Decorating

I couldn't wait any longer.  I had to decorate for Christmas.  Christmas lights on the island have been up for a few weeks.  The "black Friday" sale was over.  I have been collecting ornaments and wanted to get them on the tiny (fake) tree we purchased.  My Murano glass Santa is a perfect addition to the  Christmas decorations I brought and bought.

Santa hats went on all the Buddhas just in time to get rained upon.  It almost looks like it's snowing in this picture but its rain.

We put up four trees. Three of them we brought with us and one we purchased on island. I am a collector of Christmas crap.  I have six huge boxes of ornaments in storage (in the US) plus two artificial trees.  I miss my crap so I am beginning a new collection on Bonaire.  I can't help myself. 

Thanksgiving

My sister has been sending me photos from our childhood.  This one is what Thanksgiving looked like when I was a kid.  I am the little one standing in front of my father.  We always had a big turkey, stuffing, cranberry relish, gravy and mashed potatoes. It was the traditional meal with family.

This Thanksgiving we spent with other expats and had a traditional gathering Bonaire style.  I wish I had photos of the evening but due to an island wide black out, I don't. The power went off about 3:00 pm.  It was the exact time I put the potatoes in the oven for the 5:00 pm meal. Rick's smart thinking saved us as he moved the potatoes to the gas grill to cook.  It worked and we headed off to our island celebration.

Our friends, Brad and Alan, hosted the pot luck.  They hand carried a frozen turkey from the states and had a ham from the island.  Everyone seemed to find the things on the island to fulfill the traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  We all sat a long table ( in the dark) and feasted on goodies each of us had made.  I was hysterical thinking the potatoes would never get done.  Brad reminded me that we all had wine and that makes everything perfect.

As my first foray into baking (from a box) at sea level,  I decided to make black bean brownies for Thanksgiving dinner as someone else had claimed pumpkin pie. They came out super fudgy.  Although Rick likes his brownies like this, they were a little too gooey for me.  I will need to figure out if I need more cooking time, a bigger pan, or less moisture. 

Regardless of the challenges on Thanksgiving day, we still had the best time spending the day with friends.

Green

Our desert island has turned green and lush. The rains have affected everything.  My orchids have been blooming for a month.  They are bigger and better than last year.  Our neighbors have toad stools in their yard.  All of my rough wood outdoor furniture are growing mushrooms or something similar because they have been wet for so long.  Our wood doors barely open or close because of swelling wood. Our wood deck is becoming spongy due to constantly being wet. There are puddles (some are lake like) on all the roads. It's always interesting to drive never knowing if the puddle is deep or shallow.

All of our bushes and trees have gown out of control.  We spend several days a week trimming and cutting the jungle that is growing in our yard.  Our neighbor mulches everything so we drag our cuttings to his house. It's like having a personal dump next door without going to the landfill.

The palm trees constantly drop wood from past trimming.  It's a battle to remove the dead leaf stalks from the trunks.  It's a whole new way of gardening.  Things grow so fast. I was looking at pictures of our house from two years ago and the trees have grown by five to eight feet in just two years.
 
 

 

Sinterklaas Arrives

Sinterklaas and his helpers arrived on Bonaire today.  The fable of Sinterklaas says that he arrives by sea from Spain.  The "saint" as he is called, stays on Bonaire until December 5 and then returns to Spain.

He look like a bishop from the Catholic church dressed in robes, lace and a red pointed head piece.  He also has white face make-up.  He moved through the crowd like the Pope...slowly waving and carrying his staff. It was a sight! 

Sinterklaas arrives on a tugboat that parks at the pier.  There is also an "armada" of small boats carrying admirers and the Zwart Pietens (translated: Black Petes), which are his helpers (like elves). Sinterklaas is met by the Lt. Governor of the Island, a marching band and 50 of the Zwart Pietens. Plus there are hundreds of parents, children and onlookers that witness this event with cheers and waves. This is a much anticipated event for the inhabitants of Bonaire. 

Rick and I got up at 7:00 am to get parking and a good viewing location. Sinterklass didn't show until 9:00 ish.

