holiday time is different in Miami

One of the most notable differences in Miami -- the holidays in warm weather is one. the presences of such a strong community is a second. Everywhere you go, there are menorahs and dreidels and "happy Hannukah's."

Now Washington, while a most fabulous city is sort of the antithesis of a jewish presence. Washington is a white bread city. there are no ethnic names, there is no jewish presence without heading out to the suburbs.... I can remember being so impressed when I went to Philadelphia to visit my mom and there were be Rugalach at the store across the street from her. Elliott always has the best bagels and my favorite, white fish salad! but here, where its a whole different story. While I haven't found any whitefish salad in my grocery store -- all the cuban delights you could want, but no whitefish salad. the nod to the Jewish presence is everywhere. This picture, upper left, is from the lobby of Nancy's office building at the Univ of Miami Medical School see the Menorah on the counter?

I went to the mall tonight to do some power shopping, Its an outdoor mall called The Falls with a big lake type thing in the middle. this huge dreidel is among the decorations in the middle. Can you decifer the lit reindeer in the upper right corner?

Then there's the New Balance sneaker store. Can you see the menorah on the top shelf and the dreidels stuck in the shoes on the lowest shelf? Love it.

I understand that the critical mass of the jewish community has moved a bit north of Miami Beach to Aventura. Its very possible that's where our clinic will be. I need to go check it out. A weekday if possible. Traffic up there is a killer. But I bet they have whitefish salad, One day when driving home from a meeting, we passed a Judaica store the size of a , well, I don't know, the size of a normal store -- as in not a small or even medium space. Never seen that before. Not even in Wheaton or Rockville. So I need to check it out.

I had my book club pot luck today. That was fun. Met a few new people. It seem many transplants have trouble adjusting. Good to know its not just me. The host was a Scottish woman who ended up here via San Francisco because of her husband's job. At one point she leaned over to me and asked "so how do you like it here. Be honest. I hate it." She's been here since August. Fascinating. A group of us, not a native among us, decided to get together and try and work on (read: learn) Spanish. We'll see how that goes. I'm curious to hear Spanish with a Scottish accent.

Last week, a visitor from DC came and introduced me to a transplant who had worked at the Kennedy Center. We met for drinks and dinner -- and generally a great night out on South Beach on a Tuesday night. Look at me, thank you very much! Anyway, as a result... I am going to see Paul Taylor Dance Company tomorrow at the new Arsht Performing Arts Center. I've never been there so I'm excited. Not so much theatre... but I'm learning. Come visit. We'll go exploring.