Welcome to Sunny Florida!!
I landed in Florida on May 24th, finally back in my hometown. When I touched down in Orlando, I gathered together my bags (after waiting an eternity at the baggage claim) and met Mom outside in order to toss them in the trunk and go see her apartment for the first time. She did a great job taking pieces from our old houses and using them to make her place cozy and stylish at the same time. She also showed me an awesome-looking piece that reminded me of my days traveling through Tibet. It was a three-medal headed ritual dagger known as a phurba. According to Tibetan Center’s website: “A phurpa, sometimes called a "magic dagger," is a tantric ritual object used to conquer evil spirits and to destroy obstacles. It is utilized in magic rituals by high level tantric practitioners. The word phurpa is used primarily in Central Tibet, while the word phurbu is used more often in Kham, Amdo and Ladakh.” My Mom found it at some random antique auction. Wonder if it is worth anything – could be promising?
The next morning I unpacked, relaxed, and did some homework and reading I needed to get done. Plus worked some more on the blog! Not much else happened but a lot of busy-work while waiting for Mom to finish up at the office. Later, I went out with Mom to get an Indian food dinner. We picked it up (nice to get out of the house) before grabbing a few videos and snacks from the Indian store next to our dinner place. One butter chicken and one chicken vindaloo later, we were watching episodes of Frasier completely stuffed. Since my Mom had to go to court the next morning and would be busy all day, I decided to finish my blog work the next day, and go out with my grandparents for dinner.
Which is exactly what ended up happening. I called up my Grammy and Grandpa and we ended up going out to eat at Thunya Thai Restaurant not too far from the house. They had a lot of questions for me about my trip and how my life in general was going. We talked straight through two appetizers, three entrees, and dessert. I have to say while the Cashew Chicken was delicious; the cream-cheese and shrimp egg rolls were just fascinating. Chocolate cake was the best way to finish it all off. They helped give me encouragement for the next leg(s) of my journey down to South America.
The morning of May 27th involved getting my nails done, before heading to the Mall of Millennia with my Mom to go to the Apple Store and get something to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. I ended up buying this cheap little while square you plug into your iPhone (or iPad) that allows you to accept credit cards as payment. (Obviously, there is a fee per transaction to do so.) But buying it balanced out because the price you pay for the white square is transferred to your bank account. We did a test run in the store where I charged $1.00 to my Mom and swiped her card on my iPhone. Nice! I was paid instantly to my bank account. After the Apple Store, Mom and I sat down to two Factory Burgers which were so amazing (and big) that we had to bring leftovers home.
We woke up on the 28th pretty early because we were set to drive down to Miami to visit my sister and attend her house-warming party. I never realized how short the drive from Orlando to Miami really is… just 3 hours! We got in around early afternoon, and realized that we would need to go out grocery shopping for that night and really, the rest of the week. Take a look at my sister’s apartment, pretty nice view huh? That evening she had people over throughout the night and we entertained them all, learning a bit more about Miami in the process. I’ve learned that the city of Miami used to be inhabited by the Tequestas group of Native Americans but in 1566 was claimed for Spain by Europeans. According to the Wiki (and every street sign around) Miami used to be known as ‘Biscayne Bay Country,’ …a wilderness that held much promise.” A promise is evident everywhere. Miami is broken up into numerous areas with great shopping and things to do. Outdoors, indoors, there is plenty Miami has to offer.
The next morning, Mom, Christina, and I decided to go window shopping at Bal Harbour, a green and lush open-air shopping mall with tons of fancy shops, followed by an authentic Italian lunch at Carpaccio. This unique and beautiful shopping district actually has a bit of history behind it.
According to the Bal Harbour website: “From the beginning Bal Harbour Shops was successful largely due to Whitman's determination in persuading Neiman Marcus to open their first specialty department store outside its native Texas and in luring designer boutiques that previously could only be found along the Champs-Elysee in Paris or New York's Fifth Avenue. Attracted by the immediate success of Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue became Bal Harbour's second anchor store in 1976. Recognized as the forerunner of luxury shopping mall developers, with many "firsts" in the industry, Stanley Whitman was considered something of a maverick. He was the first developer in the country to charge for parking; to restrict illuminated signage on store fronts and to create a "green oasis" of tranquility within the shops walkways. Traditional centers planned for horizontal expansion, while Bal Harbour was planned for vertical growth with the addition of the second level of stores in 1982.”
