Chelsey in Chicago

With two papers due after Thanksgiving break and the quarter ending one week later, I decided to stay in Chicago to take care of business. I initially thought of taking Thanksgiving as my day off from schoolwork and just lazily enjoy the solitude (Maggie's in Fresno) but Chicago had other plans in mind. First, the University promoted an event called Thanksgiving at UChicago, where you get paired up with a professor or faculty member for dinner. So I thought, why not? Could be fun! Then, I found out Chicago has its own Thanksgiving Day parade. And finally, when I was matched with a  professor for dinner, I offered to make a pie to bring. So, yesterday I took the bus downtown to see the parade on State St. It was much less crowded than the Disney one, at least the street I went down to catch it, but it took me a little longer to weasel my way up to the front. It was scheduled from 8-11 which seemed a little long and I wanted to get some work done on my paper, so I got there a l...

So, apparently here in Chicago, Christmas comes before Thanksgiving. On Friday 11/17, there was a tree lighting ceremony in Millennium Park. I went downtown with Anne and her Serbian friend (can't remember her name now) an hour before it was supposed to be lit. We had raced out of the house to catch the bus so I didn't grab my umbrella and neither of them had brought one so, after finding where the tree was, we walked to Macy's to get out of the rain. This particular Macy's is in the building of the first department store in America, Marshall Field's (This was someone and something I had read about before coming to Chicago though I don't remember too many of the details.). We went up the eight floors, each cheerfully decorated and then back down as it was getting closer to tree lighting time. Not surprising, the park had gotten much more crowded but we still managed to get up close to the tree. The rain, which dumped on us as we left the Macy's had...

They say Chicago is a city of neighborhoods. Pilsen is a neighborhood south west of the center and is primarily a Mexican one. After a run with Anne 3 or so Sunday's ago, Maggie and I took a bus downtown. Unfortunately they were doing some work on the trains so, after much back and forth and delays, we eventually got to Pilsen. Maggie felt at home because she said it smelled like a Mexican neighborhood (combination of fabric softener and something else, I think she said). She was eager to try some of the food too, you know her people's food ;) Because I had run 10 or so miles and because it was mid morning, we were both very hungry. We headed in the direction of a museum we planned on going to but were hoping to find someplace to eat before reaching it. We landed at a small diner (counter space only) with three Mexican women cooking up pancakes, gorditas, bacon, and chilaquiles. One of the cooks asked us what we got the last time but, Maggie assured her we had never been to...

Many have been curious as to how Maggie is or what she's been up to here. She initially took a week to settle in after our road trip and then spent the next few weeks registering her car (she's got Illinois plates and a license!), taking care of health insurance, applying for jobs, etc. It was a busy and stressful time for her but she says she learned a whoooole lot. After not having great luck with the job search in something other than teaching, she decided to go ahead and start substituting. There is a charter school system with elementary, middle and high schools. She has subbed for them all and has had some very interesting experiences. Even the sub jobs can be few and far between so she also began subbing for adult English classes in the evening. Lately she has been working for the charter schools in the morning (she got a few longer term positions) and the English classes in the same evening. She has been super busy! But, she feels like she's gotten what she wanted...

In October I visited the Art Institute of Chicago, saw a string quartet, and enjoyed a Halloween themed University of Chicago Symphony performance. The university had organized a trip to the Art Institute where they would pick us up on campus, in a school bus, and drive us to the museum and back. When we were dropped off we were told to be back at the bus in three hours and that the time was ours to do what we pleased in the museum. There was a tour that gave an overview of the museum so I figured I might as well do that to get my bearings. On the tour I met Anne, the assistant professor from the Netherlands I now run with. We recognized each other from the bus and were the only two from the university in the group taking the tour. The older gentleman to your right was our enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide. The overview was great and we hit some of the highlights but of course there is so much more to see. I think the university is doing an identical trip this month so I mi...