South Florida Drivers and Health Insurance....

There are two articles today in the Miami Herald that caught my attention: SoFla drivers and the cost of health insurance in the state. Amazingly, these topics have been on my mind for the last few days....how did they know? No mind readers, I'm sure, just people like me that feel things are really getting out of hand.....

Dave Barry, who is always funny but on the money, rambles along about driving in South Florida. He portraits perfectly, with real examples and deprecating humor the perils of going out in your car....he advices us that the best thing is to close your eyes and pray. He wants to be positive, though, and says that if we just take responsibility for our driving and show each other a little courtesy, all will be fine....but he is a realist and concludes that we are doomed!!!

Many times I have felt the same way. I go out of my way to avoid the expressways, especially I95; I take all the scenic routes and the out of the way roads. I don't mind getting late to where I'm going, or starting early to be on time. The less I see of SoFla drivers, the better. Courtesy is unheard of, everyone for himself is more like it. There is no respect for pedestrians, much less for other drivers. Some expressways become racing tracts at nights and accidents are the order of the day. I pity the people that have to commute here! No wonder AAA has named Miami Number One when it comes to road rage.... I know sometimes I am ready to kill someone.......

I have no idea why this happens, but I have my theory. I also know that many reading this will call me all sorts of names...but I think I am right. SoFla is a place of different cultures, people from all over Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe and other parts of the world live here with others from all over the US. Everyone has his/her own way of driving, different traffic rules, different traditions when it comes to road etiquette. We all bring these things to SoFla and we fail to learn the local rules. Yes, I include myself! Until we do......we are doomed.

The other article is about the cost of health insurance premiums in Florida. John Dorschner, who writes business related articles, points out several things I have been telling my husband for months!!! Premiums go up and up...and nobody seems worried that we are not going to be able to afford health insurance. Getting sick will soon be a luxury. Coming from Curaçao where we had National Health Care, and even private insurance coverage was reasonable, this is difficult to understand....that is a Third World country!!!

The article points out that premiums have gone up 29% in the last year alone. Salaries have not gone up as much...of course. This is not a Florida only problem, it is a national trend: up 10 times as fast as family income. Wonderful! All this would be nothing if the services provided were all covered; but NEE.... you still have a deductible and co-pays and who knows what else.

In a country with the most advanced medical developments, the latest in technology and research....millions cannot afford medical insurance or go bankrupt paying medical bills!!! I can only say that I have been charged for things I didn't need, procedures that were not done and given medications I didn't require. I have never got any satisfaction from my calls to our health insurance company. I was once told: "I don't make the rules, ma'm..." Still, every year on my husband's birthday our premium goes up. Insurance companies, in my opinion, have not a care in the world; and profit for their shareholders come first. Doctors think that if they studied medicine....their first duty is to get rich. WOW, that felt good!!!!

Back to Miami.....

Frankie gave me a trip to Boston for my birthday....I know this had ulterior motives........he got tickets to go see his beloved Red Sox!! Still, he's been abandoned often enough of late, with all my trips to see my mother, and needed a break. Besides, Boston is a city I love. It has so much connection to our lives: we met there, married there, our son was born there. It feels like a second home. So off we went to Beantown!!

The city has changed so much since our college days, and for the better! The weather cooperated and the days were mild and cool and sunny and just plain gorgeous!!! We had time to walk about in the city, getting to know it again, we had lunch at outdoor cafes, dinner in small, cozy restaurants, walked by the Charles and visited friends. Of course we watched every Red Sox game, cheered, despaired...and everything else that goes with being a true member of Red Sox Nation. Frankie attended two games. One with our son, Frank, and his friends; the other was on my birthday...we went with Susan and Mauricio. That was a treat...

Before the game we went to their lovely home and had time to enjoy their daughters. They are so cute!!! The afternoon was glorious and Vicki called to wished me Happy Birthday. We sat outdoors and had a glass of wine; later had dinner at a Japanese restaurant and went to the ball park. Nobody seemed to have gotten the memo about my special day....we lost!! Still, it was a great day. One of the best birthdays I have had...

Then it was time to get back to Miami. Don't get me wrong, I wanted to come back to my house, my bed and my routine. One week away can be too much sometimes, especially if you are not as young as you feel!!!! Anyway, we woke up early, had a nice brunch and went to the airport. Watched the Sox get clobbered again and took the plane home. Nice enough flight, I would say; even had a chance to sleep for a bit.

Now, who designed MIA? He must be a marathon runner! from our gate to the baggage claim area, took forever and a while!!! I do hope that if and when they finish the new additions....things are going to be more organized. If not, they are going to be in need of a lot more wheelchairs or small trolleys to transport the weary passengers..... But that was just the first part of my Welcome Home bit......

