Link to article: [https://emergingcricket.com/news/paul-van-meekeren-signs-for-cpl-franchise-st-kitts-and-nevis-patriots/]
It is a fantastic moment for Dutch and Associate cricket!
So about this. In Suriname I remember learning whole chapters in geography class dedicated to you guys. Especially the ABC islands. From the Dividi trees to the Christoffel berg. I had to learn that Aruba is in contrary to Curaçao more flat etc. I had to remember all capitals, animals that are native to the islands, some cacti, how the weather is and what weather patterns look like over there etc. We had learn about the coral reefs from you guys too. We also learn some history, though more about the ABC islands, we also learned about the SSS islands. We also learn the distance between the ABC and SSS islands.
To us Aruba and Curaçao are the go to vacation islands, with Curaçao (or cura/curadijs as we call it here), being the more visited. We love the colorful houses of Curaçao and we always take Aruba and Curaçao as an example that we can follow if it comes to tourism. Sint Maarten is to us the place where people with specific sets of skills go to work, because Sint Maarten asked us for help and we provided people, by spreading the word. Saba and Statia are just there and they exists.
I'll be honest, some people laugh a bit at the way the ABC islands (mainly Curaçao) speak Dutch. The majority here still thinks you guys are one country and people still say "De Nederlandse Antillen", with Curaçao being the center of it all.
We don't really see you guys as family though, like how the Anglo-Caribbean does with each other. To us the cultures are different, but all in all, we have a good view of you guys.
So my questions are: What do you guys think of us? Why do you think there is no interests (so it seems) from you guys to visit us? What do you think of the country (and maybe its politics)? How do you guys feel about or think about the ethnicities in Suriname and would it be a culture shock to you to see all of them mingling with each other? What stereotypes are there or maybe negative views? How well represented are we in your education system? Would you ever want visit?
Before the pandemic I celebrated Christmas in both the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico and was amazed at how similar their traditional Christmas foods were to ours, they called them by different names but they were essentially the same things. I think the language barrier makes communication so difficult that we don't realize just how similar we are to one another.
What similarities have you found between the different linguistic island groups.
Not asking workwise per se, I have plenty of experience and know the hospital is very much like the ones I'm used to, but rather ouside of work. Hows the life? By day? Night?
Is it easy to meet people/make friends? I'm 31 and pretty extraverted and outgoing. How is the demographic?
I'm an avid scuba diver so thats allready a big plus.
I want to start this series asking questions to those in the Dutch Caribbean; Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, Saba, St. Maarten, St. Eustatius. This is the first one.
What are some opinions or maybe even stereotypes you guys have about each other; both positive and negative?
Remember to keep it civil.
Here is a link of the map: https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/71172/pascaerte-van-westindien-de-vaste-kusten-en-de-eylanden-goos
I'm trying to find out what the yellow cylindrical items are in the top left ornamental image at the foot of the figure on the right. Any ideas?
If I look at the numbers of the ABC Dutch Caribbean Islands I notice there is a majority of Roman Catholics:
- Aruba: ~ 75.3%
- Boniare: ~ 59.7%
- Curaçao: 69.8%
If I look at the numbers of the SSS Dutch Caribbean islands I notice quite a large number
- Saba: 45%
- St. Maarten: 33.1%
- Statia: 23.7%
These numbers show that there is a large Roman Catholic presence in the islands, with the ABC islands having a majority Roman Catholic presence. In Suriname the Roman Catholic Church is also the largest denomination, however their numbers are around 21.3%. Other denominations, such as the Moravian Church, Dutch Reformed Church and Lutheran Church have had quite a presence, especially from a historical pov. Combined together with other protestant churches they are more than 30%.
So what are the reasons why (the history behind the fact that) the Dutch Caribbean Islands have so many Catholics and not more of the Dutch Protestantism churches? One reason I found online is that the Dutch elite didn't wanted the non-white population to be protestant. How true is this?
Each of them have 5 hours to recruit as many men as possible to their crews. Who recruits the most men.