The majority of the stores were outrageously expensive, but we did score a few purchases. I found an awesome colorful dress on major sale which I was able to pick up, along with some extra make-up for my make-up bag. Christina found a pair of white jeans and Mom found a jacket and we had an awesome time looking at all the colorful outfits in the store windows… in a strange way it was almost like visiting a living art gallery. Right when we finished up shopping, we noticed that a lone turtle was trying his hardest to get into the nearby boutique. As much as it tried to wedge itself in the cracks, it just wouldn’t fit. Thankfully, a man stopped to help my sister and I make sure the turtle got safely back into the nearby ponds before we left. That evening, one of Christina’s friends, a pretty girl named Nour who lived upstairs invited me out to see the Wayans Brothers perform at a comedy club in the city. The show wasn’t scheduled to start until after 11:00 pm, so there was plenty of time to get ready. I thoughtfully put on my dress I bought earlier in the day (might as well use it right away, right?) and with black heels and a purple purse I was set to go. Nour and I had a blast at the club, the comedic acts were hilarious and we snacked on sliders in between. Since it is Miami, the different acts added a lot of jokes about minority groups like Jamaicans and Haitians. Unfortunately, they didn’t allow any pictures/recording in the club so I have limited visual for you all!
Eating at Carpaccio
Helping a turtle
Wayans Brothers Concert
On May 31st Christina’s friends, Christina, and I headed to Southbeach Miami to see some infamous sites. I was shocked to find that the entire place just beats with music and the atmosphere quickly starts to grow on you. This is one beach that you better dress UP to go to… miles of walking and every girl had high heels on with her bikini, most of which left little to the imagination. As we walked down the street we had a great time people watching… everyone looked like they were ready to become ‘the next big celebrity/hip hop star’ with the detail they put into their looks and/or their pimped out cars. At one point if you just start walking around you begin to wonder if the beach really is somewhere around, or if everyone just came to play ‘dress-up?’
After we hit the beach for a quick walk around, we became fixated on a quest to get to the infamous Wet Willy’s bar quite a walk away. On the way there, Christina pointed out to me Versace’s house in the Ocean Drive Historic District. I took the time to pose in front of it, of course. Turns out that they have only just opened their doors a couple years ago to private touring… for $65/person or $10,000/night for a bedroom to yourself. Posing out in front was good enough for me!
Finally we made it to Wet Willy’s, a frozen drink bar that was absolutely packed.
When it was time to sit down for lunch, we ended up going to ‘The Place,’ where the yummy burgers and huge drinks could easily have the place mistaken for an island cafe. Christina and I split a burger and salad, while her friend Kevin opted for a turkey bagel and friend Jerry decided to do calamari as an entree. We sat around talking and soaking in the colorful atmosphere when we were met by Christina’s friend Jimmy, who also knew Kevin and Jerry. Jimmy helped give us a ride back towards our street once we were all done eating, but that didn’t prove to be too helpful because…
POLICE!
There had been a shooting in the area we approached next, so rather than walk through – which the police tape prevented anyways – we took the long way around back to the car which was parked a few parking garages down. Once we found the car (after even more searching… 2 green, 4 tan, too many colors!) we made it back to Christina’s place to rest up after a hot day at the beach.
On June 1st, my sister and I had a relaxing day, followed by a delicious dinner at Sugarcane in the nearby Midtown shopping district. Sugarcane is a raw bar grill that serves a bunch of neat little ‘mix ‘n’ match’ tapas which we took full advantage of having 4 separate orders: 1) Duck and waffles, 2) Yukon gold potatos w/lamb, 3) Truffle broccolini, and 4) a delicious skirt steak. We decided to try the chocolate marsh-mellow peanut butter bar to go. Everything from the place was a treat. I really suggest it is on a “must do” list if you ever come to Miami!
June 2nd Christina and I headed to Southbeach again, this time to visit the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens, 4.5 areas of land set aside in Southbeach. Once we arrived, we made our way slowly through the gardens, taking in the bright and bursting colorful flowers around us. Each section of the garden had a different aspect about it – Japanese influence, or tropical and exotic. After our walk through the garden we made our way towards the Southbeach shops, some of which we saw with Christina’s friends days before. This time we were able to take our time looking in many different stores, even chipping in each halfway to buy a dress we both liked and plan to share. Once we were hungry enough to stop, we found a place called Spris which served us up delicious pesto and lemon-dressing sandwiches which we shared and devoured. After another round of shopping, we ended our journey with a trip to a sweet shop where a chocolate-covered s'more and a chocolate-covered Rice Krispie treat served as snacks.
