The Aftermath

Six months ago, I was preparing to close down another chapter in my life – the Chicago chapter.  A chapter which was and will be a significant milestone in my life. 

Looking back I can’t really explain what exactly led me to do this experience, but definitely it was a God sent in its entirety, including this blog.

I have always been a reserved person, and very jealous of my private life, and yet again I don’t know what led me to start writing this blog.  Definitely the idea of keeping in touch and keeping my friends up to date with what I was up to was one of the reasons.   However this blog also provided a window into my experiences to strangers, people whom I’ve never met.  Perhaps I thought I would make some money from the ads, but that never picked up.

I don’t really know who will read this blog, and what effect it will have on them.  I just hope that my sporadic sharing of these experiences will one day inspire people to risk, take the plunge and challenge themselves somehow, to travel, to meet people whom they consider different, and learn from others as much as possible.  Take everything as it comes, with some sense of humour and deep gratitude for both the ups and downs of each experience.  I hope that this in turn will form persons who are more self aware, and more open to different people with differing views.  Who knows maybe something bigger will grow from that.

Now, I’m no longer in Chicago – I can say I’m fully settled back in Malta.  I’m working on my practice, and enjoying everything from my homeland that I missed in the past years. 

I miss Chicago, but I also know that I can never return to that Chicago I've grown to love, because it no longer exists.  Now all my classmates have graduated, the program I was following has been changed.  Some have new jobs and have moved – like I did after all.  I’m not complaining.  This is how our life is made.  We move on from one experience to the other, meeting new people, making new friends.  One can’t dwell on the past, nor dream too much of the future.  We live fully in the present and do our best to make the world a better place everyday.

Wishing you all the best & looking forward to my next visit to a 'new' Chicago,

d

P.S. I might still write something here, every now and then… will see

On Concluding the journey

My thoughts as I prepare to wind down 'operations' here in the states:

http://blogs.luc.edu/globalambassadors/2013/12/05/goodbye-loyola/

Autumnal Ponderings

I haven't been updating my blog regularly.  But I did blog in some other places.  Here's a link to my latest blog for the University's Global Ambassadors.  It's a bit deeper than my usual ramblings - hope you still enjoy it :)

http://blogs.luc.edu/globalambassadors/2013/10/30/fall/

Summer is here

Summer is here, but I'm not.  Well I'm not in Chicago at the moment.  After almost a year I'm back in Malta, writing this blog from my desk in my home in Zurrieq.  I have missed this place, and I'm enjoying every minute.  I'm going to the beach almost daily, but I'm also catching up with friends, and sampling all the delicious food which I have been missing.  It is hot here, but in the evening the see breeze cools down.  Maybe one of these evenings I'll find some time to catch up with this blog too. We'll see.  In the meantime I wish you all the best :)

5/50...long way to go

Many remember that something on my bucket list is to go to the 50 states that make up the U.S.  Whilst this seemed quite a do-able task, time and money have not helped.  Thus it is with some great deal of satisfaction that I see that at least I'm now 20% into my target.  

May was in fact a traveling month, with two trips which have taken me to the western and eastern coasts of the U.S.  Earlier on I visited San Diego, and last week I've spent it in New York City.  So now I've been to California and New York.  (I discovered that what we generally call New York is intact New York City, not to be confused with the state of New York).  I was lucky enough that in both trips I ventured out of the city and saw some other parts of both states, although this was obviously limited.

I must admit that I preferred San Diego to New York.  Whilst San Diego was more like home with the beautiful weather, the landscape and the sea, in New York the weather wasn't so co-operative ranging from cold and wet to hot and humid.  Still the thing which affected me most was that in New York it seems that everything is driven by money.  Anyway I'll speak more about my impressions of both cities in my next blogs.

At the moment I'm just glad that a year and a half into this experience, I did some progress into this US-project of mine.  Hopefully before I get to come home for good, there's much more red on that map. :)

More on the weather

A Chicagoan told me, if you're not happy with the weather, just wait a few hours. because it will change.  And it really does.  Mind you the change is drastic, at times.  Last week we had a 30 degree (celsius) day, today it's going to be some 6 degrees apparently.  Still I'm not complaining, I had a good taste of summer already, last week in San Diego, California - details will follow soon :)  And I just have to wait for tomorrow, because it will be warmer.

