Page 7 - aruba-today-20240425

a7
local Thursday 25 april 2024
Aruba’s neighborhoods; the meaning behind their names

Ayo
Ajo, or Ayo, is a word with Arawak-Indian origin.
A (or Ha) is an Indo-Antillean generalizing word. This neighborhood’s abbreviation is; A.
If you were to change a part of the word “Ayo”,
namely ‘Yo’, to ‘Yu’ and make ‘Ayu’, it would Alto Vista
mean “white.”
This word combination can be roughly translat-
ed to a ‘high point of view’ and the neighbor-
However, as we now know, the name of the hood received this name from the Hill.
neighborhood is ‘Ayo’. The word ‘Yo’ stands for
Yocahu, which is another word for ‘creator’ in
Just like any other country, Aruba has unique Arawak/Taino and in the Papiamento spoken In the surrounding areas, DomingoAntonia Sil-
and beautifully named neighborhoods that today, ‘Ayo’ means ‘bye’. vestre built his by his own means the very first
all form a part of its culture and development. chapel or church of Aruba. The walls of this
Many of these names have a historical back- At Ayo, you can find some of the most well church were made with rocks but the roof was
ground and meaning that teaches us about the known rock formations. These formations be- made of dry corn stalks. The church was inau-
island and its rich culture every day. came a well loved and visited attraction at gurated by father Pablo Algemesi
Aruba that is held in high regards by both tour-
With this series, we want to take you on a jour- ists and locals alike. If you’d like to know more about the Alto Vista
ney of discovery, where you’ll learn not only the Church’s beautiful history, stay tuned for our
beautiful names but the history behind it that If you’d like to know more about the rock for- article where we tell you all you need to know
gives it life and meaning. mations at Ayo, stay tuned for our article where about it for when you visit it.
we tell you all about its location and history. This neighborhood’s abbreviation is; AV.

Aruban legends:

Frenchman’s Pass

(Oranjestad)—If you ever was known as Frenchman’s
plan on taking a group Pass, and there have been
tour of the island, you may many accounts of spirits
pass through the French- roaming the area of Span-
man’s Pass in Balashi. The ish Lagoon.
Frenchman’s pass (known
to locals as “Franse Pas”) There are many ghost sto-
remains a mysterious—and ries surrounding this area,
spooky—road of which its but one of the most famous
legend is told from genera- one involves a lonely hitch-
tion to generation. hiker, trying to find a ride
back home in the dark
The history of the French- rainy night.
man’s pass—and how it got
its name—dates back to Sometime after trying to
the colonization era, when hitchhike, the man saw a
the French tried to colo- car approaching, appear-
nize the island, but were ing almost ghost-like in the
met with an angry mob of rain. However, since he
indigenous settlers, refusing needed a ride real bad,
to give up their land. How- he didn’t think twice and road and crash, he saw a grew quiet, because they
ever, as the French were jumped in. But to his horror, hand appear out the win- realized he wasn’t some French man’s pass is one
heavily equipped with fire he noticed that the there dow and turn the wheel. drunk messing around; he of the few sites on the is-
arms, the indigenous set- was no driver in the front. For the next few turns, the was telling the truth. land that keeps the locals
tlers began to retreat, and Paralyzed with fear, he hand appeared again. Af- on their toes. While most
hid away in nearby caves. didn’t dare to get out, and ter having had enough, the Sometime later, two men ghost stories may not have
The French colonizers tried the car started to move. man decided to jump out walked into the bar and real grounds—or some may
to smoke them out of the and he ran to Santa Cruz. one of them noticed the even be a set up story for a
caves, but the indigenous When approaching a hitchhiker. He called out to joke, this pass contributes a
settlers ended up inhal- sharp turn, the hitch hiker Arriving at a nearby bar, his buddy and said: “Look, lot to our culture of folkloric
ing too much smoke and braced for impact, but just he ordered a drink and be- there’s the idiot who sat story-telling.q
most died in those caves. when he though the car gan to tell everyone about in our car when we were
From then on, this passage might drive straight off the his experience. Everyone pushing it!” Source: visitaruba.com