The next two days were relaxing days, as Christina had some homework to catch up on, and I had some reading to do. We did manage to hit another cool restaurant called “The Cheese Course” when we went shopping in nearby Midtown. A simple cheese shop, this place served up amazing salads and sandwiches drentched in different types of cheeses. If you visit, I recommend you bring home some of the Ossau-Iraty (sheeps’ milk cheese)… delicious and soft for a ‘hard’ cheese! We met up with Nour (the girl I went to the Wayans Brothers comedy show with) at The Cheese Course, and she joined us shopping. At some point we decided that having a “girls night” movie night was the plan for the evening. After picking up a movie for later that night, and calling the apartment complex to rent out the movie room for the evening, we headed back to the apartment to get out of the hot sun. Chinese food and popcorn for dinner while watching the movie later that night, we were set and comfy.
The next afternoon we decided to check out a nearby sight in Miami: Vizcaya. According to their official website, Vizcaya, “…was the winter residence of American industrialist James Deering from Christmas 1916 until his death in 1925. Deering was a Vice President of the International Harvester Company, which produced agricultural equipment for a worldwide market. He chose a bayfront site in Miami for his tropical winter home because of the location’s temperate winter climate and his appreciation of the native hardwood hammock.” We decided to walk through the outside gardens first, which turned out to be so much more than simple gardens. There were Italian-Renaissance style pieces of architecture everywhere… the atmosphere was just astounding. I was completely brought back to my memories of Italy, a trip I took when I was much younger with family. As we looked around, we noticed women in wedding dresses getting their photos taken – and I don’t blame them! (Sidenote: I saw the most beautiful perfect purple wedding dress that had my name ALL over it!)
We couldn’t take pictures of the inside, so I’ll pull some from the website for this next section. Not my fault! Anyways, we entered through the main doors and found a covered (originally open-air) courtyard in the center of everything. We started exploring the rooms one by one, beginning on the first floor with the main entrance. Heading first through the library, we made our way through the reception room, the living room, music room, dining room – most of which are shown below. When we hit the butler’s pantry, we ended up running into a tour group. I stayed for a few minutes to hear about how the estate had all the latest technologies of its time, including an intercom system of sorts, a dumbwaiter, and elevator, and central heating. Since there were plenty of farm area, the estate was pretty much self-sustaining, with the food brought in from the outside, stored in the pantry, and later prepared in the upstairs kitchen. Transported by the dumbwaiter, of course!
James Deering himself:
The house:
Once we got upstairs (and there were actually multiple ‘upstairs’) we saw the breakfast room, Deering’s bedroom and bathroom, and the kitchen, among other rooms. I was astonished to see what a small bed Deering had, considering he was the master of the house. Although, he did have a separate sitting room and bathroom which make his entire room larger. One of my favorite rooms was the ‘Breakfast Room’ adjacent to the kitchen area upstairs. This room had made Chinese influences mixed in with European influences making for a strange yet stunning combination. Upstairs also had many stylish pink, green, and yellow themed guest rooms named after, (according to the website) “…famous people, styles, or places.” As we walked back down we planned to make a quick stop for a bite to eat in the cafe around the side of the building. One burger later (it was huge so we split it) we were saying goodbye to Vizcaya and set about getting out of the hot sun.
The following night I got to have a bit of free time to go out and intermingle with peers of mine. I ended up bringing home a celebratory cupcake!
In the morning my Mom came into town at the same time that my sister and I happened to be at the dentist. My sister ran home to let our Mom in and to make sure the Hotwire cable people were able to get into the apartment while I stuck around and finished my teeth cleaning. That evening we decided to relax and order in Cuban food from Latin Cafe 2000, since my Mom and I would be heading out the next morning back to Orlando. I recommend the empanadas and well, nothing is complete without the fried plantains! We returned to Mom’s apartment and spent the next couple days going out to the mall, buying clothes and business suits for me, and packing up two full duffel wheelie bags of stuff! Mom and I had a final visit with my grandparents the day before I was set to leave, where we dined on Chinese food and chocolate ice-cream, and I was able to tell them all about my work coming up abroad. After that visit I was ready to fly off to Santiago, Chile the next evening!
