Karnaval, my little ostrich friend and hanging out in a cave

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Hello everyone,
I have actually been home for almost a week now but I thought I would tell you briefly about my final days in Curacao. I have to admit getting used to the incredible mounds of snow back here in Toronto after enjoying the sunshine in Curacao;however I have had the best time this week celebrating my 30th birthday-many of you in town came to my party hat party on Saturday and it was great to see you there. Any way... here are some final stories about Curacao.

On Sunday I went with my friend Amarelys to sing at her church. The service was actually all in Dutch but the hymns were sung in English, Dutch and Papiamentu. In the late afternoon we went to see the Adult parade of Karnaval. The streets were packed with locals who had no doubt been out in the sun all day long and enjoying their booze and dancing along with the tumba music as the parade marchers and bands came by on large trailers. We got there near the end but in enough time to see the adults dressed as bull fighters, teacups, symbols of justice -they had model heads on their heads. The parade marchers had walked about 5km, but they were still revved to swivel their hips as they walked by. The bands that accompany the marchers include one or two keyboardists, electric guitar, and a whole lot of percussion. The tumba rhythm is quite different also-it is an African rhythm that was introduced in the 17th century now influenced by meringue and Latin Jazz. Historically it was the rhythm was invented by the slaves in Curacao. It is quite catchy and everyone knows the songs that are played because the radio stations during the week of Karnaval play nothing but that music on some of the stations. The other thing that was interesting is that nearby where we stood, a radio broadcaster sat on top of a little van with an antenna and provided commentary on the groups and the music to radio listeners-you wouldn't ever see that at home in the most basic way that he was recording.

Monday was my last full day in Curacao and I definitely wanted to make the best of it. I got to meet Amarelys' four aunts, grandmother, grandfather and her two cousins Tiffany and Christopher. A lot of our conversation together was about my travels and about life in Toronto/Canada and most of it was spoken in Spanish. We had a lovely lunch there consisting of pumpkin soup with beef, white parboiled rice, chicken and fruit salad. Christopher is learning about Canada in his class at school but when I asked him some questions he reported back the stereotypical information about Canada. When I asked him what type of people lived in Canada his response was Eskimos. He said that our trees were all pine trees and was quite shocked to hear that we have 4 seasons and that I was returning home to a snowstorm! I have promised to send him some real information about Canada so that he and his classmates can learn about what life is really like here. The only time Christopher and Tiffany have ever seen snow is on television! I had a bunch of little Canada pins that I got from my local MP here in Toronto and shared them with the kids who were very excited!

Monday afternoon after the daily ran shower my friend Farida came to meet up with us and we went to the Ostrich Farm. I had been so excited to see the ostriches but it is in a very awkward location, only accessible by car and normally not open on Mondays-fortunately there was a Karnaval special so it was open. Farida and I went on a little safari in the traditional African safari truck to learn more about the South African Ostriches who live in Curacao. There are also a few emu on the property. Our tourguide was very funny and informative as he described the characteristics and stories of the crazy antics of the big birds with pea-sized brains. The property where these ostriches live is about 50 acres of natural reserve however the touristy section is quite small-big enough for the ostriches to roam though. As we rode in the safari truck the driver would go quite quickly to give you the illusion that you were travelling far but really hadn't move more than about 25ft.

One of the stops on the tour was to feed the ostriches! I was so excited! You stand with your back to the ostriches and holding a big bowl of grain. The ostriches then come up behind you and "hug you" as they dive their small heads and large mouths into the bowl. Some of the young kids on the tour fed the ostriches too and because the birds are so large they essentially dwarf the children! Cute!

At the end of the tour we got to hold 5 day old baby ostriches. Because the ostriches are not in the wild, their parents can find all the natural materials to prepare for the hatching of the eggs so the birds are incubated just before they are born. The eggs that they hatch from are quite huge but even after 5 days the baby ostriches are the size of ducks! They were so sweet, made little squeaking noises and were so soft! That was definitely a highlight.

Later in the afternoon we went to visit the Hato Caves located on the north side of the island and very close to the airport. These natural caves were created during the ice age as the sea waters melted and created the crevices inside of the cave. There are a lot of bats indoors and a lot of stalagmite and stalachtite which have been formed too. Some of the crevices if you use a bit of imagination look like the Virgin Mary, a pirate's face and even Ganesh. It is incredible how the waters have produced such an incredible natural gallery of sorts in the form of a cave 20m above sea level.

My last night in Curacao was spent quietly hanging out with the girls after a pizza dinner.

My final morning in Curacao began with the reading of my book on the patio at 27C (sorry, don't want to make you feel too jealous!). We headed to the airport just after lunch. Amarelys' gave me a cookbook of Netherlands Antilles recipes which I am excited to try out back at home. I said goodbye to the girls and headed onto the plane to Miami.

I arrived back in Toronto Tuesday night at 11:15p.m. just in time for the start of the hail and snowstorm that has now covered much of our sidewalks and lives here in Toronto. My friends in Curacao would complain when the temperature had dropped below 24C. I have told them time and time again that until they experience -29C with a windchill as we have been the past couple of days, they really cannot complain. The snow however is quite beautiful and we had the largest snow fall in years on my 30th Birthday. Happy Birthday to me!

Happy to be back in Canada experiencing a real Canadian winter. My Dad says if I were smart I should have stayed; however, I think I had stayed long enough in Curacao and will look forward to spring hopefully around the corner.

Hope you are all doing well and staying warm...

With dreams of the sunshine and warm breeze in Curacao....take care.

love Katy

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