stateside: chicago

Arriving in the states for the first time in nearly 2.5 years seemed overwhelming, as usual...(this is the 2^{nd time i've been away that long)...i flew into chicago, my friends kelley and jon picked me up at the airport...my flight left kyiv just after noon, i landed in chicago around 8 in the evening...since the flights were all day, i tried my best to stay awake the entire time, though i usually tend to sleep quite a bit on flights...i figured if i stayed awake the entire time, i'd be able to go to sleep on chicago time, and get my body onto chicago time asap...}
kelley knew i needed some food and toiletries, (and she knows i love supermarkets – yes, i'm wierd) so she took me to a supermarket and a cvs pharmacy...who knew there were so many choices for so many objects? I haven't really had so many choices in a while, i was overwhelmed...who needs ten different brands to choose from when it comes to face wash? And within each brand there are more choices...eeeeek!! i loved the supermarket too, i loaded up on fresh produce...

the next night kelley and jon made dinner plans with magan and eric, a couple i met during the ireland trip...it was great to see them again, and catch up on the past year...we met at a ptzza joint famous for chicago deep dish pizza...lou malnatis...i'm guessing a lot of people in the states (chicago, anywho) would recognize the name...tasty pizza, though really filling...

that was saturday evening...sunday afternoon a storm hit the chicago area, and knocked out power for a while...the storm didn't last long, but there was some hail, and very strong winds...tree branches were down everywhere...kelley used to work in insurance, and as she said, a storm like this one would've meant a whole LOT of overtime for the next couple weeks...their house didn't get power again until more than two days later...

if it had been may, this wouldn't have been such a big problem...but it was july, and it was HOT...the heat index was around 110F, and kelley and jon have a dog named meatball...meatball doesn't love that kind of heat, to say the least...we all stayed in the house sunday evening, but by monday afternoon it was too hot for the dog, (and us, to be honest)...kelley and jon's friend andrew (whom i also met on the ireland trip) volunteered to take all of us, so off we went for the evening...meatball and andrew are great friends; kelley, jon, and i are just tolerated:)

the next day (tuesday?) i went to work with kelley, at one of her library branches...i spent the entire time on a computer, buying plane tickets...not too long before her shift was over, my friend laura (whom i met in korea, during my first years there) picked me up...

laura and i went back to her flat, then took the train into the city to an area called bucktown...if anyone reading this is from chicago, you'll know this name...since i'm not from the area, i haven't a clue where it is...apparently it's a trendy neighborhood? Chicago has a good public transport system, though to someone who doesn't live here, it's rather confusing...transfering from one train line to another isn't always straightforward...fortunately, laura knew where to go...

we ate dinner at a pub, then wandered around bucktown...at one point i got distracted by a display counter, and found red velvet cupcakes:)...yum...laura doesn't have the same sweet tooth i do (does anyone?) but she knows how i get about my sweets...i know i don't really need to be eating things like red velvet cupcakes, but i also know that after this summer it could be quite a while before that's even a possibility again...

laura got me on the right train back to kelley and jon's suburb, kelley picked me up at the station...(i dozed off on the train for a while, when i woke up i was seriously concerned i'd missed the stop...fortunately i woke up just in time)...

the next day was 4 july...independence day for my country...i had wanted to go somewhere, or do something, but it was hot...the heat index was something around 115F...not at all fun to even think about going outside...so we didn't...we relaxed all day, not doing much...

the next morning jon drove me to the airport, for my first set of visits...