Miami

8 May 2008

My flight left at 10·30 am to Tampa and then Ft. Lauderdale. On my first flight I sat next to Diane Bell, her husband Hugh sat in front of us. She and I spoke about ourselves, sharing stories about our lives, our loves, our schooling, etc. She was pre-med back in the day (now she´s in her 70s) but left pre-med for something else as women didn't receive much respect back then to be doctors. Eventually she worked as an EMT (like me!) and she is well-traveled (like me, but more!)...she's been to China, S.Africa, Alaska, Australia, New Zealand and more. I loved her stories. When I changed planes in Tampa I had the chance to grab a Carribean style salad with grilled chicken from Chili's To Go.

On the second flight, I sat next to Juan Carlos, from Costa Rica. He was very sweet and impressed with my Spanish knowledge and love for the culture. My heart went out to him as his father was killed two months prior when trying to save a woman from a purse-snatcher in Costa Rica, he was stabbed by the thief and died soon after. He was planning to meet up with his mother who was flying in from Costa Rica. Things are much different in South America, from what I've heard and am already seeing (as I write this, I am in Peru).

After landing in Ft. Lauderdale, Peter picked me up - we walked Las Olas Blvd, visited an art gallery, shared some cherry ice cream (we bought it because we needed quarters for the parking meters, haha). Spent some time at Ft. Lauderdale beach watching pelicans feed - ¡que interesante! - they swim around, then pick up in flight, hover and check out the water and totally DIVE BOMB the fish! It's hilarious and terribly entertaining. Nature at its best.... There was even a smaller bird that did the same thing. Cute. It was so nice to see palm trees and the beach...ahhh. We ate dinner on the Strand by the water, but it wasn't that good, too touristic and the food was mediocre. We had gnocchi that were a bit salty and the salad was good, fresh, but with too much oil. Ah well. After dinner we drove to Miami and, after resting for a bit, went out walking down Ocean Blvd checking out the night life. It was busy, the bars were crazy, especially the gay bar which had a man and woman (barely dressed) dancing on the tables entertaining the crowd. The woman was their queen, with a big feathered headdress and everything, it was great.

9 May 2008

Woke up at 8am today. Peter made breakfast: tomato omlette with parmesan and a slice of toast. We sat around for a bit, me studying the Lonely Planet Miami guide book, making plans for the day and weekend. Showered, dressed and went! We drove to Target first because I needed a 2GB memory card for my camera (oop!)...then, onto Little Havana!!! We followed a walk that I found in the Lonely Planet book, starting around SW 18th St. to visit the Bay of Pigs Museum and Library. We went inside and noticed that there was a conference going on. A man came out, asked if I speak Spanish, I said yes, un poco (a little) but he rambled on anyway. He invited us to sit in on the teleconference that they were having with officials in Habana, Cuba. Everyone was speaking Spanish, there were videocameras around the room and it was a formal affair. I removed my baseball cap and listened...I didn't understand everything, but the gentleman who showed us in told me (in Spanish) a little about what was going on. I understood some anyway - the topic of discussion was the future of Cuban youth and the current bad situation that they are living in. They might not have futures, they don't have much fun, they don't have any freedom due to the Totalitarian system (Dictactorship) that is in effect. The older man sitting next to me said to me (after I asked him a question) that if we were in Cuba he and I would not be allowed to speak, only if we were married. Wow, what a foreign concept to me! So completely Orthodox, even more so than the Jewish Orthodox which I am familiar with. But this man told me how much he misses his country (as he put it, 'my country') despite the freedom he has here and the bad situation in Cuba.

After the museum we walked on to Calle Ocho (SW 8th St), which is the main road running through Little Havana. Visited two art galleries, the first being my favorite: Augustin Gainza - fanciful, fun, everyday scenes that are magical, colorful, humorous and cute. Maybe when I go back I will buy something? The second was Molina, who uses vivid colors, enlarged human features, focusing on the eyes, using birds, nudity and some phallic imagery. We also went to Maxoly art gallery but were unimpressed. For lunch we went to 'I love Calle Ocho' cafe and I ate my first Cuban sandwich, which is really another version of a tasty deli sandwich. It had ham, pork, swiss cheese, pickles and some condiments and spices on a crusty roll, mmmm... At first I was disappointed to see a toasted deli sandwich in front of me, but Peter said that's what his first Cuban sandwich was like too...so, okay! After lunch we stopped at El Cristo, the restaurant next door (suggested by Lonely Planet) for Cuban coffee. I didn't know what to ask for so I asked for cafe fuerte (strong coffee). The girl smiled and laughed at me, and made a Cuban espresso with LOTS of sugar in it...MMMM, I loved it. And I don't usually drink coffee. It was served in a small cup which we then used to pour into smaller thimble-sized cups to sip from. Very refined, hah.

