This morning when we looked out the window we could see another cruise ship, the Caribbean Princess, at the dock. It is just so interesting to me to be able to look out and see the ship from our house!

After doing a bit of house work, I walked downtown and stood in front of a webcam for about 10 minutes.

It was really hot standing there. (The real feel temperature is 103 degrees and I admit, it feels every degree that hot!) I had planned to buy an ice cream cone to eat while I stood there, but the ice cream shop was closed. Guess it is only open in the afternoon. Our grandson Mark’s blog shows what was on the camera.

I took a picture of one of the flamingo mosaics on the sidewalk. They have them on the corners on the main street. I also made my usual stop at the Fish Market to buy bananas.

This afternoon, we are at the transmitter site. It is nice for Larry to have someone here, rather than him being alone out here. While at the transmitter site, I will be having a meeting via Skype with some of the staff in Elkhart, IN. (Missed my

meeting — I had it on and then the internet did something and I lost it. By the time I rebooted, they had probably given up and turned off their computer! I was only a little late :-/) It has been good to be able to SKYPE with friends and family while we have been here. A big change from 40 years ago. It still takes at least two weeks for snail mail though! That has not changed!

The men have been working on our fence and it is beginning to look very nice. A nice improvement. The lizards have been enjoying the short grass (at least I can see them with the grass short). There were two out there today, and I managed a picture of one. It is different from the others that I took pictures of in our yard.

Today I decided to walk downtown and see the action since there was another cruise ship, Ventura, in the harbor. It is a big one again. I could see that a lot of people just stayed on the boat. Probably a good thing for Bonaire, but it seems to me to be a waste of a cruise to not see the places where they stop.

I like to see what kind of food the vendors are selling for the tourists. It’s easier to buy food there than to try to hunt down a restaurant that sells the type of food I want to try. Most of the restaurants seem to be mainly bars, so buying from the vendor, helps the locals and we can eat it wherever we like.

Today, the vendor had fish that she said was shark. She put some yellow spice on it before frying it. She served it with saute’ onions and green peppers. She also served some pickled red cabbage, pumpkin and rice. And she included some Tutu, which is a local dish. I found a recipe for you to look at or try. I am not sure that she used black-eyed peas or just regular red beans. She told me it was beans and maize, but she may not have known black-eyed peas in English. It looked like regular beans to me. It was very tasty. Would be a fun dish to try. She did not put butter or cheese on it either, but I think this is probably close to what we ate.

Tutu
(Corn Meal With Black Eyed Peas)
Adapted from The Jewish Kitchens of Curaçao

1 cup corn-meal
16 oz. packaged dry black-eyed peas
6 cups water
3 cups water
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups funchi or corn-meal
4 tablespoons butter or margarine

Cook the black-eyed peas in the 6 cups water until soft. Drain.
Add 3 cups of water to the peas and bring to a boil, then use a whisk or “lele stick” to break the peas. Add sugar and salt and whisk again. Taste for seasoning, and adjust if necessary.

Add corn-meal, and in a combination of beating and mashing the mixture, blend it well to avoid lumps using a wooden spoon. Reduce heat. Continue the beating/mashing technique until the meal disappears and the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan. Add butter when done and either invert on a platter or use an ice cream scoop (dipped in water before each scoop) for individual portions. Serve with butter and cheese.

We took a picture of a trailer load of bicycles on their way to the cruise ship. Bicycles are a popular mode of transportation as well as a big sport on Bonaire.

I also took a picture of this sign advertising unusual things for sale. I have not yet had time to explore what the unusual things are.

In the evening we went for a walk and stopped in the ‘Mall’ and had ice cream. I had mango ice cream and it was very good and refreshing.

Harborside Mall is actually a walk way from the main street to the beach front, the width of two buildings. There are several small shops and an ice cream shop. There is also a second floor that has an art shop, a restaurant and other small shops.

NOTE — To see a bigger (and in some cases, expanded) version of any of the images, just click on the one you want to enlarge.