Talk to you all soon,
Francesca
I landed in Florida on May 24th, finally back in my hometown. When I touched down in Orlando, I gathered together my bags (after waiting an eternity at the baggage claim) and met Mom outside in order to toss them in the trunk and go see her apartment for the first time. She did a great job taking pieces from our old houses and using them to make her place cozy and stylish at the same time. She also showed me an awesome-looking piece that reminded me of my days traveling through Tibet. It was a three-medal headed ritual dagger known as a phurba. According to Tibetan Center’s website: “A phurpa, sometimes called a "magic dagger," is a tantric ritual object used to conquer evil spirits and to destroy obstacles. It is utilized in magic rituals by high level tantric practitioners. The word phurpa is used primarily in Central Tibet, while the word phurbu is used more often in Kham, Amdo and Ladakh.” My Mom found it at some random antique auction. Wonder if it is worth anything – could be promising?
The next morning I unpacked, relaxed, and did some homework and reading I needed to get done. Plus worked some more on the blog! Not much else happened but a lot of busy-work while waiting for Mom to finish up at the office. Later, I went out with Mom to get an Indian food dinner. We picked it up (nice to get out of the house) before grabbing a few videos and snacks from the Indian store next to our dinner place. One butter chicken and one chicken vindaloo later, we were watching episodes of Frasier completely stuffed. Since my Mom had to go to court the next morning and would be busy all day, I decided to finish my blog work the next day, and go out with my grandparents for dinner.
Which is exactly what ended up happening. I called up my Grammy and Grandpa and we ended up going out to eat at Thunya Thai Restaurant not too far from the house. They had a lot of questions for me about my trip and how my life in general was going. We talked straight through two appetizers, three entrees, and dessert. I have to say while the Cashew Chicken was delicious; the cream-cheese and shrimp egg rolls were just fascinating. Chocolate cake was the best way to finish it all off. They helped give me encouragement for the next leg(s) of my journey down to South America.
The morning of May 27th involved getting my nails done, before heading to the Mall of Millennia with my Mom to go to the Apple Store and get something to eat at the Cheesecake Factory. I ended up buying this cheap little while square you plug into your iPhone (or iPad) that allows you to accept credit cards as payment. (Obviously, there is a fee per transaction to do so.) But buying it balanced out because the price you pay for the white square is transferred to your bank account. We did a test run in the store where I charged $1.00 to my Mom and swiped her card on my iPhone. Nice! I was paid instantly to my bank account. After the Apple Store, Mom and I sat down to two Factory Burgers which were so amazing (and big) that we had to bring leftovers home.
We woke up on the 28th pretty early because we were set to drive down to Miami to visit my sister and attend her house-warming party. I never realized how short the drive from Orlando to Miami really is… just 3 hours! We got in around early afternoon, and realized that we would need to go out grocery shopping for that night and really, the rest of the week. Take a look at my sister’s apartment, pretty nice view huh? That evening she had people over throughout the night and we entertained them all, learning a bit more about Miami in the process. I’ve learned that the city of Miami used to be inhabited by the Tequestas group of Native Americans but in 1566 was claimed for Spain by Europeans. According to the Wiki (and every street sign around) Miami used to be known as ‘Biscayne Bay Country,’ …a wilderness that held much promise.” A promise is evident everywhere. Miami is broken up into numerous areas with great shopping and things to do. Outdoors, indoors, there is plenty Miami has to offer.
The next morning, Mom, Christina, and I decided to go window shopping at Bal Harbour, a green and lush open-air shopping mall with tons of fancy shops, followed by an authentic Italian lunch at Carpaccio. This unique and beautiful shopping district actually has a bit of history behind it.
According to the Bal Harbour website: “From the beginning Bal Harbour Shops was successful largely due to Whitman's determination in persuading Neiman Marcus to open their first specialty department store outside its native Texas and in luring designer boutiques that previously could only be found along the Champs-Elysee in Paris or New York's Fifth Avenue. Attracted by the immediate success of Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue became Bal Harbour's second anchor store in 1976. Recognized as the forerunner of luxury shopping mall developers, with many "firsts" in the industry, Stanley Whitman was considered something of a maverick. He was the first developer in the country to charge for parking; to restrict illuminated signage on store fronts and to create a "green oasis" of tranquility within the shops walkways. Traditional centers planned for horizontal expansion, while Bal Harbour was planned for vertical growth with the addition of the second level of stores in 1982.”
