If you'd ask Arubans what their favorite time of the year is, I'd bet money that most of the answers will be 'tempo di fin di anja' (end of the year}. It's not more than a logical choice, of course, what with the food, the lights, togetherness of friends and family, etc. etc. and so forth.
A great deal of preparation goes into this time of year, what with the house cleaning for visitors and the hanging up of the lights and just all around sprucing up of your home.
However, there is a bit of a disturbing trend going on, I think. The end of year is December. You could, possibly, stretch it back to November. Aruba has stretched it even further back to October, just because. But I'm drawing the line at September. It seems that others have no problem with blithely proclaiming that "the season is upon us already". Uhm, no, it isn't.
September, people. Christmas doesn't last 4 months. FOUR MONTHS!! I mean, I love this time of year just as much as the next person, but I do not see the advantages of stretching such a special time to cover a third of the year. It's ridiculous. It cheapens the entire season, which to the overwhelming majority of Arubans is a very solemn part of their religion.
I understand that the season is commercialized. But you might just have backfired when you start with the talk of holidays so early that I become sick and tired of it by the time that the season actually arrives.
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