported the numbers, he might have been wrong, but the shuttle bus system worked like clockwork. (Exact numbers are to be published by the organizer.)

The music was amazing, great sound, colossal talent, and that is what we come back for.

I was told that Curacao’s current, YTD passenger movement, is at 1,350,000 for August 2024, up +22% vs. August 2023, and thus at the current pace the island is expecting ending 2024 close to the 2M mark – its best traffic year EVER. The island’s route network is balanced between Europe a 38% market share, USA 22%: South America 18%, the Dutch Caribbean 14% and Canada 4%. (The numbers reported by the airport must be divided in two, to find out how many passengers arrived, since passengers use the airport coming and going.)

Peggy, you already met her, above, reports that hopefully they will be able to contain the growth in a sustainable manner.

Walking tour of Otrabanda with Step-by-Step Curacao: We opted for a walking tour, as an option to the successful kick bike tours offered by that company twice daily. We spent delightful two hours crawling through backstreet and listening to the stories the walls tell, about revolutionary heroes and houses of ill repute. Curt, our truly knowledgeable guide, a self-declared ADHD weaver of fact and fiction, introduced us to the Kaya Kaya murals past and present, and to the people in the neighborhoods, who are all remarkably familiar with his slim frame, zipping around on kick bikes, visitors in tow. Many old houses in Otrabanda sport an excellent snapshot of their interiors, nailed to their façade, so I did not have to stick my head into the door, I just looked at the picture to see what is inside. It is a nice art project, and while residents give some of their privacy up, most of it is protected.

Food in Curacao

The restaurants are surprisingly delicious and affordable. Food prices feel like Aruba ten years ago. I am going to mention some, for the shock value, you will be amazed how reasonable it seems. Which is a selling point for Curacao.

Lunch: A creole meal at Plasa Bieu is a unique experience. The iconic soul-food market is an al fresco dining-hall lined with food stalls offering traditional island cuisine. While renovated, it still looks the same. Zus di Plaza, had too many people in line, we tried the competitor to the left. Her goat stew was excellent, so was the chicken soup.

Light dinner, the evening of arrival plus lunch: Restaurant & Café Gouverneur de Rouville, is blessed with a spectacular view of the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge and world famous Handelskade, the pastel-colored row of colonial merchant houses on the waterfront. The food is great too, the courtyard adorable. The delicious Carpaccio was Nfls 31.75.

Lunch @Number 10: Flawless breakfasts and lunches are served here at Landhuis Bloemhof also the home of the Cathedral of Thorns, a one-of-a-kind monumental artwork/museum, which was closed when we arrived, and we were shoed away by a stern gate keeper. The restaurant is owned by a young husband and wife team, in a perfect garden, terrace environment. They cakes are jaw-breaking multi-tiered and worth sharing.

Brunch @Kome is a tasty experience: Eggs Benedict Nfls 30 Denver Omelet Nfls 28, Smoked brisket Hash Nfls 34, Salty Dog, a colossal Dessert Nfls 26, Glass of Prosecco Nfls 18

Dinner @Bario Urban Food: When you stay at Kura Botanica on the BB plan, you enjoy your breakfast at Bario. We went for light supper and enjoyed Ceviche Nfls 35 and Tuna Balls Nfls 19.50. Our waiter had an enjoyable sense of humor!

Dinner @BijBlauw in Pietermaai: BijBlauw was a discovery, since a few places are shut on Mondays, we decided to try something new to us and we loved every bite, the place has a million-dollar view and ambiance. Brisket appetizer Nfls 31.5, Seabass in Beurre Blanc Nfls 51.50

Lunch @Ceviche at the Rif Fort: Another terrace with a million-dollar view and particularly tasty food. Peruvian Grilled Octopus & potatoes Nfls 52, Ceviche three-way Nfls 56.

Best of all, Capuchinos at Kura Botanica are Nfls 6 or 7, and we had a many.

Taxi transportation: They have an app, you call a taxi, it shows, you get to your destination, you pay the driver, and the app sends you a receipt by email, and a thank you note.

Peggy is right, many things have changed for the better in Curacao.

Many wondered what is the reason, why the government collapsed, for what seems such a flimsy excuse. The answer is because it could.

So what happened: Aruba’s prime minister flanked by her party’s ministers marched into the Governor’s office on Monday and announced the dissolution of the coalition, Cabinet Wever-Croes II, under the pretext that RAIZ, its coalition partner, violated their ‘marriage’ agreement.

A similar stunt was also pulled three years ago, when cabinet Wever-Croes I was dissolved.

At the time, the reason cited was the integrity of the political partner, as the head of the coalition minority party, POR, found himself answering questions about doubtful campaign funding.

The plug was pulled, we went to elections, POR, the minority party died.

We have reason to believe this is a similar playbook.

After three years of a touch-and-go partnership where RAIZ sacrificed continuously in an effort not to rock the boat, it finally stood on its hind legs and insisted.

Over the past few days we’ve been hearing how unethical and obnoxious the President of Parliament has become. He is said to be willing to violate the constitution and rules of procedure without any hesitation to serve his partisan goals. His job, was to be rolled over, by law, in a vote on Monday, at the dawn of the new parliamentary year.

RAIZ asked him to be replaced by another MEP party member, and when no new candidate’s name was filed, voted its own candidate in, as the incoming President of Parliament supported by, lo and behold, the opposition votes.

RAIZ, AVP, MAS & ACCTION21, plus an independent member of parliament, voted for the alternative, 11 to 10.

Aruba’s Prime Minister and the leader of MEP, announced her government’s resignation, at once.

That insubordination was intolerable. That loss of control, of getting all opposition parties together, could not be endured. It was an opportune moment, some say carefully planned, and party strategists seized it.

Did RAIZ think they could get away with voting for their own candidate, Kamperveen, in?

Or they simply have had it.

The frog they had to swallow by voting the outgoing President of Parliament back in, got stuck in their throats.

MEP could have put forth another candidate, but it did not. RAIZ did not want to surrender, as they have been doing all along.

(They did not topple the government over the unseen/unpublished contract with Eagle LNG, but voted for, they supported the introduction of BBO at the border, despite being told by the Dutch and the World Bank that other options are more suited.)

Was this the straw that broke the camel’s back, or a strategic move?

Will RAIZ disappear like its predecessors?

We hope not.

If MEP strategists thought it would be right to nip it in the bud, it means RAIZ was gaining momentum.

Consolation? The government in Curacao collapses more frequently.