So Miami : The Name Game

Because Miami is such a...unique place...it is easy to describe something about it as being "so Miami".  And even after living here for 15 years, it still sometimes seems foreign, I am constantly finding things to be "so Miami"!  Therefore...I am going to try to blog about things that are "so Miami" to me when I think of them.  No pressure to do it weekly, monthly, etc.  Just when I think of it.

One thing that I very intensely dislike about Miami is how you are constantly meeting new people.  Occasionally this is fun, but most of the time it is exhausting.  Try name recall.  Yeah.  In the last 2 weeks I've met:

Sirai

Janine

Linda

Astrid
Dez

Mike

Stephanie

Katy

Katie
Laura
Karen

Charmaine

Duckworth

Lesley

Leslie

Faye

Grace

+ other people whose names I've forgotten

I also finally learned how to pronounce my neighbor's name Yaelis.  (Ya-eh-lise - Finally I asked her to spell it an she did then shrugged and said, most of my friends call me Ya-ya.)

There are people you get to know because they come to the same birthday parties as you (birthday parties are big here).  There are other people you know because you go the same places.  When they change jobs or schedules, you no longer see these people.  When I was a kid, we all got hyped up when a new kid came to school.  My kids meet new kids every week.  It's good they are good at meeting new people, but it's hard to get to know people that way.

Here are some things I've learned to make the most more out of living in a densely populated area:

1.  Make friends with families.  It is easier to keep track of who you know and how you know them!  This also helps make reference points with other people you meet.
2.  Make name associations.  My friend Taina said, "Just think Hyena with a T".  When I meet someone, I try to think of someone else with that name.
3.  Don't worry that you are wasting your effort if you make friends with someone who cycles out of your life.  Usually, given enough time, they will cycle back in.

On a similar note - I am taking a new members class at church and in my group, I am the only...non Jamaican!  Our pastor is Jamaican too and he teaches the class.  There is a larger, more diverse class later at night, but a group of Jamaican Kiwanis had a schedule conflict and asked for an earlier meeting.  I had a schedule conflict too!  Irene's bedtime!  It is fun. :)