Tourista Ariba Mi Isla

It’s nice to offer visitors a tour of SN, it is after all the biggest outdoor art gallery in the Caribbean. Last week we toured Cleo, from Atlanta, via St. Vincent, an island girl.

We did this and the other, including a divine saltfish stuffed Johnny cake at Groteberg snacks, took a lovely dip in the ocean, and visited Botanica de Los Santos at the end of the main street.

We were looking for a love potion, and perused the herbs, religious candles, statuary, amulets, oils, perfumes and incenses, at Zeppenveldt Straat 78. Don’t blink, you’ll miss it. The Botanica’s director advice was free and plentiful, the products guarantying good-luck and prosperity, reasonably priced.

We did not visit a single museum. Apparently all three SN museums are closed and have been for a while.  No money for museums.

I heard the other day on the Xclusivo Virtual Debate an exchange about government portfolios, in which the pairing of Economic Development and Tourism was recommended, while the Finance portfolio, the debate suggested, deserved an exclusive minister, focused on nothing else.

In our case, Culture was paired with Finance, AND Economic Development, an odd coupling, which from my point of view left culture without resources, thus nothing for the museums in SN.

The museums are managed by a foundation that closed their doors in March 2019, and kept them dormant.

Think about New York, Barcelona or Amsterdam without museums? Impossible.

Anyway, we should pay more attention to Culture. The last four years were very lean.

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May 29, 2021
Rona Coster