This morning we went to the office. Along with other prayer items, we prayed for Haiti and the effect that the storm Tomas will have on them. They have had a lot of suffering this year. Pray for their health and safety, but mostly pray for their hearts. Pray as God’s word goes out into that country in their language, that hearts will be ready to hear and accept God’s salvation.

On our way home at lunch time, we saw that there was a cruise ship, the Emerald Princess, in the harbor and our normal route home was blocked. (We usually drive along the sea front to enjoy

the view until we are just a few houses from our place.) This ship is huge! It is longer than down town Kralendijk. It is about three times higher than the highest building in town and can be seen from many miles away. There are a lot of people that get off for the day.

I decided to visit the vendors that set up shop in the ‘park’ or ‘town square’, and see what type of gifts they had for sale. The vendors make their crafts at home and then bring them to town when a cruise ship is in. The vendors

are quite an international bunch. I don’t think I spoke to one who was a ‘true’ born on Bonaire, Bonairean. They all claim to be Bonairean because they live here. I also found a lot of nice people with whom friendships could be formed. In talking with some of the people, I found out that there will be another ship tomorrow and three more next week and then a six day break before the next one.

NOTE — To see a bigger (and in some cases, expanded) version of any of the images, just click on the one you want to see.

Today was a little different. This morning I went into the office and met with the Barker girls and we made some quilt shapes. They will put them together for a hot pad. It was fun, but I think it would have been easier and moreenjoyable to have better equipment. My scissors have gotten very dull and Rhonda’s scissors were no better. But we managed to cut the shapes and fold them around the paper octagons. Now to see how it finishes up.

On our way home we saw a bird eating its catch by the sea. We went around the block and took a picture. He was quite happy to have his picture snapped until I got out of the car to see if I could get closer.

As we drove by the fish market, we noticed that they had lots of fruit and even some plants from Venezuela. We stopped and bought bananas and papaya and took a picture of the ‘banana boat’ (as

we used to call them) at the wharf. We used to buy straight off the boat, but things have changed.

On our way to the site we saw a ship at the salt flats pier, so we drove the extra mile past the site gate to take some pictures. When we got closer, we heard a warning siren, which we learned later was because they were in the process of opening the huge covers over the rear hold in preparation for loading.

We checked again several hours later as were were heading home. We could now clearly see that the huge covers over the hold were folded back. The conveyor belt was running and salt was flowing into the ship’s hold using a funnel type arrangement. We assume this is so

the falling salt will not blow around under windy conditions. Unless there are conveyors inside the hold, they will need to move the ship to fill the front hold.

We were amazed to see that the loading onto the conveyor was being done by a couple of front end loaders. They loaded the salt into a hopper over the conveyor belt which evenly distributed salt onto the conveyor. We observed that the loaders were not able to load enough salt to prevent empty spots on the conveyor belt. It is going to be interesting to see how long it takes to fill this huge ship.

NOTE — To see a bigger (and in some cases, expanded) version of any of the images in this blog, just click on the one you want to see.

Tuesday morning, I was in the office doing more identification of old pictures and laying out a huge map to prepare it for mounting and display. It will be hung in the main entrance area to show the different locations of our partners, places that are reached by the broadcasts and other interesting information about TWR Bonaire.

I did see a cockroach at the office. It was dead, which is a good thing. I really don’t enjoy killing those huge crunchy things. Yuck!!!

I went to the transmitter site with Larry in the afternoon and later went shopping. The shelves were pretty empty. With the threat from Hurricane Tomas, no shipments were coming in. Even the fruit vendor was closed. One of the days when I was at the Warehouse Supermarket, I saw some lunch meat with a face on it. I did take a picture, but didn’t buy any! (see below)

While at the transmitter site we did see flamingos and wild donkeys, as well as the resident egret on the property. That was fun. It was as good as zebra and wildebeest at TWR Swaziland transmitting site.

Because of all the rain our backyard is now a swamp! We have gone from 12 inch grass to desert looking ground to three inches of water. By Saturday the grass should be growing well again, as it is already poking green sprouts through the water!

NOTE — To see a bigger (and in some cases, expanded) version of any of the images in this blog, just click on the one you want to see.