20110317 The Culture of Curacao (1)

The Culture of Curacao

Dutch, Netherlands and Holland的關係如下

If you are a Dutch, you are from Netherlands.

Sometimes we call Netherlands Holland, but Holland is a part of of Netherlands.

Curacao is in the Netherland Antilles and became an independent country October 10,

autonomous from the Dutch.

autonomous adj. 自治的/有自治權的

eg: The country became autonomous over 50 years ago, but has struggled to establish a stable government.

Poverty and affluence are side by side as well, even in the touristy part of town along the harbor where the cruise ships dock.

affluence n. 豐富/富裕

eg: She displays her affluence by wearing expensive clothes and jewelry.

To get my bearings, I sign up for a three-hour tour.

get one's bearings 弄清楚自己所處的位置/熟悉環境

eg: To get my bearings, I drove back to the starting point. Then I was able to figure out which way to go.

Blo-blo lizards skitter through the cacti and a little land crab raises its claws as if to thwart this invasion by tourists.

thwart v. 阻止/阻撓

eg: Debra tried to thwart the dog attack by covering her face with her arms.