Jewel of the Sea Day 4

Jewel of the Seas Day 4

This morning before dawn we approached the island of Aruba. I was up and watched a rather unspectacular sun rise. Fluffy clouds turned a funny shade of gray and then it was daylight. The day however was beautiful—warm 90 degrees, 15-20 mph winds and a fairly clear sky.

Aruba is not my favorite of the islands. Where the others are lush and mountainous with springs, waterfalls and pools, Aruba is a dry, flat, and scrubby. Much like a desert. We opted to take a taxi to the public beach about 15 min away by car. I would love to post a photo or two but the internet is very slow and the payment for minutes is quite dear.

Oh, by the way……Aruba had a 4.3 earthquake yesterday AM. Not enough to do any damage but it did scare the folks in the high rise hotels when they swayed. I was also stunned by the reaction of the local Aruba folks. They have no sympathy for Haiti. The handful of ones I spoke with said there was a small community on the island; they are shunned by the other Islanders. Their reason being the Haitians practice voodoo. They also spoke of the Haitian bringing their suffering upon themselves by their corruption. Another theme that they all talked about is that the Haitians they know are of low intelligence….like in low IQ and they are easily manipulated. Wow!
Our driver had on a news cast and the reporter was telling how silent the island is becoming as many of the people who were trapped have stopped crying. I was not prepared by their coldness to the Haitians. I will see if the other places we stop at have the same perceptions.

I found out on FB that my friends the Durbans have all survived and that their home is intact.. There is no further information.