Chicago

I’m trying something different this week. Instead of writing my response at the end of the post, I’m going to insert comments into the piece itself [TODAY: like this]. Hopefully this will flow a little better!

TEN YEARS AGO

Wednesday, December 7, 2005

It was a grand (but cold) day in the Windy City. Seriously…I had so much fun. Michelle and Jill are great people to wander Chicago with. [TODAY: When I was in Chicago with Kelly a couple weeks ago, I told her all about this field trip! I didn’t realize that it had been exactly ten years…cute.]

The three hour ride up was less than thrilling. We watched various Will Farrell stuff, and that was funny, but it got a little long. [TODAY: Cue pretentiousness.] Then we arrived at Navy Pier, where we (M, J, and Julia) ate lunch, took some pictures, and shopped a bit. At first it felt really weird carrying a camera around my neck, but I got used to it. It helped that there were 50 other kids in the near vicinity doing the same thing.

Around one we went to the art institute, which wasn’t very exciting at first, because we (M and J) didn’t know where to go. So we headed to the cafe and ate a brownie. [TODAY: Hahaha, when in doubt – EAT!] Eventually we found a section of paintings, which I really liked. And it was even cooler because there were students there painting…paintings. We took a couple pictures of that. Then we walked over to Millennium Park and took pictures of crazy art forms, people, and ice skating. It was freezing. I ended up wearing a hat, it was so cold. Crazy. [TODAY: lol, this is an incredibly strange comment to make, but you just have to know I hate how I look wearing a hat, so it really was a big deal.] Continue reading →

When I visited Athens in March earlier this year, I was put in a dorm room with an American girl for a roommate. Kelly was a college student studying abroad, and she was a constant source of fun and encouragement while I went through an evaluation to work for House of Damaris. She bought me Greek snacks. She took me downtown one night to sit on Mars Hill and then grab dinner overlooking the Acropolis. She bought me a Nutella-filled doughnut after one day of evaluation was particularly hard.

My relationship with Kelly is pretty much “Hi, I’m a stranger! Can I room with you? And do you mind taking me into a city to show me around?” When a snow storm caused my mom travel anxiety, we decided to go to Chicago Friday night instead of Saturday afternoon to catch my train to Seattle. I booked a hotel, but messaged Kelly as a backup. She’s studying in Chicago now, and she immediately offered to let me stay the night with her. The hotel was cancelled, and off I went to Kelly’s apartment! Continue reading →