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go with the family; there are no parks; Washington Park is for adults; and no theaters. There are a lot of people who are doing many things for the kids, but in fact the beach is the only place where you can go as a family. It's totally different when you grow up in a big country where you can go and see places and do all kinds of things. So whenever it's possible, we go to Aruba or at least to Curaçao with the boys. There are a lot of limitations here, but on the other hand, it's nice, it feels like a big neighborhood; everybody knows everybody. It's secure and the children are safe. Here they have other kinds of things that you don't find in a big city, here they can play free! I guess there is no such thing as the perfect place!
The best thing in my life is the time I spend with my family. Everything else is material, even traveling. I like to live quietly. It's a real advantage that you're everywhere in two minutes, that I can skip work and take the boys to their swimming lessons, see them for half an hour because I feel like it, not only at night when they're already asleep, like it happens when you live and work in a big city.
In a city like Caracas there are so many things you need to do every day, and often if you're lucky, you do only one thing! Here you can finish everything in half a day! I've learned to value a lot of things that don't exist in the city anymore. In many ways life in a small town is much easier, but" he laughs: "For a divorce I suppose it's really horrible!  We have a saying: "pueblo chiquito, infierno grande!" (little town, big fire)
Nevertheless, we're planning to build our house here next year, but I don't know if we'll stay here forever. Maybe later, when the kids are older we'll move to another country. It all depends.
The situation in our country, Venezuela, is growing worse every day. I hadn't been there for a year and a half when I went last July. It was really different: many poor people, people without work at every level from low to high. This man Chavez is really crazy. He's waiting for something to happen: complete chaos, a civil war and then he will take off his mask. He bought the military part; they are the only ones who have money. What can citizens do when they go out in the streets to demonstrate and they are confronted by the military? He and his people are always doing something to delay, to slow down the democratic actions of the opposition. There is no way that we will achieve anything in a peaceful and democratic way. There are more poor people than ever before. One crazy man can destroy a whole country! And if he goes, it still will take a lot of time, 10 to 15 years or longer, for the country to recover.
Although I'm not living in Venezuela any more, it worries me very much. It's my country and our family lives there. My father is still alive. He's 64, practicing Kung Fu and body building every day. He's slim and in perfect condition, a really healthy man, unlike my brother and me! We're fat! I practiced Kung Fu starting when I was 12 until I was 25, black belt. When I came here I started to work out in the gym, but five years ago I was in an accident with a forklift and I fractured my foot in several places. After the operations I could only swim or bike and I gained 12 kilos! Last January my family gave me a bike for my birthday, but I've only used it three times! So I have to do something about it!" He laughs: "There is always something to complain about! I grew to like Bonaire. When we arrived there were lots of limitations; now it's much better. The people are very kind and the fact that everybody knows you is a nice feeling. Once, when I was doing a job somewhere at a company, the mailman came to deliver the mail for them. He looked at me and said, 'Oh, I have a letter for you, wait a minute!' He went to the car, came back with the letter that was addressed to my home address, handed it over to me and said: "You see, I know who you are!"  Greta Kooistra

"I came for a vacation in May '92. The same year, in November, I applied for a job as a civil engineer with the people who were constructing "The Point," now the Plaza. Before we took off for Bonaire, my girlfriend of five years, Luisa Bravo, and I got married in Caracas. I'd known her for a long time before we fell in love. We'd lived in the same neighborhood; her brother was a good friend of my brother; and my father knew her father.
In the beginning it was really hard for her. She'd given up her job in Caracas and she had nothing to do. For me it was a challenge. When I arrived here construction was booming; there was a lot of work. It was a real good opportunity, but I worked only a few months at "The Point" when they stopped construction as they were not selling anything.
I started working for Marine Construction Company and in January 1996 I started my own company, APA Construction N.V. In Venezuela I was a graduate civil and industrial engineer, and I'd had extensive experience in construction, inspection and project engineering. I was working in industrial and government projects with the national oil company PDVSA, the telephone company CANTV, the power company, the aluminum company, a 250-town house residential project and private projects as well. So I knew I had a lot to offer and with all the good references I got good work and the business was growing.
In fact," he says with a big grin, "I started two businesses in 1996 because our son Asdrubal Daniel was born that same year and for the first time I became a father! That's the best job I ever had!" Asdrubal Marcano (38) is a big, handsome guy with enormous arms and a nice boyish face. Very relaxed, he's lounging on the couch, watching his sons playing, fighting, crying and laughing, and he intervenes patiently whenever it's necessary. "In 1998 Luis Hanibal was born, and Luisa, who had been working several jobs, became a full time mother. But because she'd studied business administration, she took care of the company's administration. We were doing well; we constructed a new building and a restaurant, a pool and walkways at Buddy Dive, and we did the architectural and engineering design of the main office and front desk building. At Lions Dive we built the maintenance building, renovated the front office premises as well as walkways and the pool deck. For Habitat, we remodeled 16 junior suites, the main office building, restaurant, kitchen, bar, pathways and the swimming pool. At Plaza we remodeled the Tipsy Seagull. For Hotel Rochaline we remodeled six rooms and we built Watta Burger. Then at Eden Beach we constructed Bongo's Beach Bar. At Harbour Village we remodeled two private apartments. For BOPEC we built the reinforced concrete pre-cast canalization and pump foundations to relocate the 2,000 gpm fire fighting pumps, as well as the relocation of the horizontal diesel fuel tank. We also built the new Bonaire Reporter office and a number of private houses. We've always been busy, thank God, but there was a bad period between 1998 and 2002.
It's going better now. This year I had a lot of work and I feel more movement in construction, especially for bigger projects. However, not everybody feels like this. The situation is hard and many companies don't have work. There are many construction outfits on this island who will undercut the competition. They don't pay taxes or insurance and they take away a lot of clients from the established companies. Everybody needs work; everybody has to eat, I understand. It's a simple reality. Bonaire is a competitive market.
For me, the important thing is work, no matter what. That's why I survived here. At times I've had 35 employees. Now I have 14, but for 8 people I have work continuously. For all these years I've worked with them. We're a team; we're all round. In general, all the builders have good relations on this island and I am happy when everybody has work. For me the service we're giving is really, really important to make sure our client is happy. Not the profit as much because if clients are happy they send you others. Continuity is more important than making fast money.
Last year my wife opened the Seahorse Cyber Café on Kaya Grandi. The place is good; it's going. In fact it's doing like Bonaire is doing: one day up, one day down! Luisa's there now. We're leaving tomorrow for the States and she has to arrange many things. I'm going to the Miami Construction Show and after that we'll go with the boys to Orlando for a short vacation.
Sometimes I feel that on this island there are no places where you can

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