Chillin in Chi-town

Much like the other times I have left the city, the first few days are full of old friends and catching up on news. So far, I've seen Jenny and Diana, and I got to chat with Red on the phone.

I met Jenny the same time I met Anita, two of the first people I ever met on UIUC campus. We were at the Campus Honors Program orientation at the beginning of the year, at which they pair a "senior sibling" with all the "junior siblings," just as a friendly face to be able to talk to throughout the year, or even later perhaps. My senior sibling never showed up ... so Jenny adopted me as another junior sibling.

Jenny's been stationed at an Indian Reservation through Teach for America at a school with a really high turnover rate of students and teachers. It sounded like an intense/difficult/rewarding experience. We compared her perspective about education in relation to low-income children with my research of education for low-income children. Also, Native Americans interact with American society really differently in the West Coast compared to the MidWest. At least those I met seemed pretty happy about the Res, and they were well integrated. My experience with those in the MidWest comes down to the huge struggle over the "Cheif" mascot for the Illini basketball team at UIUC: in sum, lots of tension.

Diana and I shared photos with each other. It looks like she's had an amazing summer down in South America, staying mostly in Argentina, but also making it through Macchu Picchu, Patagonia, and Uruguay, for example. Her photos of high altitude lakes, tropical forests, densely populated South American cities were all absolutely amazing. It was good to catch up.

I'm excited for Red and all of my other friends who are entering grad school this fall. He's on a trip from UVA to D.C. (I think?) to buy furniture for his empty apartment which turned into a sort of short roadtrip to see all of our other friends on the east coast now: Lauren and Aries in New York, and Shira in Providence. It's also always nice to be able to talk architecture with Red.

Finally, I've also been on a couple of rides in Chicago again! The Lakefront Path has definitely shrunk in terms of distance and scale. What used to be my "hills" are definitely just minor blips, and 35 miles feels like only half the ride I'm scheduled for. I rode with Will, one of the grad students who T.A.'d for the concrete class I took last semester. I've recruited him for Bike and Build! Apparently he's gotten hooked on cycling this past summer, and he's been one of the leaders for ESLARP for awhile, so it's right up his alley. Yay future Bike and Builders!

Another sense of perspective from Bike and Build: Nebraska is always worse. Will was shaking his fist at the wind today, and I was like, boy, ain't no thang. I'm really glad that I'm not in Nebraska right now, but I'm glad we went through it and survived. It was either Chad or Jake Schorr who began a "consider Nebraska" campaign: Looking for a job? -Consider Nebraska. Planning a vacation? -Consider Nebraska. Nebraska is now synonymous with unrelenting wind blowing in my ears, exhaustion at 12mph, perpetual purgatory of dry grassy rolling hills, deserted towns miles apart, long days, dehydration, and mental breakdowns. Nebraska, I'm glad you will always be there to be my scapegoat.