A night in Coral Gables
This was my first time in Miami, so after settling into my hotel room, I took a walk to explore. The hotel turned out to be located in the town of Coral Gables, a satellite in the South Florida sprawl around the city of Miami.
My hotel is located near the “Miracle Mile,” a strip of small shops in the heart of the Coral Gables central business district. It was originally developed by George and Rebyl Zain just after World War II – at least according to a historical marker I found. I walked up and down both sides of this strip, gazing into the shop windows and admiring the fountains and tropical plantings.
My brain struggles with the incongruity of seeing Christmas lights on palm trees, while walking down a humid, 85-degree street. I come from a long line of Northerners, and while we may not always get a white Christmas, we’re pretty used to a least a drab shade of grey.
Miami straddles the border between Anglo America and Latin America. Newspaper boxes on each corner offer both The Miami Herald and El Nuevo Herald. Many of the conversations I were in Spanish rather than English, and one young child admiring shop window displays switched effortlessly back and forth depending on whether he was addressing his brother or his parents. The Barnes & Noble has row after row of Spanish titles – and even a small Spanish “bargain books” section. A pretty big change from the three linear feet of Spanish books at Porter Square Books.
I picked up a copy of Angela’s Ashes in Spanish for $4.98 to donate to Jane’s library. The guy in front of me in line spoke Spanish to the cashier. The cashier then addressed me in English. Apparently, even though I was buying a Spanish-language book, I don’t look the part of a native speaker. Or, more likely, it’s considered polite to address a customer in English until they reply in Spanish. The guy behind me was buying a book about Nicaragua, and the cashier asked him about it in English. When he replied that he had lived there, the cashier switched over to rapid fire Spanish.
Off to Managua tomorrow morning, American Airlines permitting…