Don't even think about moving here, Gringo!
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7/25/2006
I was born and lived in Miami for the last 35 years, and let me tell you, it is not easy being an American "gringo" in this city. I have traveled to many major cities in America, and Miami is the rudist city in this country. "In this country" is an oxymoron in this case, because Miami is far more indicative of a 3rd world Latin American country than an American city. The drivers in this city are extremely rude. They don't believe in defensive driving here, it is either "offensive" or "competitive" driving. Turn signals are counter productive. Hispanics, primarily Cubans, run the city--and it IS a banana republic here. Every public seat in this city has been indicted for something. The service in Miami, by and large, just plain sucks! Here the attitude is "you are lucky I am allowing you to spend your money in my establishment." If you don't speak Spanish you are often ignored or treated rudely for having the audacity to not learn "their" language after they graced "your" country with their presence. This carries through to even national chain stores like Walgreens, Home Depot or CVS. Rude, rude, rude. They just don't seem to care about your gringo dollar. The last time I checked, my dollar said George Washington, not Jorge Gonzales. Maybe it's the heat and humidity mixed with a lot of machista? The public school system is not bad here. In fact, it is pretty good, but unless you want your 14 year old daughter wearing low-rise pants with her thong sticking out, a belly ring and a tattoo on her lower back, then you probably won't want your daughter hanging out with any of the other students. The women here are for the most part very sexy and beautiful, if not slutty looking, which is great to look at, but not necessarily the kind of gals you want to have meet your mom. Miami is very, very superficial. It's all about how good you look or how much you have (or at least how much you can "look" like you have.) The weather in Miami is great in the winter, but is extremely hot and humid with near daily thunderstorms and intermitten hurricanes in the summer through the fall. The beaches are lovely, and generally well maintained. Don't even think about going to South Beach unless you want to pay $20 or more to park, and then still have to walk 3 blocks to get to the sand. Then you will probably just feel old and out of shape when you get there. Don't bring your little kids there unless you want them to get an eye full of topless, thonged women. But it is quite decade
Daniel | Kendale Lakes, FL