We have officially lived in Miami for 2 years and 3 months and I am still surprised by the people that live here. The fact that approximately 50% of the people don't speak a lick of English, or that nobody seems to have the word "excuse me," "please" or "sorry" in their vocabulary. I was actually chastised by our 50 year old receptionist today for saying "Yes ma'am" to her. She said it was disrespectful. Disrespectful???!!! Really?? I can't understand these crazy people but I have learned so much about other cultures. I had never even heard of the Creole language until I lived here, which for those of you who don't know, its what the Haitian people speak. Also, the amount of Spanish that I can understand now is amazing, although speaking it is a whole other story. Avery's nanny just moved to Miami from Columbia about a year ago and doesn't speak any English so I have had to learn LOTS of spanish just to be able to communicate with her. Miami is truly the melting pot of the USA. Seriously- you go to Subway to pick up a sandwich for lunch and the person behind the counter automatically speaks Spanish to you because they just assume you speak Spanish. I am in the minority because I speak English- it's crazy.
Another thing about Miami that blows my mind is how rude people can be. There is no holding doors open for people, or allowing women to go first. The first weekend I was here I went grocery shopping and for some reason the aisles in the grocery store (named Publix here) are really really narrow and you can barely get two carts by each other without knocking someone else's knuckles off. I was saying to everyone "oh, sorry" "excuse me" "pardon me" (OK so i didn't say pardon me, but you get the idea) and everyone was looking at me like I had 5 heads. And of course nobody apologized to me for knocking into my knuckles.
Living here constantly reminds me on why its so important to raise your children with good manners and even better morals. Everyone sends their kids to private schools because the public school system is so bad (Please pray, like I do, that we will NOT still be living in Miami by the time our kids go to school!).
Everyday I tell myself that it's OK to say "ya'll", and to say "please" and "thank you," and "yes ma'am" and "yes sir" is a way to show respect. I pray that i don't become jaded by the people here, and that no matter what I always say "excuse me" to the people at the grocery store, although I know nobody is going to say it back to me. That is the kind of morals and manners that I want to raise my children with and I pray everyday that I can incorporate my southern manners and morals into this south floridian atmosphere.
*** I do want to say that I have found some amazing friends and co-workers here and am grateful for their friendships. We have adjusted very easily here and have found "our" spot where we feel comfortable. And having a beautiful beach 20 miles away, and year-round sunshiney weather doesn't hurt either!****
Grandpa taught her how to search for seashells and she thought it was SO much fun!
She was soaking wet by the time we left because she thought splashing in the water was the greatest!
