MIAmi

I feel like the only time I've ever spent in Miami has been at the airport, and that's not too different this time. (I have been here for almost 4 hours now) Although I did migrate to a hotel and restaurant for a few hours this time.

I got a little exposure to the rest of Miami when I met up with our long time friend Lindsey and her adorable squeaky baby, Ellowyn!

We went to a small restaurant, Madrid; tapas y vinos, for dinner that featured live music Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday according to the business card the waiter gave us. Siri also decided to pronounce it Madrid: Tapas why Vinos, gotta love that. We decided on this Spanish restaurant after looking through all the other Argentinian, Mexican, Cuban, etc. restaurants to reminisce about our adventure over five years ago now to Spain.

When we walked in, the waiter assumed we spoke Spanish, which we both do but not at the same level as practically everyone in Miami. When I said hi back as an automatic response he switched to English and proceeded to tell the other waitress, in Spanish that we don't speak Spanish. Little awkward but hopefully my reflex will soon be "Hola" rather than a timid "Hi". We felt like we stuck out, especially when a new customer came in and the waiters would enthusiastically ask in Spanish how their families were doing or how work was that day. It seemed like a perfect place to develop the relationships people look for in their neighborhoods that are often difficult to find in the United States.

Being in Miami feels like I am already in another country with all the airport announcements given in Spanish and English and the high volume of Spanish being spoken around me.
It's a perfect bridge between CLT to UIO.

I am so excited but right now my brain is too exhausted to think ahead to more than getting on the plane and through customs. My flight begins boarding in less than an hour and I'm more than ready to get on and knock out before my brain starts to go into overdrive processing the influx of new information from this crazy new adventure!