Friday, January 9, 2009

Just Got Back and Already Busy

So, if there is one thing us Miamians do is get out of the city every time there is a break.

During Christmas break the streets get filled with Russians, Italians, Venezuelans and other annoying tourists of the sort and so we get the hell out of here.

Plus, most of us Miamians come from other places and so therefore have other places to go to and visit family, friends and others one is supposed to see on Christmas.

So, I went to my native Venezuela for two weeks and spend one week in beautiful but Chavezly-destroyed Caracas and one week in the inspiring Island of Margarita.

Being in an Island for New Year's is a good Omen, I told my sister Yolanda, and really other than my encounter with the Fourth World at the ferry, comprised of huge malandros skipping the line, pushing old ladies and kids, riding on a ferry that is to say the least 50 years old in which every seat was dirtier than the last one and getting to the island at 6 a.m with the Venezuelan Hymn playing in the taxi because the ferry was 5 hours late, everything else inside the island was pretty awesome.

For the rest, I have to humbly admit that you should be very jealous of my week in this Caribbean island. The experience was not only filled with breathtaking beaches, mountains, lakes and little villages, but mostly it was filled with Delicious Food. Fried fish by the sea, after which we took a night deep, octopus, arepas, empanadas, the freshest oysters in the world brought to our tent in a bucket and almost given to us in the mouth, tostones, calamaris, shrimp, avocados, morcilla, pernil, chorizo and so much more.


Since Chavez has reduced the number of direct flights from and to the enemy U.S. on the way back, even though is less than 3 hours to get there on a direct flight, it took me the whole day to get back to my tropical paradise, which has the difference that in it I have to work and go to school. On the way back, I stopped at Puerto Rico and it brought me memories of a passed trip to this another beautiful island.

So, now I am back to my reality, but there is nothing to fear because I have already been pretty busy. After I had a day off in which I slept most of the day, ate at Andiamo and went to sleep again, on Wednesday I passed by The News Lounge (ok, can I get out of that radius) for the night that my friend Pat Walsh has been doing for a while now.

Jose El Rey was playing and that could only mean one thing: Fun.

And, it was. While i was catching up with my friend Jeremy, who did stay in Miami for good, and received the New Year with a kiss at the Forge, where they serve champagne and breakfast, I saw everybody, everybody there. Good crowd Pat.
There was reporter J.D. Kaleem, who I hadn't seen in so long i was starting to get worried, when he lived far in The Roads I saw him more than now that he is in the District with Robert Samuels. I also saw singer Oly, who invited me to an all-girls sewing party at her house. I couldn't make it but wish I had, my sewing machine has been bored on top of a desk for too long, and of course saw my crowd of intellectual activists, some from FIU some from other schools.

Thursday I passed by Katana Restaurant, which can actually get more full than what it already was. The restaurant of my childhood, since I grew up on 71st-little Buenos Aires, has won the Best of Miami New Times last year and has become more famous than what it can accommodate. They are not accepting reservation and once you get seated you have to look at all these people standing around the small place waiting for you to finish and fighting for who got there first. It was delicious as always anyway and they had some new rolls like the mango chutney one.

Today Friday the plan is Vagabond, although this is usually a Saturday's plan is Pati's bday and we shall celebrate it as she deserves it, with excesses.

See ya there fellow Miamians.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Is that Patty Smith's birthday?
Today was Elvis and his twin (who died in an accident when he was 3) brother's birthday, and Jimmy Page's birthday, and yesterday was David Bowie and Mike Stoler.