The majority of the stores were outrageously expensive, but we did score a few purchases. I found an awesome colorful dress on major sale which I was able to pick up, along with some extra make-up for my make-up bag. Christina found a pair of white jeans and Mom found a jacket and we had an awesome time looking at all the colorful outfits in the store windows… in a strange way it was almost like visiting a living art gallery. Right when we finished up shopping, we noticed that a lone turtle was trying his hardest to get into the nearby boutique. As much as it tried to wedge itself in the cracks, it just wouldn’t fit. Thankfully, a man stopped to help my sister and I make sure the turtle got safely back into the nearby ponds before we left. That evening, one of Christina’s friends, a pretty girl named Nour who lived upstairs invited me out to see the Wayans Brothers perform at a comedy club in the city. The show wasn’t scheduled to start until after 11:00 pm, so there was plenty of time to get ready. I thoughtfully put on my dress I bought earlier in the day (might as well use it right away, right?) and with black heels and a purple purse I was set to go. Nour and I had a blast at the club, the comedic acts were hilarious and we snacked on sliders in between. Since it is Miami, the different acts added a lot of jokes about minority groups like Jamaicans and Haitians. Unfortunately, they didn’t allow any pictures/recording in the club so I have limited visual for you all!
Eating at Carpaccio
Helping a turtle
Wayans Brothers Concert
On May 31st Christina’s friends, Christina, and I headed to Southbeach Miami to see some infamous sites. I was shocked to find that the entire place just beats with music and the atmosphere quickly starts to grow on you. This is one beach that you better dress UP to go to… miles of walking and every girl had high heels on with her bikini, most of which left little to the imagination. As we walked down the street we had a great time people watching… everyone looked like they were ready to become ‘the next big celebrity/hip hop star’ with the detail they put into their looks and/or their pimped out cars. At one point if you just start walking around you begin to wonder if the beach really is somewhere around, or if everyone just came to play ‘dress-up?’
After we hit the beach for a quick walk around, we became fixated on a quest to get to the infamous Wet Willy’s bar quite a walk away. On the way there, Christina pointed out to me Versace’s house in the Ocean Drive Historic District. I took the time to pose in front of it, of course. Turns out that they have only just opened their doors a couple years ago to private touring… for $65/person or $10,000/night for a bedroom to yourself. Posing out in front was good enough for me!
Finally we made it to Wet Willy’s, a frozen drink bar that was absolutely packed.
When it was time to sit down for lunch, we ended up going to ‘The Place,’ where the yummy burgers and huge drinks could easily have the place mistaken for an island cafe. Christina and I split a burger and salad, while her friend Kevin opted for a turkey bagel and friend Jerry decided to do calamari as an entree. We sat around talking and soaking in the colorful atmosphere when we were met by Christina’s friend Jimmy, who also knew Kevin and Jerry. Jimmy helped give us a ride back towards our street once we were all done eating, but that didn’t prove to be too helpful because…
POLICE!
There had been a shooting in the area we approached next, so rather than walk through – which the police tape prevented anyways – we took the long way around back to the car which was parked a few parking garages down. Once we found the car (after even more searching… 2 green, 4 tan, too many colors!) we made it back to Christina’s place to rest up after a hot day at the beach.
On June 1st, my sister and I had a relaxing day, followed by a delicious dinner at Sugarcane in the nearby Midtown shopping district. Sugarcane is a raw bar grill that serves a bunch of neat little ‘mix ‘n’ match’ tapas which we took full advantage of having 4 separate orders: 1) Duck and waffles, 2) Yukon gold potatos w/lamb, 3) Truffle broccolini, and 4) a delicious skirt steak. We decided to try the chocolate marsh-mellow peanut butter bar to go. Everything from the place was a treat. I really suggest it is on a “must do” list if you ever come to Miami!
June 2nd Christina and I headed to Southbeach again, this time to visit the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens, 4.5 areas of land set aside in Southbeach. Once we arrived, we made our way slowly through the gardens, taking in the bright and bursting colorful flowers around us. Each section of the garden had a different aspect about it – Japanese influence, or tropical and exotic. After our walk through the garden we made our way towards the Southbeach shops, some of which we saw with Christina’s friends days before. This time we were able to take our time looking in many different stores, even chipping in each halfway to buy a dress we both liked and plan to share. Once we were hungry enough to stop, we found a place called Spris which served us up delicious pesto and lemon-dressing sandwiches which we shared and devoured. After another round of shopping, we ended our journey with a trip to a sweet shop where a chocolate-covered s'more and a chocolate-covered Rice Krispie treat served as snacks.
