ok, so. in about a day and a half, we will set off for washington DC. i am, in short, very happy about this. this is not to say that i will not miss chicago, because i will. i was taking my last El ride today, and i actually got a little emotional getting off at belmont for the last time! a bit silly, but true nonetheless. and there are other things that i will miss:
- the El, in general. not that it doesn't have its hassles and tribulations like any other public transit system, but by god, it's got character. it's so distinctive, and i'm always kinda impressed when something can be iconic and workaday at the same time. i will miss hearing those metal cars hurtle along on the tracks overhead, or to watch the skyline sliding by as i make my way to work in the morning.
- the food. oh dear lord, the food. i don't even know how to talk about it! the down and dirty chicago food, first and foremost - hot dogs, corndogs, brats, polishs, all that. the fact that i won't be able to just run down the street and get a chicago dog and fries for like two dollars is practically tragic. and then there's the neighborhood restaurants: el mariachi, ecce the sushi place, joy's for thai food. all so good, and all literally a three minute walk away. what's nearby at the new place? wendy's. enough said.
- boystown. this neighborhood is something else. i've written about it befoe, but really, i know i take it for granted that i live in such a welcoming, progressive neighborhood. it's not perfect, of course, but i think it'll be really hard to find anything like it (that's even vaguely affordable!) anywhere else.
- the city. you know, it's hard to describe this. because technically, i'm moving to another city. and it'll be city-like and all that. but it won't be chicago. it won't be the concrete canyons and the lakefront and the skyscrapers and the bars with neon bears signs in the windows. even though sometimes the city wears me down, even though sometimes i see things here that make me want to cry, or scream, or give up and hide out from humanity forever, in a weird way i think that's what living should do. life should remind you of other people, it should remind you of what's different and what's the same - it should be a challenge. and i know that DC will have many of the elements of city living that i'm used to and more, but it won't be this city, at this moment in time. chicago has done a lot for me and shown a lot to me in the two and a half years that i've been here, and i guess what it boils down to is that i'm grateful for that.
i don't know if i'll have a chance to post again before our internet gets shut off tomorrow (shut off? shut down? i'm not sure what the proper terminology is for internet account termination). if i don't, well, i will see you all again when we get to DC and bully comcast into setting up our new account! right now they're telling us they'll do it on sunday, but i don't believe that for a second - i'm guessing tuesday at the earliest.
so we're off. see you soon.
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6 comments:
kate, first off, good luck and FSMspeed on your journey. I hope everything goes as smoothly as humanly possible.
I'll be very interested to hear your impressions on DC. I've been down to DC a lot over the years, and it's an odd place. Sure, it's a "city", but not at all like Chicago, New York, or Boston. For one, the lack of a skyline gives it an odd, amorphous feeling.
Finally, one thing about leaving Chicago: Your odds of finding a decent pizza (i.e. one that's less than 2" thick) increase dramatically. ;-)
Good luck! Safe travels!
Good luck, Kate!
Good luck, Kate!
Happy travels!
Looking forward to reading about your new adventures on the East Coast.
Too exciting! Bestest of luck to you on this little journey of yours. The midwest just lost a little bit of cool.
And perhaps we'll get to see some Friday night doped up cat blogging from the hotel? Aww... poor CatCat.
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