We got downstairs, got into a taxi. The driver thought we needed some music, so he raised the volume of the radio. We had to asked him to turned it down....the whole world was going to hear the music...the windows were open to the night air....charming! Of course, he was racing to our destination; we needed to tell him to slow down. Needless to say that he took the long way around to our house; maybe he thought we were tourists. Good impression! Never mind, I think taxi drivers are bad anywhere in the world; just seems that they are worse in Miami.

Can't complain, though...I'm home and back to my routine. This doesn't sound too enthusiastic, but it actually is. Amazingly enough....now I miss Miami, not only my home, when I travel! Could it be that now I see the city as others from my part of the world do?....it's in the States, sort of, AND is close to home!!! Such is life in the Tropics!!!

An Expat at Heart....

Seems like a natural progression now. From living in Curaçao, then coming to Miami and missing my expat lifestyle, to realizing that I rather live in a place that affords me exactly that! I must have been blind, I think, for not seeing this before.

Let's start from the beginning. I am sitting here, as everyday, working on my deadlines, answering emails, checking my blog. At the same time, I check different forums I belong to, try to keep in touch. Suddenly, a light goes on in my head: all this seems too advanced, works too well and makes me feel there are glitches in the rhythm of my life. There is nothing to wish for; everything can be found at your fingertips, anything you need can be bought at the supermarket, drugstore or department store. There is no need to make a list and try to fill it in various places, or buying something and freeze it until you need it....or going on a trip and bringing back things you can't find where you live.

There is no need to make friends with your neighbors, real friendships that would take the place of family. No need to learn to play bridge to make friends, get involved with women's groups, community service or in your children's school. No reason to use anything as an excuse for a social event, no using any occasion in your life as a reason to celebrate.

I am not a pioneer....far from it! You couldn't have dragged me across the country to establish myself in some remote outpost in the American West, or run to the Far East to find a husband like the women in the infamous Fishing Fleet that descended on India in the times of the Raj, looking for husbands....let's not go to extremes. On the other hand, I would have moved with my husband to faraway lands and a raised a family in exotic places...provided certain modern conveniences were to be had, of course!

I am sure I am not making any sense to most people reading this.....but there is a small group of my friends, a small group of women out there that completely understand what I am getting at: expat life is so much exciting than......life back in the States, for example!! Moving back, readjusting to life in one's home country is just not what some of us want. Some of us are just perfectly happy living abroad! What a revelation...or just a realization!

More changes...

A while ago, I wrote about the changes happening in my Curaçao bridge group. Some of us were moving abroad, other were working, traveling more. One was still fighting to stay healthy and active. Hilde had passed away, and things were a bit sad.

I am glad to report that Nicoline is doing great, finishing her treatment and full of plans. She looked wonderful last time I saw her. Kitty and Marja B are becoming grandmothers and Eva is adjusting wonderfully to her new home...even I have started to see some good things in Miami!!! Well, don't get too excited.....I still not at home here...but things are definitely looking up...

Regardless, change is something we cannot stop and our small group keeps changing. Vicki just told me the group is getting smaller, that it's harder every week to get even two tables together. The news filled me with sadness. We have been together for so long, we have been so close. Just take the recent emails from Eva about her grandson's health; and how we all kept in touch, sent our positive thoughts and were so glad when things worked out well. He is home with his parents and sister and we're all glad.

How can it be, then, that organizing two tables is a problem? We were always a busy group of mothers and wives that kept our Wednesdays bridge date, no matter what. When some of us were traveling, there was always someone to hold the fort and bridge continued. If one was sick or under the weather, we had time to visit and play! When our children had school holidays, we all took a holiday from bridge and couldn't wait to start again. Bridge was the rhythm of our lives.....at least I thought so because it kept us in touch, gave us an excuse to get together and talk about ourselves, our lives....We even took a cruise together a few years back, only the girls, to play and enjoy each other company and we had a ball!

When I moved to Miami, this was the group I missed most, in many ways still do. I enjoy the forwarded emails I receive from them, love to hear from their families and their lives, keep them posted on my developments too. What is happening in Curaçao? Is everyone too busy to put a day aside to see friends? have other things taken up their time? are they traveling more? have the grandchildren taken priority where children were worked into our bridge schedule? is retirement taken too seriously?

All this rambling most seem positively an exaggeration to anyone that doesn't understand this bridge culture I came to know on the island. When I moved there, playing bridge was part of your social life. There were groups of all ages involved and on special occasions, like someone's big birthday or farewell, they all got together.... older ladies and younger ones. It was a sort of tradition and we all enjoyed these playing dates.

Mothers and daughters played in different groups, expats had theirs, very good players would gravitate to one another..... Wednesday mornings, Tuesdays at the club or Monday nights, everyone had her favorite. To think that this is no longer the case, makes me sad. That was one thing I held on to all these years I have been away: Wednesday mornings my friends would all be together at someone's home playing bridge...that was a constant. When I traveled to Curaçao, for whatever reason, I could let them know in advance and got to see everyone on a given Wednesday. Next, they will tell me that the tradition will die out because the younger group of women is not learning to play!!! We must trump that.....