Welcome to the Caribbean...
- Lillian and Arthur
- Mar 23, 2020
- 4 min read
Next stop Curacao! Curacao is a small dutch island part of the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao) They are all part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
We didn't know much about Curacao but this was our next adventure. We accepted jobs as underwater photographers and videographers.
Curacao was a big learning experience for us. If this was a normal vacation trip we would have loved it here but unfortunately we agreed being desperate for jobs without looking into the details.
We were told we would have proper work visas. We were told we would have a nice apartment sorted for us. We were told we would get proper pay. We learned a lot about going through trials together. Having $0 in our bank accounts and how to lean on each other to survive a tough time. We arrived middle of the night and immediately had to pay the money for rent; to go out into the dark and find an ATM. We had an apartment that cost $400 a month and our base salary was $250 a month roughly $8 a day, with the opportunity to sell our photos for commissions. Our landlord didn't speak English. We had no hot water. No laundry machine. Majority of the time electricity went out. We had to navigate a foreign supermarket to buy an electricity card with foreign languages and foreign currency. Lillian spent the first week with the flu so she could not dive. We had to walk to find a pharmacy and a doctor. It was a rough start.
We spent the next few weeks learning about ourselves while taking the opportunity to explore a new island and enhance our photography and videography skills. Making the best of the days we had but ultimately we knew Curacao was not our destination calling. We had some gorgeous dives, we made some nice friends and our relationship grew even stronger.
The streets of Curacao are vibrant and bold. The Punda district is the main part of the city Willemstad. We lived inland so we would walk out to the street at a random time of day and wait for a random van with a random piece of cardboard that read Punda and head into the city.
The language they speak in Curacao is called papiamento which is spanish creole (portugese and dutch mix):
Bon dia=Hello
Daniki= Thank you
Bon Nochi= Good Night
Dushi= describes the good things in life (someone is a sweetheart/food is tasty/something is nice)
Willemstead:
Rainbow Bridge and the colorful colonial architecture.
Life was unusual at the moment. It was almost Christmas so we walked to the Supermarket down the road with empty backpacks on our backs. We bought a small Christmas tree that could fit in your hand. We were living on ramen noodles and bread. Splurged on a packet of hot cocoa. We spent time doing our laundry in the sink and in the shower then we would hang it outside to dry. On days where it would be so hot and we would be working in the heat come home to no electricity which means no air conditioning... Lillian would fill a pitcher of water put it in the fridge then pour it as a shower to cool down. Meanwhile Arthur was freezing taking a normal cold shower. The best thing we did was put aside money to rent a car and have date nights at the movies, walk around the small shopping mall and spend endless days at the beach. Although they did charge you a cover fee to enter the beach which was a first for us.
Hiking Mount Christoffel:
When we resigned from our jobs we spent a week doing all the things we wanted to do and had a proper little vacation. We decided to adventure onto a hike up Mount Christoffel. We committed to it and said lets go all the way to the top. This was the hardest hike I've ever done. I was slipping and sliding, climbing on my hands and knees, sweating and tired we made it to the top. To get to the top you had to practically climb what looked like a river dried up... of just pure rocks... no trail and no walkway. Luckily we made it up safely and took a breath to enjoy this view...
Playa Grandi:
Oh how I wish we could have spent every day here. Turtle paradise! This beach made every hard day worth it. It was pure joy. The turtles hang out here daily because the fisherman are there.
Come for a swim with us!:
Curacao Diving:
Lionfish are an invasive species to the caribbean. We were able to hunt some while living here and we had yummy lionfish civiche for dinners. As well as shopping for these beautiful lionfish earrings.
Often times we refer to our time in Curacao as a hardship just because of the financial struggle we had and the way we were treated while we were working there. We find our selves saying "at least its better than curacao" or "we survived curacao we can do this" but I am proud that we went in strong and worked as hard as we could but ultimately we knew our self worth and knew how we deserved to be spoken to day after day and our best decision was stepping back and quitting a job that was not meant for us. In the end we wanted to share this experience maybe someone can learn from it and avoid our mistake of jumping too quickly but Curacao is a beautiful country and it would be a lovely place to vacation.
Through trials our relationship grew stronger and we fell even more in love here. What a difference it makes to go through something with someone who is your strength and encouragement.
We hope you enjoyed our time in Curacao and we wish you the best of luck on your future journeys even if they don't turn out how you imagined you can make the best out of any situation...
Stay safe and healthy! -Lillian and Arthur
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