Woke up yesterday morning and there was a real thunder and lightning rain storm going on! I didn't know they did that here. With the normal 25 mph wind that is always blowing, it was raining sideways. I went into town and by the time I got there, the rain had stopped. It probably rained about 1/2-inch...but there was water in the streets at low spots that was 3 or 4 inches deep! The problem is that they don't have storm sewers here so water just runs down the street in torrents until it finds a low spot (mostly parking lots). Sometimes the low spot is in the street.
I got to Burger King (I habitually get coffee there on weekend mornings) and as soon as I parked some drunk guy started tapping on my window with a half empty beer (it's about 9 a.m.). He wanted to wash my car so I gave him a couple of florin to get out of my way. When I got out of the car I noticed the only people I could see was 3 or 4 town drunks. Then it occurred to me that everyone else had gotten in out of the rain so the only people left outside were the gung ho beer drinkers.Speaking of drinking, I went to the big "wesern-style" grocery store (i.e. one that doesn't stink and has meat without flies) and at the entrance there was a big Heineken display where they were showing off their new mini-keg and the $350 cooler that goes with it...they were giving away free cups of beer and had quite a crowd, mostly tourists. So I maneuver thru all that and look up and see another crowd...only bigger. Some wine company was giving away free glasses of wine. Just past that crowd was a BIG crowd that was having a party. Johnnie Walker was giving away FREE SHOTS OF SCOTCH WHISKEY in the grocery store. That's unfathomable to me. They just do things differently here, but I couldn't help but think that unless some taxis line up outside, the trip down Highway 1 is going to be a little iffy on the way home for these folks and a few thousand other people.
This morning (Sunday) I went to the flea market. Remember the Hwy 1 is the main road from one end of the island to the other. It can be compared to any county road in Texas as far as width and maintenance (more on that later) are concerned. Something else I need to say is that the national (is there anything else here?) elections are coming next month and these people take their politics seriously.
There are three parties from what I can tell and each one has its own color...the MEP is yellow, the AMP is green, and the red party is something else that I can't remember. People wear those colors this time of year to signify the which party they align with...and it's serious. Last week, I was with some Arubans at a nice restaurant and the Minister of Health (he appeared to be swine flu-free) came in with a couple of American doctors, I found out later. He sort of worked the crowd but only shook hands with people dressed in yellow...his party colors. The MEP is in power now and since it's election time, they are putting down new asphalt from one end to the other.
Anyway, there is a big political rally in a parking lot along Hwy 1 by MEP (I don't know what any of the acronyms mean) and they are selling raffle tickets and giving away t-shirts. So everything stops there while people in cars buy tickets and collect t-shirts from their cars in the middle of the highway. (They wouldn't give me a t-shirt because I'm obviously not Aruban). Took me about 30 minutes to drive about 1/4 mile thru that thing. Then about a mile down the highway, they have the same thing going on for people on the other side of the highway...meaning I have to get thru that on the way home.
Sure enough, on the way home I get to the other MEP rally and I notice that there is a motorcade of about 15 cars with yellow flags and banners pulling out onto the highway. I fall in about 2 cars behind them. Down the highway a few miles, I see an AMP motorcade coming the other way with green flags flying. I didn't pay much attention until the two motorcades met going in opposite directions. Literally, everyone in each motorcade rolled down their windows and started using hand signals to express to the people in the other motorcade that their party of choice was, well..."number one" in that truly international middle-fingered hand gesture. I was laughing so hard at this that I had to slam on my brakes at one point to keep from running over the car in front of me.
I just love these people...
OUT
oops...confession time!!! i have passed this combination Little Caesar's/Baskin Robbins store a million times, but yesterday I noticed that it was also a DUNKIN DONUTS!!! The only problem is that with the language issues I think I got a pepperoni filled donut and some kind of sherbet in my coffee...but it was Dunkin Donuts coffee!! My confession is that I have eaten 8 donuts already this weekend.
OUT again
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