The longest Winter of my life

I think this title would be a really a cool title for a novel, about someone who's been through a long period of depression or spiritual emptiness.  In reality what I'm going to talk you about is much more literal.  Indeed this has proven to be the longest winter of my life, and finally I can definitely say its now  over. (or at least I hope so)

My winter starts when the temperature starts dipping below 15 degrees (Celsius), and this is accompanied by rain (although not necessarily), as most of the Maltese winter days are sunny and nice. These "requirements" for the the season to be called winter appeared around the beginning of November, evidenced by the sudden surge in my energy bills.  By the end of April, the weather was still very wintry, with threats of rain, and long cloudy days.  

However May seems to have finally brought a constant good temperature, and lots of sun.

In total however, I had a winter of 6 months of cold days, the majority of which where cloudy and well below 15 degrees.  Some of the days, the temperature was well below freezing point, we had a number of snow storms, with the latest snow fall being a few weeks ago.  Indeed this was a winter which is way longer than I've ever experienced, and although I didn't contemplate suicide, at times I could feel the effects of such dreary weather.  My productivity was way lower than usual and I have been sleeping way longer than usual.

Last week however, the last day of April was very hot, and although the temperatures are now cooler, spring has really started.  The trees have blossomed, and the air smells so nice.  And in less than two months time I will be in Malta, getting grilled in the incredibly hot Maltese summers.  This time, though I will not complain about the heat, I'll just soak myself in it, and fill my heart with all those sun rays which make me so positive everyday.

An evening in Pilsen

Last semester I wrote a paper about Pilsen, but ashamedly I admit that last week I realized how little I knew about Pilsen then.  Most of the stuff I got from websites, books and what other people said.  I had been to Pilsen, a number of times, but I never really immersed myself in it.  I never really knew the place.  How did I realize that?  Well last friday I got a real immersion, and it was better than expected.

So let’s start from the beginning.  Pilsen is a neighbourhood in Chicago, which was first settled by Czech immigrants, hence the Slavic name.  Throughout the years however the neighbourhood has developed into the quintessential Latino neighbourhood.  A trip to this place results in a trip to a community which is Mexican in spirit.  Here the main language is Spanish, and even the decorations have a Mexican style. 

My first trip to Pilsen was soon after I arrived, when I had to meet one of the local leaders, who happened to know someone back in Malta.  It was a dark winter evening and someone had been shot in the area in the previous days.  Learning all this, made me feel obviously very uncomfortable in the area, so in my return visits to the area, I always kept my guard on. 

In my latest trip however, a friend of mine invited me to go over with him to the Art walk -  a visit to a number of artist’s studios/galleries in the neighbourhood.  In recent years the area has experienced gentrification too, and a number of artists have set shop here.  Even though most of the artists are not ‘latinos’, the opening up of these spaces suddenly gave a new dimension to my perception of the area.

Suddenly I realized that after all it wasn’t that dangerous to walk in this neighborhood.  The art was interesting, but most of all what I found interesting was the new world which opened infront of my eyes.  Perhaps one of the best discoveries was a bakery, which bakes delicious pastries including empanadas and pan dulce.  The stuff is so good, fresh and much less expensive than the food in the area where I live.

The people are also very friendly, and welcoming.  Obviously there are the usual shady characters, but these you can find all over the city.  Indeed sometimes labels and public perception do have an effect on the way we see communities.  Definitely this has been a positive experience and I intend visiting this area more often. 

An unexpected ski trip

I didn’t plan anything for my spring break, namely because I had no money, and I also decided it would be an ideal time for me to relax and clean up my apartment.  So when my friend Kim, called asking if I was interested in going for a ski-trip, I was very excited.   Spring break this year was in the first week of March, and it really wasn’t spring at all.  It was very cold and grey and it snowed all throughout the week.  Thus it was also ideal for a skiing trip, because the snow on the mountains was fresh and soft.

