Just got back from Miami Beach yesterday, visiting Ray while he's on the road. It lived up to its reputation as the "Hoochie capital of the East coast." Saw lots of coochie-cutters, biceps, cleavage, blonde highlights, bling bling jewelry, spandex, small-of-the-back tattoos, weaves, thongs, pecs, and macked-out Hummers than I could count. It was a fascinating mix of spring-breaking twenty somethings, slightly paunchy tourists, and international glam types giving shade in expensive sunglasses. At the 10th street beach, I was literally surrounded by New Yawkas (Ray being one of them). I ate more platanos then since I was in Havana (including a yummy platano omelet), and skinned a scrumptious trout clear to the bones(at Tap Tap, a great Haitian restaurant), just like the Leo cat that I am. The water, three shades of blue, was as inviting as it can be to a non-ocean swimmer, moi.

My friend Arleen picked me up at the airport. She's a native of south Florida and a former co-worker of mine. I was initially fascinated with Arleen because of her "Miami Cuban" heritage -- both her parents were born in Cuba. I used to eavesdrop while she talked on the phone in ridiculously fast Spanish to her mother back in Broward County. Arleen and her husband Eric are one of the most attractive, genuine couples you'll ever meet (and two year old Corrine is a blue eyed doll!). Arleen and Eric took me and Ray to Versailles (pronounced "vehr-SAI-yes"), the legendary family restaurant in Little Havana's Calle Ocho. !Que rico!

I have a love/hate relationship with Miami. My first impressions of the city were bad ones -- the Liberty City riots in the early 80's, the high crime rate (an image popularized by "Scarface" and "Miami Vice"), the solidly-Republican voting bloc and its accompanying reputation for notorious racism. Yet, I'm attracted to the Latin American vibe, the *gorgeous* people, the weather (of course), and seeing people of color in a beach setting (in North Carolina, black folk didn't frequent the beach -- that was seen as a white thang). Miami does seem like the gateway to the Caribbean. Unfortunately, I didn't get enough of a sense of how black folk -- both U.S. and foreign born -- get along there. Particularly Afro-Cubans and Haitians.

I did manage to de-bunk one myth, though. BLACK FOLK CAN INDEED GET SUNBURNED!!


Check out a terrific documentary now on PBS, "The New Americans." I got to see a clip while it was in production -- it's wonderful!