USA

Miami Beach boardwalk

At the poolside

Celebrating family reunion with ice cream cake

ooked a room in a boutique hotel housed in a renovated art deco building just a block from the sea on Mid Beach. It was every bit as stylish, funky, and welcoming as I'd imagined. Once there, I had a nice dinner watching the US election coverage and went to bed by 10 pm thinking that politics is so boring. Boy, was I ever wrong...

In the morning, there I was in Trumpland. Totally unprepared. The news did nothing to ease my jetlagged mind. Curiously enough, I also felt kind of priviledged to be visiting an US state on such a historic moment.

Decided not to watch TV again until my writing retreat was over.

After some leisurely strolling on the scenic Miami Beach boardwalk, people watching in a sidewalk cafe, and finishing a mystery novel at the poolside, I'd again reached that calm and peaceful state of mind that is the essence of a retreat.

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The family reunion between cousins was an absolute pleasure. How is it that two people who meet maybe once in a decade have such an easy reconnection? Kids have grown up, jobs have changed, people we know may have gotten old, the weather is not like it used to be, but we are the same.

***

If everything's gone as planned, I'll have continued my journey and hopefully reached my destination on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica when this blog gets published. Pura vida!