We took our cafe negro con azucar (black coffee with sugar) and un pastel (a pastry) to Máximo Gomez Park to watch los viejos cubanos (old Cubans) play dominoes and chess. I took a few photos and then noticed that one of the tables of older ladies was missing a fourth player. So...I walked over and said, 'Con permiso. Hola, me llamo Sarah.' (Esxcuse me, hi, my name is Sarah...easy to understand, right?) They said it was nice to meet me - mucho gusto - and invited me to sit and play. I told them in broken Spanish that I have only played once or twice in my life with friends and don't remember everything. That was okay, they taught me as we went along. Two of the ladies were kind enough to display their usual style of fighting and yelling at one another while playing, haha, I thought it was hilarious. I started to play (quite well actually!) and then a thunderstorm rolled in for over and hour and I ended up playing for about two hours! I won more games than anyone a the table! Peter was there, taking photos and just observing the workings of the game. It was a blast...a dream come true, seriously! I have imagined parks full of domino and chess players, always dreaming of myself sitting at one of the tables. And now? Realidad!

After the rain passed we continued our walk down Calle Ocho to Cuban Memorial Blvd (I think that's the name). There we saw the memorial statue for Brigade 2506, honoring the Cubans who died fighting in the Bay of Pigs invasion.

This night, we ate dinner at Yuca on Lincoln Rd., Cuban food. It was haughty, the waiter barely broke a smile, the food was good but overpriced. Also, the waiter was insistent on me consuming an alcoholic bevy...I joked that I am a lightweight (trying to make him laugh) and before dinner wouldn't drink. But as soon as I ordered my food he asked again! Sheesh, you'd think that if I wanted it I would ask?! I ate a salad and then baby back ribs with fried yuca (a root veggie) and some sort of slaw. I could only eat one rib as it was so hot to the touch and the heat of the day had taken away some of my appetite, but it was yummy. After dinner we walked around Lincoln Rd. to see all the freaks who come out at night (literally, there are some weirdos there!)...then we went upstairs at Yuca for some salsa dancing. ¡Hay mucho talento en el piso! There was so much talent on the dance floor! The Cuban salsa dancers really know how to move. There was some casino rueda, a Cuban style salsa where you dance in a circle with others, constantly changing partners, but mostly everyone danced as couples. I danced with Peter and a few other guys. One really sketchy Cuban guy, a nice American guy (great dancer and had a huge grin on his face the whole night, he clearly loves salsa!) and an American-born Cuban, Enrique, who lives in NYC. We laughed about me loving the Red Sox and him loving the Yankees and he was fun on the floor - patient when I screwed up and willing to teach me new moves. Alright! We stayed about three hours and then head home, my feet were sore!


10 May 2008

Woke at 9.30am today, ate strawberry yogurt, plátanos mazanos (little bananas), raisins and then later some of the leftover Cuban sandwich, before we left the apartment. Drove to Key Biscayne and spent most of our time in the Bill Baggs State Park. Here, no one spoke English!!! haha It was hilarious - we went to the welcome booth to hire a bike for me to ride (Peter brought his) and the man behind the counter started speaking in Spanish and then when I said, 'Huh?' he asked if I speak Spanish. I said yes, un poco (a little...I have to lie and say 'a little' or else people will talk my ears off and I will stand there clueless!), ha. I hired a cruising bike for $5/hour and we took off, first visiting el baño (the bathroom). Ugh, it was disgusting. I think I saw the woman clean the sinks with the same brush she used to clean the toilets, blech. I wouldn´t recommend visiting that bathroom! We rode around for an hour and a half, part of the time outside the state park in the city area. We passed a little pond where I snapped a few photos of some iguanas and turtles, then a sign that said, LINDA B., like my mom! I'll show you later mom :) I hoped to see manatees in an area where everyone fishes on a concrete wall in the park, but we were off to return the bike and go for a swim to rinse off our sweat. The water was nice, albeit a bit chilly and completely refreshing.

After swimming we ate lunch at the Lighthouse cafe. We didn't get to see the lighthouse because tours only run from 10am to 1pm each day and we arrived around 1pm. Ah well... Lunch conisted of tamales (one for each of us), a big salad for me and fried yuca for Peter. We drank water. The hot sauce they had there was delicious! I poured it all over my tamal and my face was sweating like crazy, and, of course, I enjoyed every moment!