We went to Wilmot mountain, which is not far from Chicago. It took us about 2 hours to drive there.  Wilmot is more of a hill than a mountain, but it was good enough for my needs.  Afterall it was my first time skiing.  Booking for a lesson, was a very good idea, since I had no idea how to do anything with those large skies, in that snow.  I was also lucky because there weren’t a lot of people at the resort, and I had a one on one lesson.  The instructor was very patient with me, and very helpful.  His wife happens to work at Loyola.  I had never met her though, Loyola being such a big school.

I did quite well and the instructor was happy with my progress.  Both he and my friend remarked, that for a first timer I was doing quite well.  This encouraged me to be ambitious and try the real hill, not just the bunny hills.  Here I started quite well, although I must admit that I never mastered really the turning technique, so instead of criss-crossing slowly down the hill, as one is supposed to do, I just went down straight.  This obviously makes you go down faster, and the incline is steeper.  It was quite fun, and up to this point my skiing technique was described as ‘pro’ by my friend.

Halfway through my descent, though, when I started accelerating a bit too much, I realized that another thing I hadn’t mastered so well, was slowing down.  I tried to position my feet in the way I was told, but it didn’t really work and I started panicking.  The next thing I know is that I’m flying in mid-air.  To be fair the whole experience was quite exhilarating.  In my life I flew a number of times, and most of the times I fell on hard surfaces.  Falling on the fresh and soft snow was quite comforting. 

Obviously I’m not saying that one should fall as much as possible on snow.  I was lucky that there was a heavy snowfall, and that the snow hadn’t been tread upon that much.  Otherwise the story would have been completely different.  I might have needed to use my medical insurance for the first time here in the US.  So although the falling bit was also very nice, it is not advisable in most circumstances.

This did not dishearten me, and I did try to go down the hill a number of times more.  I was improving, but I did fall a good number of times too.  The worst thing about falling was that every time I fell, my boots would snap out of the skis.  This in itself is a good thing, and is a safety precaution, because ifd it doesn’t snap out, your ankle might snap.  The bad thing is, that if this happens to you in the middle of the slope, putting your boot back into the ski is not that easy.  You have to battle with the slope to avoid sliding down, and you have to make sure that there is no snow in the place where your boot needs to clip on, and trust me there’s snow everywhere.  At one point in time it took me and my friend about half an hour to get my boots back into the ski.

Anyway all in all, it was a great adventure.  I had fun, and now I can cross it off from my bucket list.  Although I intend to attempt skiing other times in the future too.  One thing I didn’t realize whilst on the mountain is how much exercise it involves.  In fact I spent the whole week after I came back sore.  Definitely though, I repeat it was worth it!!

Photos: My friend took a number of photos/video but I haven't seen them yet.

Loyola Blog Post

By the way, did you see this other post for my university blog:
http://blogs.luc.edu/globalambassadors/2013/03/21/746/

Back to writing

Hi everyone!!

Yes, I have totally abandoned my blog, again.  I can’t believe that we’re already in the fourth month of this year.  In a month’s time I will be finishing my penultimate semester here at Loyola.  So now I’m realizing, how close I am to concluding this experience.  Well I’ve still got about 8 months left, but when considering the rate at which I’ve been writing on my blog recently, this might be very close to the last of the Chicago diaries.  Well I hope not, and now that the days are becoming longer I will make it a point to at least drop a line or two, every now and then.  I haven’t been good at keeping my promises in the past, will see what happens…..  

Anyway, I haven’t been writing much, but that doesn’t mean that I stopped doing interesting stuff.  Actually so many things happened that I don’t even know where to start from.  I think one of the most interesting happenings was the election of the new pope, but everyone knows about that.  Back home a new government has been elected too.  We will however have to wait for a few more months to better understand what effect these two new governments will have. 

But, to more recent news.  North Korea it seems, is threatening to attack South Korea and the US.  For the first time in my life, I’m living in a country which has been seriously threatened with not only war but a nuclear war.  Here people are going on, as if nothing happened.  Its business usual, probably because the North Korean missiles can’t fly all the way to the American mainland.  The biggest threat is for the American islands in the Pacific.  Still, this is another first for me, a first which is not that much to be proud of.   Let’s hope that all the issues get resolved peacefully as soon as possible.

