WELCOME TO MIAMI
When I am in the USA, I usually stay in Miami. I have always liked Miami, one of the main reasons being it is a Spanish speaking city and majority of the population are migrants from Spanish countries in South America. The largest group among them are Cuban immigrants from Cuba. Unfortunately, they tend to follow extreme right wing divisive politics but are cunning and innovative and masters of manipulation. Strangely enough, many Cubans who have visible African ancestry declare themselves as European when they arrive here, as do many of the other Spanish Speaking people with either African or Native ancestries. So in the census, it would appear that majority of the Miami population is white European, the lived in experience is much different.
It is 70 per cent Spanish speaking
17% identify themselves as African Americans or of Black African origin (via the Caribbean)
14 per cent white , with a good chunk of Jews
Only 1% are Asian
One of the reasons why Koreans or chinese do not come here might be that an immigrant from Asia may be reluctant to learn Spanish while he or she is perfecting English and Miami is certainly not the best place to improve your English.
Miami is absolutely flat with no hills or mountains but has very pretty clouds and beautiful sea and coastline and water related sports and activities.
The most commonly heard language is Spanish, followed by English , American added with its various cadences from the islands. Haitian Creole is heard in some parts and Brazilian Portuguese is often heard, especially in the malls.
In 2000, the most significant ethnic origins in Miami were Cuban (34.1%), Nicaraguan (5.6%), Haitian (5.5%), Honduran (3.3%), Dominican (1.7%), and Colombian (1.6%). 20 years later, Cubans still dominate the horizon with Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, Colombians dominating the rest. The contributions from Puerto Rico or Mexico or Central America is much smaller, so do not look for good Mexican food in Miami.
I find this melting pot of people very interesting and I always can speak in spanish to people you come in contact with. The health care system is heavily in favour of nurses from the Caribbean and the doctors like the rest of the population may be of Cuban origin.
I am from Australia a country which has a very strict immigration policy but that does not mean that I am anti-immigrant, no I am not and in fact, I feel warm towards the immigrant whether in USA France or Australia. I truly wish more Iranians would migrate to Australia to increase the intellectual level of our country a bit !!
There are no large Arab, Turkish, Persian, indo/Pakistani/Bangla, filipino communities here in Miami (so don’t search for those cuisines, alas!)
If ever you are in Miami, and coincide with one of my stays here, we could share a nice cup of Cuban Coffee
My love for Miami is augmented by the fact that it has direct flights to over 100 cities outside USA, 25 of which are in Europe (including Istanbul), Only one city in Africa , Casablanca. Tel Aviv, Dubai, Doha in the Middle East and the rest are to central and South America and the Caribbean.
Those among you interested in Palm trees, you might be interested to know that Fairchild Gardens in Miami has the largest collection of Palms in the world
