In true, ghastly but brilliant American
college style we spent a week “Spring Breaking.” (verb: to partake in Spring
Break) It was, however, less ghastly and
more brilliant than inferred. The infamous Imogen Pickles accompanied me. Her
name has astounded a number of unsuspecting Americans, especially alongside the
story that the Pickles family live near Giggleswick next to Wigglesworth on the
River Ribble. (One girl asked if gumdrops fell from the sky.) Regardless,
Pickles was an excellent companion and we had an abundance of adventures.
Our first stop was Miami. Miami’s Hispanic
community is unlike anything I would have imagined. You could live there and
not speak a word of English with very little problem. With rich Hispanic
culture comes real and delicious Hispanic food. My friends’ Abuela
(Grandmother) cooked us so much Cuban food that we should have been asking the
question I overheard on South beach, from the epitome of sorority girl, “hey
Britney, on a scale of one to pregnant how fat do I look today?” With little
regard for bloating we ate steak and onion Cuban sandwiches, shrimp, red beans
and rice, Guava pastries and drank strong Cuban coffee, all of which were full
of flavour and unbelievably delicious.
The everglades provided us with an entertaining
afternoon watching rednecks risk their lives wrestling alligators after which
we stopped at a fresh fruit and vegetable market. As a boy, the owner, Robert,
would sit by the road selling his fathers leftover crops from the farm. He had
a little sign that said “Robert is here.” Fifty years later he still stands
under a considerably larger sign with a line for the fresh fruit smoothies
around 20minutes long, but worth every second of the wait.
With Spring Break spirit in hand we then
headed for the Florida Keys. Key Largo was a little slower than its more famous
counterpart, Key West. Maybe it is the lack of (as quoted directly from the
NYtimes) “copious
debauchery, its spontaneous bouts of breast-baring, Jager bombing and
après-binge vomit” or maybe its because Key Largo doesn’t have the Ernest Hemingway museum. Personally I think the former is more
feasible. Key Largo is, however, home to some of the best fishing in the US and
we ate fresh Grouper, Hog, Mahi Mahi and Conch to name a few. We also swam with some bigger creatures but
they were spared from our plates.
The week ended with a stay in Cape Coral on
the gulf coast, where Kjerstine’s mum cooked traditional food from her home
country, the Philippines. We ate noodles with beef, egg rolls, chicken with
mushrooms and spring onions. A joyful a high-spirited week had by all, Pickles
even flew an aeroplane.
