Chicago Firsts

Yesterday, I attended my first graduate class: Disability and Marginality in Medieval England and France. I must say, I really enjoyed the discussion we had in class. The professor refuses to lecture in class, and he has forbidden us all to raise our hands during the sessions, so it looks like every class will be a two-and-a-half hour discussion on the readings. The readings are going to be great, by the way. Piers Plowman, the Canterbury Tales, lots of medieval plays and fables, and passages from the old Latin Bible used in those way back times. It seems like every other student except myself has taken Latin classes. I'll definitely need to do some catching up to be a competitive student.

Today, I went on my first real Chicago excursion. Mom and I dropped Dad off at the airport, and then we hopped on a tour trolley and rode around town for a while. Chicago really is a pretty city. Flashes of Ferris Bueler's Day Off kept appearing in my mind as we drove past museums and skyscrapers. We got off the trolley when we arrived at the Field Museum.




Wow, what an amazing place. The first thing I wanted to see, and indeed the first thing I saw when entering the museum, was Sue, the Field Museum's claim to fame. She's a 23-foot-long T-rex, and the skeleton is almost perfect except for a few missing bones. Goodness, that was fun to see. I've never seen a dinosaur skeleton before, and to see a famous one for my first time just seemed so important.



There were lots of other interesting exhibits there, and Mom and I wandered for hours before hopping back on the trolley in order to beat the rush hour crush on the El.

Curses. I only have dial-up in my apartment while I wait for the DSL hardware to show up, and I can't upload any photos on to my blog. I guess you'll just have to wait until I get DSL to see all the cool things I've been doing. Updates coming soon!

Count Your Blessings

Things that I am grateful for since I moved to Chicago:

- For Mr. Foster, who lugged all my belongings clear across the country and unloaded them in my apartment, and refused to let us pay him in any way for it.

- For the GPS system in our rental car. We would still be searching for a hardware store without this amazing device.

- For the futon store a mere block and a half from my apartment, which quickly supplied us with a great futon, a darling kitchen table, and two chairs.

- For the electric company, who missed my basement apartment when installing meters in the building, thus eliminating the possibility of my ever paying for utilities (and yes, this is fine with my landlord).

- For the Devon market, a grand grocery store just half a block from my front door, which carries everything I need to survive here, including four different kinds of homemade feta cheese, lychees, fresh bread, and a produce section that puts the Boise Co-Op to shame.

- For the fact that we were able to deep clean, assemble, and purchase everything I need for my apartment in a mere two days. I am still staggered that everything worked out so well. It defies explanation.

- Most of all, I am thankful that my parents are here to help drive me around, to tell me what to get for my apartment and help me pay for it, to encourage me and be excited for me. Gosh, I love them.

So, here I sit, in my new apartment, drinking tea and posting a new blog from a new city. I'm so excited! Pictures and more details about life in the Windy City coming soon.

The Day Before...

Well, I move to Chicago tomorrow. Everything's packed, I've said my goodbyes, and my bedroom is the cleanest it's ever been since I moved in. I'm excited and nervous and ready and terrified and every other emotion that is possible to experience simultaneously.

The next time I write, it will be from my new home in the Windy City. Au revoir, Idaho!

A Brother is a Wonderful Thing

Travis is back! Let the whole of Idaho rejoice! He arrived on Saturday exhausted, hungry, and ever-prepared to put me in my place. How I love that boy.


I really must brag about the birthday gift he gave me. While Travis was in Vienna, he heard about this little bookshop on the Ponte di Rialto, where all the books are handmade. On his last day in Vienna, he traveled halfway through the city to find this place, and found an ideal gift for me. It's a journal, but not your everyday journal. No, this piece is a work of master craftmanship, beautiful to behold. It's rather large, and is covered in raw-cut leather, with two- or three-foot straps wrapped intricately around the entire book to keep it closed. The leather is floppy, and the book opens easily, a rare treat for those who enjoy writing while sitting cross-legged on the floor. The journal is hand-bound, and the paper is actually a soft cotton blend made at the shop. Good golly, it's beautiful. The scent of the journal alone is enough to inspire the most romantic of thoughts. I can entirely relate to Hermione smelling old books in her love potion. If ever a man wishes to get my attention through scent, all he needs to do is rub himself with essence of leather-bound book, and I would be his for the taking.

We all went to McCall for my birthday, and we took a big tour of the lake in Uncle Byron's ski boat, which was a big birthday treat in itself. I love boats of all kinds; I love the feel of perching above the surface of the water and swaying with the waves. I sometimes wish I could be a sea captain's wife, like Mrs. Croft in Persuasion, and spend all my time afloat.

And I do assure you, ma'am," pursued Mrs. Croft, "that nothing can exceed the accommodations of a man-of-war; I speak, you know, of the higher rates... any reasonable woman may be perfectly happy in one of them; and I can safely say that the happiest part of my life has been spent on board a ship." - Persuasion, by Jane Austen


Lindsay came with us to McCall, and I found her just as pleasant as the last time I spent time with her. She and Travis are in the uber-cute, almost overpoweringly cute, stage of puppy love, but it was fun to watch them. Travis has never taken criticism so well as when Lindsay gives it. He's all humility and obedience around her, which is entertaining in itself to witness.