Kickstarter Rewards from Curacao

Thanks again to all the wonderful people who contributed to my Kickstarter project so that I could come Curacao and make a documentary about Tambu.  Some contributors were promised a postcard from Curacao, so yesterday I mailed 18 postcards! 

"Posterijen," written in Dutch on the red mailbox, means postal service.  The newer ones have a modern logo on them.

Curacao Snack: Pastechi

My favorite snack: pastechi.  It's beef, cheese, chicken, or tuna folded into (savory) dough and deep fried.

Update: I've just noticed that there's a fly in the photo.  Hahaha!  I'm glad I didn't notice that before I ate the pastechi!

Curacao's Solidarity with The Netherlands

The inscription on the side of the block the statues is standing on is a reference to The Netherlands (occupied by Nazi Germany during World War II) being thankful for the solidarity of the Netherlands Antilles (now former) Dutch colony.  The statue is just outside the governor's palace.

Curacao Government Official Interview

No, that's not me filming a government official downtown---but it could have been!  We saw the interview on TeleCuracao, one of the two local television stations, that evening.  The man in the dark suit is the TV journalist.

The bright yellow buildings you see in the background are government buildings.

Curacao Money

In the downtown area you can use dollars in many stores, but on the rest of the island you'll use Antillean Guilders, "florin" in Papiamento, the local language.  The larger round coins are 1 guilder and Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands is on one side.  Remember that Curacao is not an independent country and the highest official is the Dutch Queen.


I love the square coins, but apparently they are becoming a rarity.


In the downtown area I've seen signs that say US$1 = NAFL1.85 sometimes it's 2 to 1.

A Traditional Lunch of Curacao

Stewed beef with funchi (cornmeal, water, and salt), fried plantain, and veggies.  This particular restaurant also adds avocado, but that's not traditional.

Kickstarter and Tambu of Curaçao

The beauty of using Kickstarter---as opposed to just asking your friends for cash or a transfer on PayPal---is that there is a goal and deadline.  If you do not raise enough money by the deadline, you lose all the money you have raised up to that point.  It would be a shame if your goal were $1000 and you raised $999 and never saw a penny of it.


Kickstarter is very user-friendly, but there were more steps than I had anticipated.  For example, I had to set up a merchant account on Amazon.com and fill out and submit a W9 form so Uncle Sam can tax me.


I created a basic e-mail explaining that I wanted to make a documentary and that I was using Kickstarter as a fundraising site.  I also talked about the goal and deadline, and all-or-nothing aspect.  Then I personalized the message with the recipient's name, and sometimes a few sentences more.


Many friends thought it was a spam letter.


Several friends didn't want to create a Kickstarter account and an Amazon account.


Several friends wanted to write me a check or give me cash, not understanding the point of Kickstarter.  I don't say no to checks or cash! 


Several friends thought I was crazy to risk losing everything I had raised.  Others thought I was insane for having my campaign in the weeks before Christmas, when every charity is asking for donations and people are low on funds.


But thanks to friends and acquaintances, I made my goal in exactly two weeks, with several days to spare.  I contacted colleagues in a local professional women's networking group, most of my Facebook friends, and lots of people from my personal e-mail list.  My donations ranged from $1 to $250 with most of them right $25, just like the Kickstarter website says!


At least three people knew before I did that I reached my goal: 1) a friend who was monitoring my progress, 2) the person who made the pledge that put me right at my goal, 3) his wife.  I was away on a Christmas caroling job! 


We live in marvelous, exciting times with such mind-blowing possibilities!