Isn't this a lovely picture? This beautiful strip of blue sea belongs to a beach at the most eastern end of the island. The water is very clear, not rough at all, and generally not too crowded.It is also a source of irritation to me.
But, arubagirl! you might think reproachfully, How can this beautiful beach be a source of irritation? Before you move on to call me nuts, let me explain.
I've known this beach all my life as Roger's Beach. That's how it appeared on maps, that's how locals and tourists would refer to it. "Oh, you're going to Roger's Beach?" "Excuse me, can you tell me where Roger's Beach is?" "Girl, you totally should come to Maria's party at Roger's Beach".
At some point, however, somebody in a position of power decided that 'Roger's Beach' simply wasn't sexy enoughfor this beach. Their choice? 'Coco Beach'. How original. Not to mention that there are hardly any palm trees there, so the name is a bit misleading.
Ordinarily, at the news of a name change I would shrug my shoulders, roll my eyes, and sigh. However, Roger's Beach is not the first place to have to change names in order to suit somebody's notion of what 'cool names' are.
Perhaps it's a sign of me getting older, this clinging to the names that I'm used to from my childhood. However, I also fear that this cavalier changing of names of streets, buildings and now beaches is being done without realizing that we're removing a bit of history, a bit of uniqueness from our island. And neither Arubans or Aruba deserve that.
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