Blogs from Central America Caribbean - page 1732

Someone, sometime long, long ago, decided that the center of Willemstad, the capital, was the ideal place to situate an oil refinery. Maybe it was because a natural deepwater harbour was located here or maybe someone thought that upper respiratory tract infection would be trendy for the locals in 2007. We think the former was the reason and that the latter was an unfortunate side effect. The Isla refinery, formerly owned by Shell who sold it to the government for USD 1, is now a Venezuelan concern. Its furnaces and phallic chimneys belch black smoke high into the air and spew fire 24 hours a day, everyday. Wind shift would send pungent fumes in different directions. Huge oil tankers sail thru the narrow Santa Annabaai and under the impressive Emmabrug which spans the canal and on ... read more

De dagen vliegen voorbij hier in La Ciénaga. En gelukkig heb ik het gevoel dat ik mijn plekje al wel een beetje gevonden heb hier. Mijn toekomstige huisje is jammergenoeg nog steeds niet af, máar er wordt aan gewerkt…Gister is water en elektriciteit aangesloten en het belangrijkste om te kunnen overleven is dus aanwezig! De rest is bijzaak: de ramen kunnen niet goed dicht, de vloer staat blank na een regenbui, alles moet geschilderd en schoongemaakt worden en een dikke kikker heeft mijn wc-tje tot zijn territorium gemaakt, maar goed als het daar bij blijft…! Ik ben echt al heel blij dat ik een eigen wc en douche heb. De verwachting is nu dat ik dit weekend of na het weekend zal verhuizen, maar niks is zeker. Ik leef nu dus nog steeds een beetje uit ... read more

Van alles en nog wat / This and that.... Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Guanacaste » Tronadora By Monte TerrasMay 31st 2007Kees en Willeke Weer een maand voorbij....Kees heeft ook deze maand weer leuke dingen gemaakt, we hebben stroopwafels gegeten, vrienden zijn op bezoek geweest met hun hond Scuby, gezellig samen ontbeten en nog veel meer....hier wat foto's van van alles en nog wat. .................................................................................................................... read more

Leon is a great contrast to Granada. These two cities are similar in size and both have many sights to see but their similarities end there. Leon isn't a tourist town like Granada and we saw few foreigners, beggars or as many signs of obvious poverty. The locals don't take much notice of you----unless its just to nod and give a quiet "hola"----unlike in Granada where it seems that every male under the age of 30 (and some of the females, too) is sizing you up as a potential source of income. Don't get me wrong here; Granada has its merits. But Leon is more real somehow...... read more

THis week has gone so quickly and we are actually already in Mexico (just arrived yesterday night!). Our English teaching job was based in a wonderful nation park with 3 Maya sites: Yaxha, Nakum and Naranja. We were based in Yax-ha to teach a bunch of care takers English. The guys were really lovely and highly motivated but for some of themit was very difficult to grasp the basic of a new language. We even had a student who didn´t know how to read and write and the students didn´t have a book or copies to follow....Hence, we did a lot of one-to one follow ups during the day surrounded by the ruins. It was so much fun to practice and get to know our students that we happily worke all day long. They are ... read more