Snack Tour

Bonaire has little shack-type construction bars and restaurants in each of the Barrios.  They serve local food and beer at lower prices than the tourist places.  We have been on several, actually many, snack tours to experience the local culture, food and neighborhoods.   We have a tour guide that knows all the best spots and she drives the van while we all eat and drink at each snack bar.  It is a really good time!

Our tour guide tells us all about the owners and highlights the best "eats" at each snacky.  The food you see on their menus includes goat, fish, chicken and iguana stews, funchi (fried polenta), whole fried fish, beans, rice and soup. Each place has a business permit but I don't think the health department does much inspection.

On the back porch of one of the snacks, they were drying goat. Goat pieces are hanging from a rope and drying in the open air. They will reconstitute the goat when making stews and soups for added flavor.  

Food is prepared in outdoor, rustic kitchens and rudimentary indoor kitchens.  This used to be quite shocking to me.  Now, we embrace the cooking preparation and local food like it was a delicacy.  We seek out these small community snack places to eat and drink.
 

Many local snacks grow their own vegetables.  This is a squash plant growing in the back of one of the snacks. They use iguana eggs in some of their soups and stews and those are found in the mundi (the Papiamentu word for open, wild land on the island). They also raise goats and chickens used in their dishes.  Goats mostly run free on the island so it a matter of catching a goat for slaughter.  No guns on the island so it is not like an American hunting event.

Here's our selfie (really not a selfie but a photo taken by a fellow snack tour attendee) for the day.  By this point Rick and I have had many beers.
 

Men, Ladders, Trees

Rick is notorious for using a ladder to trim palm trees.  As you may recall, we hate Royal Palm trees because they bloom incessantly and drop blooms, seeds and junk in the pool and all over the yard.  Which makes us both crazy.

We have taken out three trees last year and recently took another two down.  This in order to keep Rick out of trees and off the ladder.
 

Our gardener Jose, who stands about 4-1/2 feet tall, came with a roll off and a manlift to take down two trees.  They had to park the manlift on the road outside our house and extend the arm over the cabana to reach the two offending palms.  They made fast work of the job and had them down in 4 hours.  Our neighbor called them over to take one of his down as well.  We all have trees that are too tall to trim.  Most landscapers and gardeners will not trim the tall ones.  I certainly don't want Rick on a ladder.

Now we get to shop for new trees....ones that are easily trimmed and maintained.  We are trying to get the house to a point that it is less labor intensive and gives us more time to do nothing. 

We noticed that it is much quieter at our house with less palm trees.  The trade winds blow through the palms and apparently make a lot of noise. The street light, which used to be obscured by the palm trees, now reflects off the patio and into our bedroom. Now we are getting black out curtains.   

Karnaval

For the first time in two years, *Karnaval is back!  Parades, beauty queens, drinking, dancing and partying in the streets.  It marks the fun time before Lent. It's been going on for two weeks and will end on "Fat Tuesday" before Ash Wednesday. 

Today, we went to the grand parade.  They close the roads from one end of the island into Kralendijk.  People line the streets for about 2 miles.  The parade takes about 4 hours to get to Playa ( downtown) because they are drinking, dancing, and talking to all their friends.  

Families set up awnings along the parade route 3-4 days before the parade.  They have a viewing stand, vendors selling drinks and treats, and even private privies  But the big show is the costumes. The women are wearing three inch heels, everyone is covered in feathers and sequins, and the skin is covered in glitter. Young and old wear Karnaval costumes complete with head dresses of tropical birds, capes, clown outfits, with see through material.  

A huge truck covered with large speakers is in between each dance group. A DJ is selecting music that blares into the crowd. We think its local music but we are unsure of the genre.  It's loud and danceable which is all that is needed for a good time on the streets of Kralendijk

The burning of King Momo on Tuesday at midnight signifies the end of Karnaval season on the island.  It is a way to literally burn up all the crazy fun and excess of Karnaval before they have to behave during Lent.  This event occurs in the stadium in the middle of town.

King Momo (Rei Momo in Portuguese which is also used in Papiamentu- the island's local language) is considered the lead in Karnaval

festivities. So they burn him in effigy at the end of all the fun.

**Karnaval is the spelling in Papiamentu for carnival
 

This and That

After two years on the island fighting mosquitos, we decided to try something new.  We have become very adept at applying "Off" bug spray at 5:30 every evening.  Now we have a second tier of defense.  We purchased citronella lamps that produce whiffs of  black smoke to haze the bugs.  We are somewhat immune to the bites as our bodies have gotten used to the bugs...it's an island thing that happens to everyone that lives here for a while. 

We found a welder to reinforce our double wide chase lounges the metal frames for which had degraded from the salt air.  The only catch: he only speaks Spanish. We enlisted the help of our neighbor who teaches English and Spanish at the Dutch school. Rick had an engineered drawing which he explained in English, while the neighbor translated to Spanish.  The welder responded in Spanish and she translated to English.  After several rounds everyone shook their head yes, agreed on a price, and shook hands. The welder showed up the next day with all his equipment and spent two days building a steel frame for the chairs. He modified the engineered drawings to make the chairs stronger and better build. He was an amazing talent!

I now have paint clothes.  I had the bright idea that I could paint some of the smaller items around our house. My house painter got me primer and paint and gave me detailed instructions about sanding, primer, clean up and sent me on my way.  Before you knew it, I had paint everywhere. The door has carved designs which make it impossible to get paint to cover everything.  I worked on it for two days. It's done.  I will not be doing any further painting. I called the painter back to get an estimate on doing the door panels by the front door and a bench.  They will be here next week to save me from what I thought would be a fun experience. I will be spending my time taking mineral spirits baths to get the paint off of me.