She was a victim of a holdup, and instead of becoming a marginal news item, she became a national celebrity, with two animated shorts to her name, radio commercials, tee shirts, a music remix of her interview with reporter Speed Andrade, and a substantial number of fans: Her initial interview with him was viewed 177K times, shared 2,424 times, and liked 3.5k times. Her older sister’s interview had a mere 46K views, 475 shares, and 997 comments, it was not as spunky as the original.
You’re probably asking why? Why did a 78-year-old command so much attention?
It’s her spirit, her joy of life, her no-filter expressions, a kind of zany, naïve outpouring, her Creole slang, showing off amazing courage and a steely character in the face of a difficult situation.
The attacker surprised her as she was watching TV at her home, and demanded gold. She showed him her custom jewelry and accused him of being crazy for thinking, she would have any valuables in the house. He left with her wallet, some cash, credit cards, which she is proud of, and her phone.
During the attack she managed to lock her ailing sister in the bathroom, away from harm’s way, call the police and discourage the low-life from looking any further around her home.
I guess Speed had time that day, because he let Clarita ramble on for more than 8 minutes, a charming and comic cascade of wisdom, peppered by her observations about people, money, work and the Police. She loved every minute of the air time, and the public loved her. This was not a vulnerable little old lady, this was a force of nature which you did not want to mess with.
Best of all, she said, the handsome Policemen swarming her property, responsive and impressed by her good-looking surroundings. People are always zelos of her, she explained, they are loco!
Clarita Aruba loves you!
Kudos to Plastic Beach Party
During the Grand Carnival Parade in Oranjestad, Plastic Beach Party, a non-profit, offered to pick up and recycle trash against a small donation for the cause of sustainability. Seventy families signed up, at the end of which Plastic Beach Party collected 17.5 kilo di plastic, 10.7 kilo di aluminum cans and 50 kilo glass bottles, with the following breakdown 1.240 cups 564 bottles 97 forks and other food packaging including 32 sauce/fruit cups.
The bottles went to Brouwerij Nacional Balashi N.V. for upcycling and the cans to Daltra Antilles N.V. for recycling.
Plastic Beach Party promotes a circular island economy and their Carnival recycling efforts were helped by volunteers, students of the Universidad di Aruba and the MAGEC environmental group. They were also assisted by the Marinierskazerne in Savaneta, that allocated space behind its steel band trailer for collected plastic before the Last Lap, and the final clean up.
The Metabolic Foundation, mother company of Plastic Beach Party, operates the first plastic recycling location on Aruba at Flemmingstraat #26 in Oranjestad, open every Saturday from 12 noon to 6pm. You may contact them on Whatsapp +297 630 2475 or check them out at www.plasticbeachparty.com for more information about their activities.
