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LOCAL Tuesday 29 december 2020

Christmas lights in Aruba

ORANJESTAD — Christmas in Aruba would not be com-
plete without a visit to see the Christmas Lights around the
island. By just driving around on the main roads you can
enjoy a variety of creativity with colorful lights being dis-
played on various Aruban homes. Also the majority of the
round-abouts are decorated.

If you are lucky enough you might hear Christmas carols
and “gaitas” at any of these locations but also at the malls
and stores. Gaita is a style of Venezuelan folk music from
Maracaibo in Zulia State. It is possibly derived from gaits,
the Gothic word for goat, the animal whose skin gener-

ally is used for the membrane
of the furro instrument (kind of
tambura with stick). Other instru-
ments used in gaita include ma-
racas, cuatro, charrasca and
tambora (Venezuelan drum).
Song themes range from humor-
ous and love songs to protest
songs. The local gaita bands are
composed mostly of a group
of ladies who sing with angelic
voices while they dance in a
choreographic manner.
The map shown here will give you
an overview of the most popular
decorated places around the is-
land. So hop into your car or call
a taxi driver to go around and
enjoy the spectacular Christmas
scenes. q