Curacao

We were in Willemstad, Curacao yesterday and we fell in love with the beautiful little island. The place is so ethnically diverse it reminds me of my neighborhood on Long Island, though much prettier. There are 54 different ethnicities that make up the people of Curacao and though 80% Catholic, all the major religions flourish and all are tolerant and live in harmony with one another. Shame it can't be done elsewhere.

We then took a tour of the Holunda Museum, documenting the history of the slave trade here, in which Curacao was a major transit hub. You know, I've been all over the world, to concentration camps and killing fields and one constant transcends race, religion, and ethnicity. We all have a great capacity for inhumanity toward others.

We then went on to visit the oldest synagogue in the western hemisphere, built in the 1600s. A touchstone for Mrs. F for more than the religious connotation. Mrs. F's parents visited here years ago and mom-in-law used to tell us the story of the little synagogue with the sand floor. It was moving for her to visit there.

And I put up some more random snaps from around Willemstad. We're in Bonaire today and I'll have a post or two up from here later.

And just an anecdote: We stopped at the Golden Lion Pub after dinner last night. On the big screen, President Bush was giving a speech. Quite inadvertently (I had a few drinks under my belt) I said "turn that asshole off; do you want me to leave my dinner here on the bar?" I got a buncha "hear, hear" from the Brits, a "jawohl" from a German couple, and the three crazy Russians next to them raised their vodka glasses. Heh ... The couple from San Antonio gave me dirty looks, but after 8 years of an idiot Texan in the White House, fuck 'em.