My former life

Of the various phases of my life, one that I enjoyed the most was my time on the island of Bonaire, where I ran a small hotel. I still have the ad for my place.

In terms of education and forming my view of life, running that hotel changed me. It left me with a much greater appreciation of the day-to-day struggles that people living in countries when they have difficulties with the local language face. By the time I left, I was at the point where I could get through my day-to-day business in Dutch without much difficulty, Spanish for simple repetitive tasks, and could read enough Papiamentu to understand the local news. It took five years to get to that point, and my business failed during the process.

But, for now, a quick trip down memory lane with a video, all narrated in Papiamentu. You’ll see me twice: once tending bar, and once serving drinks to customers poolside.

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