The Couch and the Chicken

Bonaire is a mixture of many cultures.  The island has embraced foreign languages, food, holidays and traditions from around the world.

This is a what I call the" Jamaican Park".  The picnic tables and benches are painted in Jamaican colors.  Even the trees in the park are painted.

One of the neighborhoods we frequent, has street names of American Indians.  We were surprised to see these as they are somewhat obscure refences in an international setting. In our neighborhood, all the streets are names of planets. As you may note, our address is Kaya Uranus. You can also see Kaya Kaprikonria, Kaya Saturnus, and Kaya Mercurius.  Kralendijk has named streets after major cities such as Paris, Athens, Madrid and Berlin. There are Dutch street names that cannot be pronounced:  Kaya JR. Randolf Statius van Epps, Kaya Gob. N. Debrot, and Kaya Marcanio Sint Jago. Of course you have the Papiamentu names: Kaya Nikiboko Zuid, Kaya Hanchi Amboina and Rooi Lamoenchi Kunuku Park. And, Spanish names: Kaya Monseigneur Nieuwindt and Kaya Avelino J. Cecillia.

Most of the street names are hard to pronounce and are seldom marked.  This is why directions on Bonaire sound like this:  you know where the colored picnic tables are, take a right at the gas station and follow the dirt road until it turns and then look for that yellow house with a turquoise fence and it will be on your right behind the marine salvage building, you know you are there when you see the couch and the chicken.