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LOCAL Thursday 17 OcTOber 2024

Another Treasure of Aruba’s Beaches: Sea Glass!

in the water long enough is and clear glass which are Even if we didn’t mean to working at the airport have
“Sea glass. the soft much loved “soft pollute the Beaches how we no problem you taking sea
drink” bottles. did, it is inspiring to see just glass home. A few of those
The colorful pieces of glass how the earth can correct pieces make great souvenirs.
are being used for decora- If you like to see the sea glass our mistakes. You can place them in a
tion, handcrafts and jewelry! for yourself, and be in awe of wine glass or large bottle for
Once glass makes its way the power of nature, rent a Funny, how trash can decoration and every time
into the ocean, the glass is car or jeep and go explore change into treasures! you look at it a smile will light
broken up into shards and is our deserted beaches on Everybody knows that you up your face thinking back
tumbled around in the wa- the north side of the island. are not allowed to take local of your unforgettable Aruba
ter, where sand and other Make it a fun family day! shells home, but the people vacation! q
rocks act like sandpaper to
smooth out its rough edges.
Sometimes as the sea glass
NOORD - It is hard to imag- is passed through fire, it be- Aruba to me
ine this happening today, but comes fire glass, the rarest of
years ago people dumped sea glass with certain inclu- ORANJESTAD — You are back and we
all kinds of refuse straight sions, just like precious gems. would like to portrait you! By inviting you
into the ocean, including to send us your favorite vacation picture
old cars, and their household For years, the water beat while enjoying our Happy Island.
garbage, which of course in- against the different kinds of
cluded lots of glass. Over the trash being dumped. Glass, Complete the sentence: Aruba to me is
next 30 years the pounding household appliances and ……. Send your picture with that text (in-
waves cleaned the beach, even motor parts were dis- cluding your name and where you are
by breaking down every- carded on the beach. The from) to: news@arubatoday.com and we
thing but glass and pottery. waves and weather condi- will publish your vacation memory. Isn’t
The pounding waves washed tions wore down the over- that a special way to keep your best mo-
the trash up and down, back whelming amount of gar- ments alive? Please do note: By submitting
and forth. Tons of polished, bage in the water, creating photos, text or any other materials, you
broken glass pieces were millions of beautiful smooth give permission to The Aruba Today News-
created by the pounding rocks. paper, Caribbean Speed Printers and any
surf. These smoothened, of its affiliated companies to use said ma-
colored glass particles then It’s hard to believe the short- terials, as well as names, likeness, etc. for loved the island so much that they re-
settled along the sea shore in sighted mistakes we were promotional purposes without compensa- turned to celebrate their wedding an-
millions, and that is why you making that could have po- tion. niversary in October of 1989 when they
can find these beautiful and tentially ruined these beauti- Last but not least: check out our website, purchased time sharing at the luxurious
colorful pieces on the north ful beaches. But thanks to Instagram and Facebook page! Thank Amsterdam Manor where construction
shore beaches of Aruba. natural processes, the ocean you for supporting our free newspaper, we was nearly completed at the time.
transformed the trash into strive to make you a happy reader every
Especially on the strip on the sea glass. day again. We fell in love with the Island and his
white sand between the Each colored gem on the For today we received a lovely message people and of course the weather and
famous Natural Bridge” and beach has its own story. from Ron and Maria Itri of Boston Massa- the beautiful architecture and location
the huge red anchor close chusetts USA who are shown arriving in of Amsterdam Manor. And we have
to “Grapefield” beach you The ruby red glass stones Aruba in October of 1990. been returning every year to celebrate
will be able to find your own are typically from old car They wrote to us saying: “Photo was taken our anniversary with the exception of 2
pieces of sea glass. The sea tail-lights. at Aruba Airport where they were greeted years during the pandemic.We consid-
glass that was created is the by Native Arubans and presented with er Aruba our second home and hope
product of a very long and Then, the sapphire rocks flowers as they disembarked from the air- to come back for many more years to
interesting process. It can are the remnants of bro- liner which was traditional way of greeting come if God Allows.”
take anywhere from 10 to ken apothecary bottles. vacationers to Aruba during the 1990's.
30 years to make sea glass. The most common and the Thank you for sending us this wonderful
The name for any piece of easiest to find are the brown Ron and Maria first came to Aruba on message sharing what Aruba means to
glass that finds its way to the (Amstel & Polar beer), green their honeymoon in October of 1988 and you with us and our readers!q
ocean and tumbles around (Heineken & Balashi beer)