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LOCAL Tuesday 1 OcTOber 2024

Aruba Tourism Authority honored loyal visitors at Divi Aruba

Phoenix Beach Resort!

The Aruba Tourism Authority recently had the ginia, United States.
great pleasure of recognizing Distinguished Vis-
itors of Aruba. The honorees were respectively Mr. Jorgino Willems representing the Aruba Tour-
honored with a certificate for their years of visits, ism Authority, and staff members of Divi Aruba
loyalty, and love for the island of Aruba. Phoenix Beach Resort bestowed the certificate
upon the honorees, presented them with gifts,
The honorary certification is presented on be- and thanked them for choosing Aruba as their
half of the Minister of Tourism as a token of ap- favorite vacation destination, as their home
preciation and to say “Masha Danki” to guests away from home.
who have visited Aruba 10, 20, or 35 years or
more consecutively. The top reasons for returning to Aruba provided
by the honorees were:
The three levels of honor are as follows: • Aruba’s people.
Distinguished Visitor (10>years consecutively vis- • Aruba’s beaches.
iting Aruba) • Aruba’s restaurants.
Goodwill Ambassador (20>years consecutively • “Ease of getting around”
visiting Aruba) • “Night life choices”
Emerald Ambassador (35>years consecutively
visiting Aruba) On behalf of the Aruba Tourism Authority, we
would like to express our sincere gratitude and
The honorees were: appreciation to the honorees for their contin-
Distinguished Visitors ued visits to the “One Happy Island”.q
Mr. Otha & Mrs. Patricia from Chesterfield Vir-

Aruba’s neighborhoods; the meaning behind their names

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

This neighborhood’s abbreviation This neighborhood’s abbreviation
is; A. is; AV.q