s01e01 Rachel: I was supposed to be headed for Aruba on my honeymoon...

 

What is Aruba?

Ross grabs himself a glass of orange juice and approaches Rachel in the kitchen. He pretends to casually wonder what is it Rachel up to tonight.

Rachel: Let’s see I was kinda supposed to be headed for Aruba for on my honeymoon, so nothing! 

What is Aruba? And does this destination have an extra meaning I might be missing?

What is Aruba? Why do friends know it so well? And how is it symbolic for Rachel not to go to Aruba?

My name is Katia and this is Grab a Spoon. Here we overthink the world of FRIENDS, one joke at a time.

So what is Aruba? Aruba is a paradise like island. Ok but why do I hear about the island for the first time? And why every friends character seems to know it?

There are a couple of reasons.

Firstly, Aruba used to belong to the Kingdom of Netherlands. The Dutch have left quite a trace there: the language, the architecture, the second passport option for Arubians. Why not some mindset too? Dutch culture is famous for its gravitation to normality and being NOT loud. And that is why Arubians aren’t making the big enough news for me to hear of them.

Secondly Aruba is situated on the other side of the globe for me. Somewhere next to Venezuela and Columbia. It makes sense why I’ve never heard about Aruba. It is really far away from me. 

But guess where the 73 percent of tourists in Aruba come from? Yes, from right above it, the North America. 

So both the don’t stand out culture plus the far away part makes it clear why I hear about Aruba never.

But let’s take a closer look at the symbolics here.

Why authors send Barry and Rachel to the Aruba island? Why not to Hawaii? Or to Costa Rica?

I found that the island name is a key. 

There are quite a few ways to translate Aruba: a companion, a place where the gold used to be, but the one that really stuck with me comes from Arabic language.

Aruba in Arabic is a name for a girl and it translates «the one, who loves her husband». 

Here!

Rachel chooses not to go to Aruba, because she is not Aruba. Rachel is NOT the one, who loves her husband to be. Rachel’s friend Mindy does though! And Rachel’s friend Mindy is the one who goes to Aruba and aims to become a loving wife for Barry instead. 

So there you have it! Aruba is a beautiful and quite island. And if you go there for the honeymoon, make sure you love your husband and live up to the local standard.

I wonder if there are islands where it is for guys a must to love their wives)

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Did I get this joke right? Share your takes in the comment section!