I’m literally, while writing this post, sitting in my friend’s home in Miami after enjoying an amazing salmon meal for lunch. My layover is one of the longest I’ve ever had before…9am to 5pm. This means I get to spend time outside the airport since I have friends from the Dominican who are currently living in Miami. What I’m amazed at, is how Miami is another Caribbean…I feel I haven’t even left the Dominican. Here are signs.

My friends Marisol and her husband Fernando, primarily speak Spanish since that’s their first language. Being with them is great for me to continue practicing my own Spanish skills. I ran to Costco with Marisol to get some goodies for lunch and, no kidding you, I didn’t hear a lick of English…it was all Spanish, from bystanders and those speaking to us. When we had to stop off at Publix for an additional item, it was the same deal with the language…more Spanish! And here I was, already missing being immersed in my second language and then discovering that when I’m in Miami, I don’t have to go without!

Next was having lunch. Marisol fixed a large meal, dinner size and complete with mashed potatoes, salmon, salad, and white wine followed by guava paste with white cheese – a traditional Dominican and Latin dessert (which I just learned is also a Portuguese tradition). This was topped off with red wine. Talk about going off to my connecting flight happy 🙂 This style of eating, which entails having the largest meal of the day for lunch, is definitely a Latin trait that I just lived off of for the past six weeks in the Dominican Republic.

Ahhh…how I miss the Dominican Republic…and yet, being in Miami makes me feel like I never left. Am I really back in the United States?