January 23rd: Little Red Car

Hey guys, did you forget this was a thing? I kind of did. Get out your reading glasses and turn off Moon Shiners or whatever the heck it is you're watching because it's BLOG TIME.

We are currently in Miami, FL. Dad had a full day of "consultations" at the airport where he got to sit in on interviews etc (and saw someone hauled off in handcuffs). What did Mum and I do? Sat on the beach, of course.

We arrived in Miami yesterday afternoon with all 9 large suitcases where I was immediately pestered by a lady who wanted to "borrow 17 dollars from me" and who asked for my name and address so she could "pay me back". No, I didn't fall for it of course, even though she fed me some sob story about her daughter being in the hospital with premature labour. My first hint that it was a scam? She said she was from "Illahnoise" (Illinois) pronouncing the S.
Which is not a thing. Promise.

So here's the cool part. We had a ton of frequent flyer miles so we got us a little red Mustang Convertible. I'VE NEVER BEEN IN ONE UNTIL NOW AND IT IS THE BEST THING OF LIFE. We drove around last night for at least an hour with the top down. With the navy sky, the wind turning my hair into dreadlocks, that damn Cranberries song playing, the skyline lit up and the palm trees black under the street lights, it was easy to forget why we're here.

Miami is an interesting city, let's focus on that for a moment. The area we're in is not the most high quality area, although you can tell it's on its way up. Looking at the buildings with their cracking sherbet coloured stucco and the palm fronds littering the sidewalk, it's hard to see the appeal that Miami Beach held in the 1940s and 50s when everyone came here for the winter (I'm thinking that book by Judy Blume, Starring Sally J. Friedman as Herself or whatever). There's hotel after hotel after hotel, The Carlton, The Vine, Ocean View Hotel, the Nassau, Beach Paradise Hotel, you get the idea. Luring in tourists  with the exotic wealthy names when in reality you get a lumpy mattress and bars over the window.
There's a huge contrast in the buildings. The Spanish architecture of the older structures right next to a sleek new condo building made of glass and shiny white plastic. It's an odd thing to walk down the street and see the difference.

Back to our time here: out to dinner tonight with a fellow FSO then we're repacking our suitcases which magically grew overnight. On and off for the past three or four days, i've been having "Holy shit I'm moving to Haiti" moments where I panic a little and have to fight the urge to flap my arms and run around in a circle screaming in terror. Then that urge fades and I get really excited.

Tonight, Miami. Tomorrow. THE WORLD (sort of).