My a me

Have we talked about the hard hearted-ness of the people of Miami yet? I think because of the ocean, I assumed everyone would be like they are in Hawaii-- nice, easy going, earthy, etc. Not so. Very materialistic. Very not easy going. And very not nice. At least, that was our initial impression after driving around day after day for a week with no luck finding housing and dealing with Danny's school and people at hotels.

I've come to realize that people here aren't mean-- they just aren't open. Gotta warm em up first.

A couple of weeks ago, my friend and I ran into the grocery store on the way to enrichment and were standing in a long line of people who had a million things, we just had two. One of the workers came and grabbed us out of line and checked us out in her secret lane. I told her she was the nicest person I had met in Miami. I said it as sincerely as I could because I meant it! She looked at me like I was HIV positive.

It's the little things people. It's SO nice to see people helping other people out. Which leads me to my next point,

We have been the recipients of the following free items:

3 tv's
1 set of drawers
1 dining table
6 dining chairs
1 couch
3 couch chairs
1 bench
1 entertainment set
1 lamp
1 ottoman
10 dinner plates
4 glass cups
8 dessert plates
1 night stand

Seriously? I can't even believe it. Thank you, sweet elderly Cuban lady from next door! We also had another lovely Cuban lady knock on our door yesterday and tell us not to buy a bed because she will find a free one for us. What a dove. I think we are literally the youngest people who live in our condominium complex, and the dear old people have taken us in under their wings. We feel very blessed and taken care of and we loooove these ladies who live by us! Must find a way to pay it forward.

In short, a little love goes a long way when you live in a place where there aren't tons of smiles. And a lot of love (i.e. all of our furniture) goes a ridiculously long way. So I'm going to go try to do something nice for someone now.