There has been much controversy about the Zwart (Dutch word for black) Pietens. However, the Bonarian culture and customs don't seem bothered by black men painting their faces blacker and serving as helpers to Sinterklass who is played by a black man with a painted white face. What we witnessed were happy people dressed up to celebrate a time honored Christmas tradition.  The children also dress like Pietens for this occasion and are thrilled to see the arrival and pageantry of the day Sinterklaas comes to Bonaire.

The Pietens dance, yell and blow whistles as they arrive on boats.  They are colorfully dressed and have a wonderful time as they help kick-off the Christmas season.

To top off the morning a full rainbow covered the sky.

Small Appliances

Small appliances talk to each other.  They decide to go on strike at the same time.  It happens in threes.

I have purchased three coffee makers since we have been on the island.  Each has stopped working after a short usage.  I have purchased different brands and different sizes, all with the same results. This time I purchased a coffee maker with a 220 plug.  The other makers had 110 plugs.  As we now know the 110 on Bonaire is not a reliable power source. 

Rick was using the food processor and a loud pop followed by smoke and a burning smell indicated that the appliance was gone.  This was an appliance we brought from the States.  It was plugged into a 110 outlet.  Okay, it was an older appliance and bound to stop working at some point.  I think it was talking to the coffee maker. 

 

We purchased a new food processor.  We specifically purchased one with a 220 plug.  Since the appliances on the island that are for purchase come from China, they have plugs that are made for Chinese electrical power....whatever that is?  This appliance requires an adapter to be used.  Off to the electrical store to purchase an adapter so that our newly purchased appliance would work with 220 volts. Buying an appliance and bringing it home to use is never a straightforward process.

Today, the vacuum cleaner I inherited with the house, decided to stop working. I am sure it was talking to the coffee maker and the food processor. Actually, it would turn on but would not turn off. It had seen better days and was missing parts and had suction issues. It was the last straw. I purchased a new vacuum that uses 220.  

It is our contention that 110 is not good for small appliances, no matter where they come from.  We decided to purchase appliances that are from Europe (or China) that have 220 plugs. The appliances can talk all they want...in 220 volts.

A Drive on the East Side

We had a break in the rain action so we decided to take a drive to the east side of the island.  Usually, the east side has characteristically strong winds with waves crashing into the coral rocks at the shore.  This day it was calm and beautiful.  We still had lots of clouds lurking around and ready to rain on us at any moment.

There is always cool art on the east side. This fish was made of drift wood and sloppy painting.

There are these cool windmills that are placed on the side of the salt pans.  I suppose they produce power to pump water from the sea inlet to the salt pans.  They look very Dutch since they are surrounded by water.

No crashing waves as the trade winds have been absent for about two weeks.  It has been really hot without the wind.  This was one of the few times we left the airco to enjoy the island. 

We haven't taken a selfie since Europe...so here you go.  Rick and Sally on Atlantis beach on the western part of Bonaire.  It's still paradise to us.

 

Rainy Season

During rainy season everything is wet... all the time. We have had storms daily including one storm that dumped 25 percent of the  total annual perception for the island.  This has happened in the last three weeks.  Storms across the Caribbean have sucked our wind away and delivered rain storms. We had  thunder and lightening that have woken up the entire island in the dead of night.  Everyone is talking about the storms.

Rick and I have some great chats at 4:00 am after being startled awake by the storms.   

Flooding has occurred all over Bonaire. The island has no drainage system no do they have storm water plans.  As a result, the sediments, contamination and waste flow right into the ocean.  This is a picture of our coastline after a storm event showing the run off flowing into the sea affecting the coral reef.

Another view shows the extent of the flooding and the spillage into the sea. The land is fully saturated so run off is inevitable.

Roads have been closed.  Every low spot is full of water. They have closed schools and the hospital went on emergency procedures only because the front of the hospital which is a parking lot is flooded and has not receded.  Flights from Curacao have tried landing at the Bonaire airport and have had to return because the storms were so bad, We have had to drain water from our swimming pool twice because the rains have filled it to the brim.

During the rainy season we often get wind reversals.  The wind usually blows from east to west.  When it reverses and blows west to east it wreaks havoc with the shoreline.  The wave action takes away the sand on the beaches and slams against sea walls in town. 

We are hopeful that our usual idyllic weather returns soon. We are ready to dry out.