Honkbal en Dushi Curacao

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Bon dia y bon bini na Dushi Curacao (Good morning and welcome to sweet Curacao).  Part of the ABC islands: Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and situated 30 miles north of Venezuela in Mar Caribe.  A small island with small pockets of crowded pristine beaches, a deep baseball culture and a language, Papiamentu that blends Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch.  Easy to get around, good water from the tap and a temperature that ranges between 78-86 with a constant breeze. 
 

Went with Ruby to get a soda and found out one of their secrets for the enthusiastic involvement from the parents during youth games. (read the menu)



Dock at Pirate's Bay in Willemstad, Curacao.


Scout day for a few 14 year olds.  Getting on the radar of MLB teams and training for the new International Signing Date of January 15th.  If you turn 16 before the sign date and 17 before Sept. 1st the following year the player is eligible.  It's a big deal in the Caribbean world.  Curacao Baseball Week put on yearly for the youth by the generous big leaguers from Curacao.  Shakir Albert, born in Curacao, signed at 16, played in the Dodgers organization in the Dominican for 8 years, now a hitting instructor and playing in Italy and on the Netherlands national team.  Just couldn't be more pleasant to talk with.


One advantage of knowing a little Dutch or Old English is that you can pretty much misspell any word you want and claim that you were writing in Dutch, Old English or Papiamentu. How many iguanas are in the tree?

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