Thursday, September 30, 2010

Walking in Miami...

All of you know how I brag about my walks in Curaçao.....I am sure you think me too partial. Well, my husband and I have started to talk early in the morning......and I mean EARLY!!! He goes to work before 8:00 a.m. so we are up and about around Brickell Key around 6:15!!! For the ones of you that know me longer, you know that is difficult. For the ones that do not: I am NOT a morning person. NEVER have been. The idea of having more energy, getting things done better in the morning is absolutely lost on me. I think you have to be organized, no matter at what time you get up.....but that is a conversation for another time!!!

Back to my point, I tend to wander. Walking in the early morning, right. Surprisingly, I am coping rather well! We get out of our building and take a left towards the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The lights are still on, the buildings on Brickell Avenue, dark. There is still some coolness and a bit of breeze. All to be expected, what is amazing is the amount of people already running or walking along the water. Who would have known? With all the talk about obesity and unhealthy habits we hear about constantly!!!! Who are these people and wheat what time do they start?

Anyway, they hurry past us with their iPods or not. Some just look up and ignore the passersby, other offer a wan smile, the majority just passes you by....only a handful would say good morning! Really....Brickell Key is a small island, I mean really small. It is true there are several high rise buildings so the population could be in the thousands, but people are bound to run into each other sometime: in lobbies, in the parking lots, in the small convenient store, in elevators......and even if you didn't:... COMMON COURTESY, MANNERS....

That would never be the case back on the island. People would pass you and say excuse me, greet you with a bon tardi (good afternoon) or bon dia (good morning), there will be jokes shared and comments....no, don't tell me it is the same. The fact is there we walked with friends, we made our walks a social thing, we walked for health, but also for fun! Here, we walk, making sure we do something healthy everyday, trying to keep years at bay....but not because it's fun, it's just walking. How sad......I miss my walks along Caracasbaai, never mind the over development.....

2 comments:

Tracie_Miami said...

I know it's awful how people here have no manners. You usually don't get a smile but a smirk if anything. You will mostly get a cold stare. It's mostly a culture thing. Most of them are from the Caribbean Islands. There is a huge population of Cubans and they can be rather nasty, well the uneducated ones and there are many of those. So this experience is not much compared to the rest to come. I'm sorry you have to go through that, I know I hated going through the same thing. I was so confused until I realized there are just sour people here 5 yrs now.

Mercedes de Marchena said...

I do understand how you feel, it happens to everyone that moves here...My husband came because of his work, so we moved here 7 years ago. It's been an uphill battle and one, frankly, I no longer care to fight. I have made my life and wait for the day when we would move back! In the meantime, I write about the island, I keep in touch with my family and friends and enjoy the things I can....I am a freelance writer, so I work from home...Great!