I Made It!

Time: 15:06

Location: Chicago, IL, USA

I am battling high humidity at thirty-one degrees Celsius and extreme jetlag. I literally woke up about two hours ago which is bad enough but worse when you're disgustingly sweaty and slightly dizzy. But who the fuck is complaining?! I'm in Chicago!

After a crazy twenty-one hours of airports, security checks and crowded planes, I finally reached O'hare at 6pm. I found my way to Baggage Claim and was picked up by a couple of friendly folks my dad knows. We drove to West Rogers Park which is where I am staying. The people that I'm staying with are a wonderful couple whose kids have all gone off to start families and what-not so they had a spare bedroom for me to stay in for very cheap. They had (a vegan) dinner out for me which was really sweet and we talked about everything and got to know each other.

At around 9pm, a friend came down and and we were off to see the city by night. It was the super-quick tour of downtown Chicago. We passed all of the places I had read about - Millenium Park, Lake Michigan, Wicker Park, the Gold Coast etc. Our first stop was a piano bar where I had my very first beer in Chicago. Take that, legal age! And then we were off to an argileh lounge where, unlike the one's in Sydney, we were allowed to smoke cigarettes inside as well as the hookah. Then I got home at 1am and conked out because I hadn't slept properly for almost forty-eight hours.

Chicago is weird and beautiful. It is exactly how I pictured it but not what I expected at the same time, if that makes any sense. The people are pretty friendly and everything is bigger - the buildings are taller, the roads are wider and the portions of food are tank. There is, of course, a Maccas and Starbucks on every corner and dozens of bars. Where I'm living, there's an abundance of Indian, Pakistani, Arabic and Jewish shops and restaurants and it's pretty perfect for grocery shopping.

Anyway, I best be off. There's much to see and do! Photos soon!

I hope you're all doing well.

-S