Introduction

Hello, and welcome to Locally Miami Beach. This is going to be my first time attempting to blog-better late than never, right? First a little about me:

My name is Tugba (tu-ba) Cakmak (chuckmak).  The name is already enough to raise some eyebrows and question marks.  I have relocated to Miami Beach from a quiet town in New Jersey.  I have spent most of my life up North, where my family still is.  I went to school at Fox School of Business, Temple University in Philadelphia, PA, majoring in Human Resources Management and International Business.  Not knowing at the time, Temple University's extremely diverse community was preparing me for life in Florida.  Where I am from in NJ was a small mixture of cultures and races, predominantly Caucasian and African Americans.  Here, however, it was mainly Hispanic and Latinos. Because of my skin tone, I can easily pass for Hispanic. In fact, many at first refused to believe me when I said I don't speak Spanish.  I went through some culture shock but adapted to it quickly.

With the move came the career change.  I have obtained my Real Estate Associate License in Florida, serving as a Sales Agent for Macken Realty, INC located in Aventura.  South Florida seems to be the best location to dive into this industry. With locals, you also have the tourists interested in buying or investing in Florida.

You might be asking yourself, how is she going to blog about being a local when she has not even been here for so long? My first year in Miami Beach was like that of a tourists'. I visited sites, museums, art shows, tried out different restaurants, took advantage of the sun and the beautiful beaches, etc... A year is a long time to be vacationing, so it made it easy to find out a lot about the city.  Then came living like a resident everyday.  I realized as a resident, I devoted less time going to the beach, exploring new restaurants, trying new hobbies.  I don't think I will ever stop exploring in South Florida. As I do, I plan on sharing the details with everyone.