After lunch we drove back to South Beach (where Peter lives) and made plans with Glen D. and Liz for dinner and art. Glen D. and Liz went to URI too, crazy huh?! All these RI transplants. Oh and later on, Andrei, a Russian friend of Peter's, met up with us...he used to live in RI too! Crazy. Before going out, Peter picked up another Cuban coffee for us...though I diddn't think it was as good as the one in Little Havana...but I may be biased. At 7pm we met Glen and Liz at Andiámo for pizza - we tried two pizzas, each with different halves, so four kinds of pizza: Mediterranean with feta, peppers, dried tomato, cheese, red sauce; one with rosemary potatoes, goat cheese, onion, garlic, oil, no red sauce (my choice and the best one we ordered!); BBQ chicken and veg (didn't try it as I had eaten BBQ the night before, but it smelled delish!); and portabella mushies, dried tomato, cheese, red sauce. Also a large salad for us four. All was excellent!

Next, we drove to the Design District for a night of art gallery browsing, it was an open night, free viewings, live music, free wine and candies (Tootsie Rolls and Werther´s toffee, mmm). We started on the corner of N Miami Rd. and NW 40th St. at the Art Fusion gallery. Andrei met up with us there. I enjoyed this first gallery more than the others...there were works by various artists, ranging from okay to excellent (my scale, ha). Some of the artists were there to talk about their art and represent their work. There was a live jam band outside. I grabbed a white wine on the way in and a Tootsie Roll on the way out :) At one point, when we were inside the gallery, I smiled at a guy and he then asked if I was the artist. I was shocked, haha...I said no, but then, jokingly, said 'Yes, how do you like my work?'

We walked around for another hour or two, checking out other galleries and a furniture store, a little bamboo-covered outdoor patio with couches and random DJ playing music, and decided to rest at a bar for drinks and conversation. We ended up at a nice bar with outdoor tables and couches, but as there was nothing available outside, we sat inside at the bar. Luckily there were five stools just waiting for us! Liz and I had delicious Mojitos with lots of yummy mint, the guys had beer and Campari and orange. We tried to get dessert at Michael's, a restaurant in the Design District, but there were no seats. So, we decided to go to the Grove (Coconut Grove, where Glen and Liz live). Andrei went home and we four moved on to the next locale.

We met up with G&L at their totally cute apartment on Mary Street. Walked down to Tú Tú Tango, the restaurant where Liz works. I had a random hankering for Créme Bruleé, and lucky me, they had some! C.A. this is for you --- it was lavendar flavored! I was talking to my friend Cristian a day or two prior about eating things with lavendar in them and how I had never tried them. Now was my chance! I ordered the lavendar-infused Créme Bruleé, Liz ordered the cookies and ice cream and Glen order the chocolately goodness dessert, of which I cannot remember the name, but it came with chocolate brownies, truffles, dipping sauce and strawberries. All were good, once again. I LOVED the Créme Bruleé! After dessert we went to G&L's apartment to chat some more, then went back to South Beach for bedtime.


11 May 2008

Woke 9am. Brekky on Lincoln Rd. at Paul. I ate poached eggs topped with tomato, spinach and hollandaise sauce over a thick slice of toasted Brioche, with a side salad. MMMM...perfecto! Walked around Lincoln Rd. and Peter bought las frutas frescas (fresh fruit) from his favorite street vendor. I could have handled the transaction in Spanish but was too tired at that moment. I needed to rest! After that we went down to the beach and walked in the sand until we got to around 10th St. near Peter's place. We rented an umbrella for $12 because the sun was so hot. It was in the 90s, lucky us!!! I wore sunscreen but still felt the sun on my shoulders, hot as could be. I stood with my feet in the water and my ear to my cell phone for about an hour, talking to Mom - HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY! - and friends. After about two hours at the beach, we went back to Peter's apartment so I could pack, shower and eat some leftover pizza before going to the airport.

At the airport I met up with Carlos atTerminal H and then we checked our bags with LAN airlines. Woohoo, the time has come! Carlos picked up a sandwich and we sat talking for a bit. This was to be my last night with English for twelve days, so I soaked it up! After the snack we went through security, which was easy as pie...except that I forgot about the water in my Nalgene bottle, so I had to exit back to the check-in side of security, pour it out and go through again. Ha! 'Dese tings, they 'appen!' said Sebastian from The Little Mermaid.

Once through security, we had about five hours to spend in the airport before our flight time. So, I talked on the phone a bit, walked around for a few hours near the gate...I couldn't bear to sit for the time before and during the flight. So...at 1:30am we left...¡vamos a Peru!