The next two days were relaxing days, as Christina had some homework to catch up on, and I had some reading to do. We did manage to hit another cool restaurant called “The Cheese Course” when we went shopping in nearby Midtown. A simple cheese shop, this place served up amazing salads and sandwiches drentched in different types of cheeses. If you visit, I recommend you bring home some of the Ossau-Iraty (sheeps’ milk cheese)… delicious and soft for a ‘hard’ cheese! We met up with Nour (the girl I went to the Wayans Brothers comedy show with) at The Cheese Course, and she joined us shopping. At some point we decided that having a “girls night” movie night was the plan for the evening. After picking up a movie for later that night, and calling the apartment complex to rent out the movie room for the evening, we headed back to the apartment to get out of the hot sun. Chinese food and popcorn for dinner while watching the movie later that night, we were set and comfy.
The next afternoon we decided to check out a nearby sight in Miami: Vizcaya. According to their official website, Vizcaya, “…was the winter residence of American industrialist James Deering from Christmas 1916 until his death in 1925. Deering was a Vice President of the International Harvester Company, which produced agricultural equipment for a worldwide market. He chose a bayfront site in Miami for his tropical winter home because of the location’s temperate winter climate and his appreciation of the native hardwood hammock.” We decided to walk through the outside gardens first, which turned out to be so much more than simple gardens. There were Italian-Renaissance style pieces of architecture everywhere… the atmosphere was just astounding. I was completely brought back to my memories of Italy, a trip I took when I was much younger with family. As we looked around, we noticed women in wedding dresses getting their photos taken – and I don’t blame them! (Sidenote: I saw the most beautiful perfect purple wedding dress that had my name ALL over it!)
We couldn’t take pictures of the inside, so I’ll pull some from the website for this next section. Not my fault! Anyways, we entered through the main doors and found a covered (originally open-air) courtyard in the center of everything. We started exploring the rooms one by one, beginning on the first floor with the main entrance. Heading first through the library, we made our way through the reception room, the living room, music room, dining room – most of which are shown below. When we hit the butler’s pantry, we ended up running into a tour group. I stayed for a few minutes to hear about how the estate had all the latest technologies of its time, including an intercom system of sorts, a dumbwaiter, and elevator, and central heating. Since there were plenty of farm area, the estate was pretty much self-sustaining, with the food brought in from the outside, stored in the pantry, and later prepared in the upstairs kitchen. Transported by the dumbwaiter, of course!
James Deering himself:
The house:
Once we got upstairs (and there were actually multiple ‘upstairs’) we saw the breakfast room, Deering’s bedroom and bathroom, and the kitchen, among other rooms. I was astonished to see what a small bed Deering had, considering he was the master of the house. Although, he did have a separate sitting room and bathroom which make his entire room larger. One of my favorite rooms was the ‘Breakfast Room’ adjacent to the kitchen area upstairs. This room had made Chinese influences mixed in with European influences making for a strange yet stunning combination. Upstairs also had many stylish pink, green, and yellow themed guest rooms named after, (according to the website) “…famous people, styles, or places.” As we walked back down we planned to make a quick stop for a bite to eat in the cafe around the side of the building. One burger later (it was huge so we split it) we were saying goodbye to Vizcaya and set about getting out of the hot sun.
The following night I got to have a bit of free time to go out and intermingle with peers of mine. I ended up bringing home a celebratory cupcake!
In the morning my Mom came into town at the same time that my sister and I happened to be at the dentist. My sister ran home to let our Mom in and to make sure the Hotwire cable people were able to get into the apartment while I stuck around and finished my teeth cleaning. That evening we decided to relax and order in Cuban food from Latin Cafe 2000, since my Mom and I would be heading out the next morning back to Orlando. I recommend the empanadas and well, nothing is complete without the fried plantains! We returned to Mom’s apartment and spent the next couple days going out to the mall, buying clothes and business suits for me, and packing up two full duffel wheelie bags of stuff! Mom and I had a final visit with my grandparents the day before I was set to leave, where we dined on Chinese food and chocolate ice-cream, and I was able to tell them all about my work coming up abroad. After that visit I was ready to fly off to Santiago, Chile the next evening!
Talk to you all soon,
Francesca
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