Adam and I have started a list of strange, interesting, or noteworthy differences of life here in South Florida. This is what we have so far:
1. Pretty much every neighborhood is a gated community. They don't reserve the gates for the fancy, million dollar home neighborhoods. I can only imagine how much cheaper our rent would be if we weren't paying for a 24 hour guard. But it does make me feel safer and maybe it will impress our guests when they come visit. Ha.
2. Most of the highways or roads are divided. It makes for lovely driving because there are usually trees, grass, and such in between. We wondered why the GPS was always telling us to make a u-turn, but soon caught on... it's those divided highways.
3. Stop lights are long. You may guffaw at this and think we are just being impatient, but it is true. It was not so in NWA. The positive side to this is that you usually get a long green light and while you are waiting you can catch up on your twitter feed, check the map out, post something on Facebook, and call your mom.
4. The weather is always the same. Right, I know... we've only been here a couple weeks. But I think it's always going to be sunny & hot. In NWA, I would stand in my closet trying to figure out what to wear that day, wondering what the weather was going to be like. I would grab my phone and check the weather channel app for guidance. That is completely unnecessary here. My thoughts are now: "Am I going to be mostly indoors or outdoors today?" Because if I'm indoors, I'm going to need a cardigan and if I'm outdoors, I need shorts/a dress/a tank top, etc. Rain does happen, but it doesn't usually last long... so, it's not worth really planning ahead for. I find the unchanging weather both relieving and disappointing. I know I will definitely miss fall in NWA!
5. Everyone here eats late. If we go to a restaurant at 6:00pm, we're the only ones there. Example- Saturday we ate a late lunch and didn't end up going to dinner until around 8:30pm. An 8:30pm dinner in our books is kind of unheard of. We chose a burger place just down the road from our house. There was a line all the way to the door to place your order. By the time we left around 9:20pm, the line was out the door! And there were children there.... so weird. And it's not just a weekend thing, either. We've witnessed it on weeknights as well. Since we typically eat earlier, it makes the lines, crowds, & service much better for us!
6. Instead of spiders & crickets, we are plagued with ants & lizards. The lizards are mostly outside, although I did find two small dead ones near the storage closet under the stairs that I'm pretty sure Biscuit killed. Go Biscuit! The ants are the worst. They make me feel dirty when I find them crawling in the kitchen. Our community has a pest service that treats the outside of our units twice a week. I'm sure it could be much worse. I've become much more conscious of closing containers and keeping the sink clear of dirty dishes. Hopefully, those habits will stick with me. Please don't judge me when you come visit, if one crawls across the counter in front of you. I'm doing everything I can.
7. To quote Adam, "Every weekend feels like a vacation." We have declared weekends are for exploring, not unpacking. So when Friday night rolls around, we're trying to plan something fun or adventurous to do on Saturday. When we explore, though, the weather is gorgeous, there are beaches, breezes, sidewalk cafes, new foods to try.... it really does feel like we're on a vacation.
That's it... it's not even a top 10 list or anything... just some things we've noticed. I really want someone to come visit and confirm we're not crazy about the stop lights.
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