Arrival

The flight into Miami didn't seem to take 9 hours at all, which was nice. American Airlines already had 'True Grit' on the in flight movies list. Even the food was bettter than simply edible. Customs then. Probably best described as the opposite of the cheerily all-American Welcome! messages constantly played at you via TV. It would be more accurate to show such messages after the CBP and TSA have had their turns. The huge 'all you need is love' message emblazoned in flowers across the airport wall was a nice touch.

In contrast with Heathrow, where my passport was checked once at customs/security and again with my boarding pass at the gate, in Miami it was checked at least 4 times, with questions. And there were swarms of customs officials, roving in gangs of 5 at a time. Who funded this over-exuberance? Paranoia is the chief suspect. I smiled and walked right on through without much hassle.

It is a sad fact that when I looked at the detained room-those who were to receive further checks, almost all the detainee's were what in America would be described as Ethnic. Strange as everything in Miami is in English and Spanish. Multi-culturalism has many levels it seems. It would be easy to simply hand out bad press and point out cultural differences throughout the trip. I am concious that in looking out for them I throw bias on my observations. So I must say that regardless of your colour, without exception, all of the security officiers seemed polite and helpful. No question was treated as reproachable. Given the juggling act between friendly and vigilant in their line of work this attitude was nothing short of remarkable. These folk see thousands of new faces per day, for only minutes at a time. The monotony must grate, yet it did not show.

On the trip from Miami up to Jacksonville the plane was a much smaller American Eagle, and the cabin crew numbered one humourous assistant. I sat next to Kim, a southern Belle who called me 'Honey', and who was returning from visiting family in Arizona. She was as excited as me about the take-off and during the short flight she told me of her work and daughter and didn't seem to mind my chatting at her. Perhaps the smile she wore was because of my accent and she laughed out loud at my pronouciation of 'Jaguar'! To me it was jag-u-ar, to her and the south it was jag-waar, or jag-wire. Miami from the air looks like a city mapped out on a computer and then plonked straight on the land- the model for Simcity. The main highway- sorry, freeway (or is that interstate?) ran for 15 miles, 12 lanes of dead straight concrete. And the lines- fields and reservoirs- all straight! What amazed me most was how much was built right on the Atlantic. This is flat land. Surely, I asked Kim, it floods during hurricanes? "Sure" came the reply "we just evacuate, and then rebuild once it's over."

Pimpin!!

Picking up the rental car was fun too. Chris the guy at the desk was having a helluva day and letting us know about it! I was delayed 30mins, which didn't bother me and when my car arrived it wasn't the little run-around Aveo I had ordered. None of these were left. It was a Mini-van. Ha! Mini doesn't mean the same thing over here. I got a seven seater wagon, no extra charge.

Lina's lake is idyllic

After an argument with the Sat-Nav, who refused to map read, I arrived an hour late at Lee and Nina's place (friends of Gemma and Chuck). Despite it being 9pm they welcomed me right in, and Chelsea v Blackpool was the order of the evening. they couldn't have done more to make me feel at home. Lee has been here 13 years and hails from Sunderland, so Newcastle are abhored. Lee calls the Sat-Nav 'the bitch' and I have adopted the same name. It suits. Nina comes from Maryland originally and has been in Jacksonville a while now despite employment upheaval. She blames Lee (for keeping her here, not for the job thing)!

Lina's place- they have turtles in the lake behind their house!





I think I have bent your collective ears enough for one post... talk at you again tomorrow.