I was born in Curacao on August 23rd 1984.
Lived in St.Marten till I was 2.
Lived in Aruba from 2 to 17 years of age, and then back to Curacao till this day.
People ask me what I am, well I’m a Yu di Korsou of course, but is that how I really feel? No.
I feel like a Caribbean Dude. In essence, I’m a rasta. A beachbum. A fisherman.
When I think of my people, and where I come from, I think of the Caribbean in its entirety. I think of all the islands as a whole. Which is how I feel that we should all see it.
One united nation, scattered across that gorgeous turquoise blanket, under a blazing sun.
I’m very cultured, I have an extremely open mind. But when you get right down to it, I’m such a sucker for sandy sunsets.
I close my eyes, and I see smiling faces in the sun, I see beautiful beaches, I see rain forests, Carnivals, hot grills cooking fresh seafood, Palm trees, local food.
When I turn to listen, I hear reggae, soca, steel drums, zuc, accents, splashing of water, children laughing, dialects.
When I take a whiff of our humid air, I smell sea salt, I smell the blazing sun, the smell of wet, dank nature, Barbecues, Sun tan lotion, that pungent smell of sweat on the backs of our hard working men and women.
I was raised here, and I will always be a kid from the Caribbean. And that is something I am very proud of. I think our culture and our people are absolutely priceless and wonderful. The world wouldn’t be the same without us. That’s a promise.
I know that I will want to get away from here for a bit, and I’m sure that in my travels, I will only come to love and appreciate my culture and my home more.
I know that one day when I settle down, I’ll want it to be right here, in the Caribbean. When I lay my prunie old head down to sleep years from now, let it be to the sound of waves crashing. Let it be to the sound of seagulls fishing. Let it be to the fisherman singing old tunes. Let it be Bob Marley that always sings me to sleep.
Nowhere else can you get this vibe. This positive, relaxed, wonderful aura. We’re pirates, we’re simple people, we’re beautiful.
We are simple people, but we offer such straightforward, fail safe wisdom on life. We have our heads wrapped around more than you think. Don’t think less of us, because we live on scattered pieces of land across the ocean.
We matter. Move down here if you don’t live here now, learn our ways, adopt them, and shed your stressed life away like old skin that once fit, but now is not much more than excess baggage.
Embrace nature, embrace simplicity. Embrace the Caribbean.
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