Miami 2011

After much anticipation, the day finally arrived and we were in Miami. We were greeted at the airport by  most of my family with the traditional, unhealthy amount of Cuban bakery goods. We had croquetas de jamon, pastelitos de queso, guayaba y carne, Goya Maria cookies, sponge rusk (baked pound cake), papa rellenas, rollitos de queso, among other seriously heavenly treats. My mom also surprised me with a tostonera (to make tostones) and a flanera (to make flans)!

My little brother, Papo, drove us to Tia's house in his new car. I can't believe he's 16 already. It felt so weird having my little brother driving me around. But, I have to say, he's a pretty good driver! I felt safer than I thought :) Once at Tia's, Georgina (which is my aunt's MIL and like a grandmother to me) had a Cuban feast prepared. I was already stuffed but there was no way that I was going to deny yuca, carne con papas, arroz con frijoles negros, tres leches and arroz con leche. Blaine loves Georgina's yuca so she makes it for him every time we visit. Needless to say, the food was amazing. Seriously, there was nothing more that I wanted to do. Being with my family and eating the food I love most is all I ever want - literally. 

The next day, Blaine and I woke up early to visit the wonderful DMV. What I'm about to say is pretty ridiculous but oh well. I've gotten my name changed on everything except for my license. I waited till our trip to Miami so that I could change my name and keep my Florida license. It's pretty immature of me to not want a Utah license, but that's the way it is. So we went to the DMV and arrived 15 minutes earlier to avoid any crazy lines or misunderstandings. I brought every document that you could think of. But my dreams of keeping a Florida license were crushed. The very kind lady at the front desk (right...) told me that I needed 2 pieces of mail with my address and all that good stuff. So I went to my mom's house and searched for all mail that I still receive there. Unfortunately, she threw all of that away just a week before I arrived. My license expires in February and I'm still trying to devise a plan (or another trip :]) to avoid getting a Utah license... I'll keep you guys posted with that. 

So since I was extremely sad, we went to the little Cuban bakery right by my house. I had a senorita (probably my favorite Cuban dessert ever). One of my favorite things that happens every time we visit is people looking at Blaine like an alien. Let me explain... 1. No joke, there are very few white people in Miami, more specifically Hialeah (where I'm from). There are few that may fool you with their blonde hair and blue eyes... but they're Cuban. So Blaine stands out. 2. When Blaine speaks Spanish, people stare at him even more. It's like they're confused. His Spanish is perfectly fine. They just can't believe that this white guy who really is white and not a white-looking Cuban, is speaking Spanish to them. It's pretty hilarious. So this happened when we were ordering some more deliciousness that morning. The lady, who just arrived from Cuba no more than 3 years ago, kept looking at me when she was speaking to Blaine, as if I needed to confirm that he understood what she was saying. Anyway, I really enjoy seeing Blaine interact and talk so confidently in these situations. 

Later on that day, we went to Dolphin Mall. Dolphin Mall isn't the greatest mall in Miami, but it's one of the biggest with the most selection and best prices. We were there for hours. I walk University Mall in less than 20 minutes :( My frustration is legit. Anyway, while we were there we went to Marshalls. We were looking around for some clothes and I came across the coolest thing ever. Yes, the coolest thing ever...all of my favorite children's and baby books in SPANISH. I wanted to buy them all, right there and then. Goodnight Moon was Buenas noche luna. The Very Hungry Caterpillar was La oruga muy hambrienta. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was Oso pardo, oso pardo, que ves ahi? My favorite had to be all of Sandra Boynton's books. They were so so cute and I was learning some Spanish while reading them. My aunt noticed my excitement and offered to buy them and give them to me when I had kids. If I lived in a world without Amazon, I would've said yes. I'll just have to wait till the babies come... 

When we were done shopping, Damaris and Bruce treated us to some really good Colombian food. I had what I always had, una arepa de choclo. I also shared the picaditos that Damaris ordered. It was all so good. One of the things that I miss most about Miami are the crazy number of little-hole-in-the-wall restaurants that have cuisine from all over the place (I assure you it's not just Hispanic food). If you think it, they have it. It's a foodie's heaven. 

Another thing that I miss is the amount of music you hear in Miami. You walk into any store, restaurant, anywhere and you hear music playing - good music, loud music. I also miss not having any radio station where I can just tune in and listen to salsa. In Miami, there are too many to name. This may sound silly but music and dance have always played a big role in my life. My fondest memories growing up were when my family would just randomly turn on the radio and we'd dance for hours. My grandfather would get on his bongos or tamboras and all of us take turns playing different instruments while others danced. It's a very Hispanic thing. Here, I associate dancing with two extremes - the college party town experience, where dancing is just a moving side-to-side thing where people go to hook up, or the crazy ballroom dancing that goes on here at BYU. Yeah...

Anyway, we had an extremely short stay in Miami. We were there for 4 days. I didn't eat fritanga, which is yummy Nicaraguan food. I didn't have the churros that they sell on 49 street for $1.00. I didn't go to South Beach or Miami Beach or Hollywood Beach. I didn't eat at Pincho Man. I didn't go to my favorite mall, Aventura Mall. Every time we visit Florida, we make a trip to Orlando/Disney/Universal. We didn't this time, which was a bummer. I haven't been to Disney in a year! That hasn't happened ever! But the best part of Orlando came to us - the Hoffmann's and Kristin visited us! I didn't get to see any of my high school friends or church friends, except for my lifelong best friend, Daniela. But that reunion was way, way too short. It was amazing to see her though. I miss her a lot! Every time we get together, it's like if we never stopped being friends. I love Daniela a lot and our friendship deserves it's own post...

We had a great time in Miami, but we had a blast on our family cruise to the Eastern Carribean! More posts to come!