Home / Trending / July 2, 2012 – Flag Day in Curacao

July 2, 2012 – Flag Day in Curacao

n

nAndance party!

n

nAnsoftball tournament!

nTraditionalnfoods!
n

n

n

n

n

nToday’snfun and games in the Caribbean island of Curacao are in celebrationnof the country’s Flag Day. (Curacao used to be part of thenNetherlands Antilles but is now “a constituent country of theKingdom of the Netherlands.” It’s also the “C” part of the “ABCnislands,” along with Aruba and Bonaire.) 

n

n

n

n

n

nCuracaonused to be the home of some Arawak Amerindians, but the architecturenand languages show more influence from Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese,nand African peoples. Many people on the island speak four languages:nSpanish, Dutch, English, and a “creole language” callednPapiamento. (Apparently, an awful lot speak FIVE languages, becausenthey add to this list either French or German!) A creole is a nlanguage created from a mixture of two or more languages—creatednlargely by children from different language traditions trying toncommunicate with each other! This particular creole comes fromnAfrican languages mixed with either Portuguese or Spanish, with someninfluence from Dutch, English, and Amerindian languages.

n

n

n

nTodaynpeople in Curacao celebrate their “melting pot” of peoples andncultures by eating such dishes as intestine soup, cornmeal paste,npapaya stew, fried plantain (banana) and coconut sweets. Yum?

n

n

n

n

n

nOnenof the most famous scuba dives in the waters of Curacao explores then“mushroom forest.” You might guess that divers don’t really see anforest of mushrooms (which are fungi), but instead see a variety ofncoral formations and loads of fish. Many of the corals (which arenanimals) are called “mushroom corals.” Check out this lovely dive!

n

n

n

n

n

nAlsonon this date:

n

n

n

nAnniversary of the invention of water skiing 

n

n

n

n

n

nAnniversary of the beginning of the “Golden Age of Airships”n 
See also  April 11, 2011
Share on:

You May Also Like

More Trending

Leave a Comment