Pure Gold! When an Amazing group of strong and kind women come together with a selfless and altruistic goal, there is nothing they cannot achieve! pure love magic! Aruba has a resource that is worth gold, its people!
For a long time, as the price of Chanel increased, I no longer thought I could afford it. I think I'll be happy that I have the *luxdups* as my travel bag that I don't have to take care of. By the way, I'm sure no one will have a hard time telling the difference. Thanks for the comparison.
I thought you were going to suggest picking up liquor at the duty free store as you leave the airport where the prices are cheaper than the supermarkets. Are the distributors you mention cheaper than the airport ?
Hi there. I think the duty free option is more commonly known. This alternative option with the distributors is not as commonplace. Hope that is helpful!
This is an amazing accomplishment, and I am likewise proud of this young man, now being 38 myself, and being a life long commercial aviator myself now for 18 years, I’m at rank of Sr. Captain or (Check Airman) on a Bombardier Global 7500 business jet, I have been to all 50 states, and 131 foreign countries, flown 7,898 flight hours so believe me when I say that this story is very special to me, because I relate to this story very deeply! But people back home didn’t support me in my endeavor, nope they surly did not!! I came from a family of NO aviators at all, they said “I was crazy for thinking I could do that” so I left my crusty little town in Kentucky and proved them wrong, but that still isn’t good enough for them, nope it isn’t! To half of them they still think I’m crazy, now that I succeeded in something, they feel that I feel I’m better then them, and would love nothing more than to see me fail, at what I’m doing to still prove them right in the end! However… the other half thinks I’m a fake, they say “he’s not a real aviator, he’s just faking those pictures and videos, he can’t really fly an airplane, he never could, and he never will! So it really warms my heart to see this young man get the support he deserves, and the love he deserves, because that is something I’ll never have no matter how successful I ever become! You go young man, my hate is off to you my friend!
I’ve been following the housing market in Aruba closely. Rick Moss made some great points about land scarcity and rising building costs, but I think we also need to talk about vacation rentals and their impact on affordable housing. When residential properties turn into vacation rentals, it means fewer homes for long-term residents, driving up prices. This creates competition, especially in popular tourist spots, making it even harder for locals to afford homes. Vacation rentals can also change the feel of our neighborhoods, with more transient populations and services catering to tourists rather than residents. Plus, the high returns from vacation rentals attract investors who might otherwise offer long-term rentals, which pushes property values up even more. Cities like San Francisco and Barcelona have tackled this by limiting the number of days properties can be rented out short-term and requiring hosts to register. I think Aruba could benefit from similar strategies to keep housing affordable for locals. Thanks for listening, and I’d love to hear more thoughts on how we can work together to make housing more affordable in Aruba.
Just wondering how many of these individuals transition into employees of the store when they become of age. Are their any guidelines that govern their behavior?
Very interesting story. In all of my reading and research preparing to come to Aruba (4/24), I wasn't aware of this. In two days, I've been to two different grocery stores (Super Foods and C-Mart) and thought the young guys were employees because of their official-looking company shirts they wore. As a 35 plus year employee of the 2nd largest grocery chain back in the Washington, DC area, this would be a paid position for those who are at least 16. However, they would have other responsibilities as well. The US grocery stores and other retaiiers are pushing more and more of a shift to the customer via self- checkout to help reduce labor costs. Grocery store cashiers always had the responsibility of bagging your groceries but would rely on baggers to assist when the store was extremely busy (usually on weekends and holidays) or when needed. These bagging positions have been eliminated now. I remember when I was 17 and would relieve for breaks the person who loaded your groceries into your car. Working in a wealthier neighborhood as I did, on a busy weekend, a bagger could receive more in tips than their daily salary. Although I only had a few items, I will be more mindful of how they work and are paid now.
It would have helped if any of those interviewed were to clarify which lane you have to be in, when leaving the airport, and going into downtown Oranjestad. I did exactly what the police officer said not to, and humped over the curb, after going in circles for about 3 times. I think a sign, as you exit the airport ,saying "take middle/center/outer (whichever is correct) lane for Oranjestad" would be a lot of help.
Wonderful story and I know what she means. I've felt it too. Don't want to leave at the end of a vacation, but commitments at home always draw everyone back. My wife and I looked into property while there, but the decent homes/condos are too expensive. If I were a wealthy person, I wouldn't hesitate retiring there, however those are pipe dreams.
I used to do this when I live on the islands (born there and moved away when I was 18) and yeah, the job was great, the tip pay was usually great and it was a fun job getting to know people and become "friends" with repeat customers who would often have a specific bagger that they liked and would ask specifically for them or go to the cash register where they were bagging. Now unto the pay, while I'm against tipped pay for waiters like how is common in the US, I do not have a issue with this being a tipped only job. This job is NOT a job meant to sustain a life, this job is almost exclusively done by teenagers from around the age of 14 and above (so people that don't really have expenses and this money is generally spending money.), you usually won't find anyone aged 18-19-20 doing this job because they are able to find and do regular jobs. Unless things have changed one thing that made this job great for the teens is that you have no hours, there is no requirement on you on how many hours you have to work or how many days. So if you had busy day yesterday and made a good amount of tips, you could decide that you aren't going to go in today and go and spend that money instead. So don't feel too bad for the baggers, just tip them nicely (3-5 dollars that the one person mentioned sounds like a perfectly reasonable amount, less or more depending how much of their service you used.), it's not a salaried job, but in exchange for that the teens can be very flexible with when they work, which I think most would consider a fair deal.
Thank you so much for your insights! There's been many comments opposed to the fact that the position is unpaid. It helps that you are clearing this up! When I speak to the teenagers they seem very grateful for the opportunity, flexible hours and tips.
No. As was said in the video roundabouts cost more than traffic lights initially, but quite quickly break even and then afterwards are cheaper than lights. Also roundabouts SAVE time because you don't have to unnecessarily wait at a intersection for a light to change when there is nobody else at the intersection. Whatever time you lose by having to slow down to take the roundabout is very easily recovered by having to spend less time waiting at the intersection.
I was impress when I was there last May. The young man did an awesome job. I didn't know they didn't get paid. But I did tip him. Next time I will tip more.
The song is called 'Dande' which is an Aruban song sung on NYE. I am not sure where you can find the lyrics and i don't want to steer you incorrectly. I didn't immediately find it upon Googling.
@@ourhomeyourholiday Thanks, I have been going to Aruba for close to 30 years. For the last 15 I have been going for New Years. Its usually the first song I hear on the radio of my rented car, ha ha.. I have seen many Dantes perform. It's the best time of the year to visit Aruba. One of the paper magazines had the lyrics to the dande song. I should have kept them. I have the dande song for a ringtone on my cellphone, ha ha... Its a great original song from Aruba.
Ditto to all the above! Been coming to Aruba for 20 years around this time of year. Taxi driver explained it to me a long time ago, but I have been looking for the name for years. Just heard it 5 min ago and technology let me uncover it, lol.
