Stranded In Miami

I landed in Miami from Mexico, knowing that I was stuck there until I got a Brazilian visa. I didn't know how long that would take, but my first priority was to get past customs without my Cuban souvenirs being found. For a few minutes I was a little nervous, as one of the custom officers questioned me about my travels, apparently suspicious that I had been traveling for so long and with just a 35L pack. The bag sat on the bench between us, ready for the evidence of a Cuban visit to be found, but fortunately, I was let away without an inspection.

After rescheduling my flight and getting the necessary information on visa applications, I headed to Miami Beach for a cheap hostel. I really should've stayed in a cheap hotel within Miami proper since the cab ride to the cheap hostel easily made up the difference in price. I spent the evening hanging around a Dutch girl from the hostel. We had the most awesome pizza I had had since the beginning of the trip and wandered up and down the esplanade in the cold night air. And I thought Florida was supposed to be warm!

Getting A Visa To Brazil

In the morning, I dropped my bag off at the airport and went to the Brazilian Consulate. There were a few hiccups in my visa application process, like needing to spend another $10 on a photo which fortunately could be taken only a few floors down, that I was misquoted the $130 for US applicants and when I returned in the afternoon to pick up my passport and visa, they wouldn't return my flight itinerary... my only copy. But the security guy there let me photocopy it, saying that if anyone found out he would get his ass kicked. Honestly, I didn't know what the big deal was, but I appreciated the perceived risk he took because I had just one hour between the opening of the office for visa retrievals and check in at the airport.

Pulling A Homer

To pay for the visa at the consulate, I had to feed money through a machine and present the coupon at the desk with the paperwork. When they found I had overpaid by about $100, thanks to their misquote, I had to feed more money through the machine to get a coupon with the correct amount. They gave me a business card of the Banco do Brasil in Miami where I could get my money back. The error turned out to be a good thing.

For the four odd hours that I had to wait for my visa, I had planned to loiter around the neighborhood, but the fact that I had to go somewhere to get my money back led me to a little adventure.

I asked a man directions to the street which was probably about 2 or 3km away, and apparently beyond the labyrinth. Two blocks later, I asked another man, and he directed me to the people-mover station nearby. It was a free, unmanned trolley car that connected major points in the Miami center and one of the stations stopped across the street from my destination.

I got my money back and wandered around the area, visiting a park and esplanade, shopping centers and a monument for the Cuban refugees, something I found interesting, having seen the other point of view.

Watching the city go by on the people-mover and in cabs, I wasn't sure why I had heard negative things about Miami. As far as big cities go, I think I would revisit on a proper vacation in the future, if only to snorkel the Florida Keys. Though things hadn't gone right with my travel plans to Brazil, I knew I had planned well nonetheless. The cheaper flights I could've bought stopped over in dodgy Caracas, and I'm happy to have been stranded in Miami instead.