“This coffee grinder belonged to my grandmother. When she roasted coffee the smell would spread into the house. I loved the smell, that’s why I kept the grinder. Back then everybody in the neighborhood roasted coffee in their house. They would buy the beans at the so-called bentana shops. Now they are known as tokos.”

Ilona tells us about Otrobanda, a lively, mixed neighborhood where most of Curaçao’s successful artists, sportspeople and small business owners were born and raised. Otrobanda faced tough times when from the 1950s onwards many people moved to modern neighborhoods like Damacor, Cas Cora en Van Engelen.

The formerly flourishing district became a site of vacant buildings. To make matters worse, a huge traffic ramp was built that cut the neighborhood in half. In the last 25 years Otrobanda is on the rise again. Most new initiatives focus on improving living conditions, renovating monuments and stimulating tourism.