We're Going, Going to Miami...

11.10.2009: In the morning, we packed and loaded the car for our drive to Miami, FL. After saying good-bye to Grandma and Pop-pop (along with Pop-pop's serious instructions to drive slowly and carefully because of the crazy Florida drivers), we were on our way. The drive to Miami, FL was filled with beautiful skies - it was awesome to watch the colors of the sky and clouds change as the afternoon changed into dusk then dark. We also saw a pretty good size herd of deer along the Turnpike as we were driving.

We reached Abuela's house (David's grandmother on his Dad's side) in SW Miami, FL and, of course, she had dinner ready and waiting for us. Abuela is Cuban - Spanish is her first language, and she speaks a bit of English. Katrina is not Cuban - English is her first language, and she speaks a bit of Spanish. David actually speaks more Spanish than he lets most people know, although he only really knows about ten verbs. So, with our mix of Spanish and English, and quite a few charade-like gestures, we were able to do a pretty good job of communicating (only if Abuela spoke slowly, of course!)

11.11.2009: Wednesday was a rainy South Florida day - which means that it was about 80 degrees and every now and then would completely downpour with rain, but most of the day was overcast and fine. We went to Sabor (a division of Publix, which is a grocery store) to do a bit of grocery shopping with Abuela. From the moment we arrived, she was very concerned that we would have enough to eat, although the opposite was quite in fact true - she pretty much fed us non-stop the entire time we were visiting! A true Grandma, indeed. We also made a few quick stops at the bakery and another grocery store, Tropical, to pick up some baked goods and fruit, respectively. Upon returning to Abuela's, we learned how to make ropa vieja, a traditional Cuban dish. The literal translation of ropa vieja is "old clothes" and the dish is shredded beef cooked in sofrito (a tomato, onion and garlic base). Along with the ropa vieja, we also had white rice, fried ripe plantains, and salad. Katrina learned all the names of the vegetables we cooked with and ate, and the names of all the utensils for the place settings. David has made very tasty ropa vieja many times, but nothing beats Abuela's cooking! Que rico! It was delicious.

11.12.2009: We awoke to a huge breakfast - a Spanish torta (and entire frying pan filled with eggs, potatoes, and onions) along with fresh fruit and coffee. We then headed to the Everglades National Park for a morning hike at Shark Valley. When Katrina lived in Fort Lauderdale, FL in 2004-2005 this was one of many favorite places for her to visit.



We opted to walk the trail, although biking was also an option, and got a good 4 miles of exercise.

Along the trail, we saw 4 pretty good sized snakes. Once we returned to the National Park office, a ranger helped us identify the snakes as Everglades Racers (see picture below) and a Red Bellied Water Snake (we don't have a picture of the Red Bellied Water Snake, because he was so big that Katrina wouldn't let David get close enough to take a picture, although he did want to).

When one thinks of the Everglades, the first thing that comes to mind is what else - alligators. And, we were not disappointed! We saw many alligators up close along the trail (two of the biggest ones are pictured below) and even saw a nest of 5 baby alligators slightly off the trail.

It was both really cool and a bit disconcerting to be walking along just a few feet away from huge alligators, especially those that were resting with their mouths slightly open. Contrary to what most people think, it is rare for alligators to attack humans, unless they are provoked or protecting their nests of babies (or unless people feed them and they become aggressive as they associate food with humans). We also saw many different birds, as well as giant grasshoppers (we're talking a couple inches long here, folks).

After spending the morning hiking, we headed back to Abuela's to shower, and then headed north to Fort Lauderdale, FL. We spent some time in the afternoon visiting Covenant House Fort Lauderdale, and seeing (or meeting, in David's case) many of the people that Katrina used to work with when she was a Faith Community volunteer. It was so wonderful to see them all!

We headed over to the Faith Community volunteer house and spent a few minutes hanging out with the volunteers before going to Archbishop McCarthy High School for Covenant House Florida's Annual Candlelight Vigil. The Vigil is an event held by all Covenant House locations to raise awareness about the issue of homeless youth. It included a candlelight procession, times of prayer and reflection , readings, and personal stories shared by several Covenant House youth. Below is a picture of the Executive Director of Covenant House Florida, Jim Gress, who did an excellent job of hosting the Candlelight Vigil. It was a beautiful evening, possibly one of the best Vigils that we have attended in our many years at Covenant House (for more information, you can go to: http://www.covenanthousefl.org/). It was also nice to see (and meet!) even more of Katrina's former co-workers.

We spent a bit more time at the Faith Community volunteer house (thanks for the super tasty lasagna!) before heading back to Abuela's after a very full, and wonderful, day.