J is a blank -- #Curacao expressions on #AtoZChallenge 2015

There are no words that start with J in Papiamentu.

I knew you wouldn't believe me, so here's a screenshot of the dictionary.
Last word in the I section is italiano. Then comes the J section. Then comes the K.

No words with J. None.

How cool is that?

(Not that I have anything against J; it's just I find these quirks of Papiamentu fascinating.)

Because Papiamentu predominantly uses phonetic spelling, all the J words borrowed from other languages are spelled with either a Y (the Dutch jaloers, jealous, becomes yalurs) or an H (justice becomes hustisia; the Spanish for judge, juez, becomes hués).

Which leaves me in a bind for the J post. I thought about going up to the beaches of San Juan--breathtaking little coves you totally would love to see, I know it--but, technically, it's San Juan. Same thing with St. Joris, my favorite dog beach.

And then I thought:

Jeremi!

[JEH-reh-mee]

(yep... just like Jeremy. But the i makes it Curaçao ;) )

A deserted Jeremi from the sky.
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Jeremi Beach. A secluded paradise on the Western tip of the island...

See that yellow circle the yellow arrow is pointing to?
That's Jeremi.

Well, secluded during the week. It's a favorite of the locals (Curaçao people are known for their taste), so on weekends it will not look like the photos above.

But during the week? Aahhh...

It's such a hard, stressful life, isn't it?
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Update on the guessing game:
No one got hofi. I'm floored. I suck. It was too hard, I think, and my hints weren't all that helpful. Hofi is yard, or garden. Dogs need a large enough hofi to live in. There's a new hofi near our place that started a farmer's market, the first in Curaçao.

I apologize. My bad. So here's a new rule: if no one gets the right answer or even comes close, everyone that guessed will have their names added to the raffle. So all of you who took a shot at hofi -- and I love your creativity! -- are now in to win a collection of short stories about Curaçao. Sound fair? The way I see it, you shouldn't have to pay the price for my incompetence :)

Bon wikent! (Care to guess on this one? ;) )