5/23/2025
Bom Dia Aruba: A Caribbean Island That’s Not What You Expect
5/23/2025They call it One Happy Island, and to be fair, Aruba lives up to its nickname. Beneath the polished glamour of upscale resorts and year-arou...
They call it One Happy Island, and to be fair, Aruba lives up to its nickname. Beneath the polished glamour of upscale resorts and year-around sunshine, Aruba is actually full of surprises. For starters, I had no idea what language to greet people in. “Hola” felt natural to me - this is the Caribbean, right? But that wasn't how locals greeted each other. After some eavesdropping, I cracked the code: “Bom Dia.” Not Dutch, not Spanish, but Papiamento - a mix of Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and African languages. This basically sums it up: Aruba isn’t what you expect, and that’s exactly why it’s worth exploring.