In the meantime, this week I shall be posting some other posts to get you up to speed to what I’ve been doing lately.

Met Jesus today

I met Jesus today.  I have proof, unfortunately I only realised now.

I would have asked for a discount, since we are good friends :)

Goodbye 2012, Hello 2013

2012 was a special year, for me.  It was indeed a year of opportunities and first times.  It was the first time I crossed over the Atlantic ocean, and I did it not once but twice already now.  It was the first time I lived by myself – I’m still considering the ups and downs of that.  It was the first time to be away from home during important holidays like Easter and Christmas, and that definitely was a difficult one. 

The year provided me with incredible opportunities to meet new people, make new friends, and learn new things.  I've learnt a lot, and I have truly experienced providence and generosity.  I've learnt that sometimes life is full of miracles.

In 2012, I started, for the first time, telling to the four winds, what I’m doing with my life.  Being quite reserved, it was not easy, but it’s the easiest way of keeping all my friends updated with what I’m doing.  I must admit that however I wasn't always good with that.

And do you remember Tina, my pet plant, which was keeping me company when I first arrived here?  It did survive for a relatively long time.  But the more real friends I got, the less attention I gave to her.  Tina died of natural causes, late in June, and was laid to rest on the 4th of July, in some friend's compost bin.

2012 was also a year of adventures.  It was my first time on a zip line, driving a golf cart and a quad bike.  And it was also my first time driving on the right in Malta – obviously that was a mistake.  This year I have seen snow for the first time, but I haven’t yet skied or ice-skated.  I hope that these will be some of the things which I’ll do for the first time in 2013.

With all these firsts and much more which I didn't list here, there are still a lot of things which I hope to try out this year.  From the 16^th of January onwards, the calendar days will not be my first in the US.  Being more settled and knowing what to expect, I will hopefully have the opportunity to turn my gaze to different opportunities.

In 2012, my motto was 'always say yes to new things'.  This indeed did work very well.  I still haven't thought what will be my outlook to 2013.  I’m just hoping that this year I’ll be more organized, and self-disciplined.  Wheter I’ll be able to do this only time will tell.  

In the mean time, I’d like to thank all of you who have been following me, and keeping me company through this first year.  I wish you all a Happy 2013, and I hope I will have more interesting stuff to write to you during this coming year!

A Bulls Game, which I never told you about

The Bulls at United Center

As soon as I came back to Chicago in September, as you might recall from a previous blog entry, I went to a Cubs game, and had declared that I want to go to at least one game of each of the important Chicago teams. 

After such a declaration I could not miss the opportunity of attending a Bulls Game.  The Chicago Bulls are quite famous in the basketball world, and everyone knows Michael Jordan, one of their main players who is now retired and has a steakhouse on Michigan Avenue.

The opportunity came in the form of discounted tickets for Loyola students, brought about by the Water Tower Campus life, the department where I work.  We had bought the tickets quite in advance, and they were sold out quite early, because it was quite an offer.  We got our tickets for $15.  These same tickets generally cost in the region of $60.  Which definitely means I’m not going to be seeing the bulls play live very often.

The basketball game is very simple, but like everything here in America, it has been transformed into a show.  Watching game includes seeing dancing in intermissions  (and there are a lot of them), contests between spectators, flying T-shirts, and more. 

The opening of the game is quite spectacular, with this 3d rendering video of bulls trampling over the City of Chicago and arriving at the arena.  This is accompanied by a show of lights, music and fire effects.  After this, the players go onto the court and start the game, but not before a gigantic floating bull goes round the court.

The floating Bull

The game was a good one, and we enjoyed ourselves.  It was played at the United Centre, house of the bulls.  They however share this place with the Chicago Blackhawks, an ice hockey team.  In fact the pitch can be transformed into an ice-skating rink. 

The United Center, Chicago

What struck me is that the nearer the game is to its end, the more Time-outs the team take.  The last minute of the game could take half an hour to be over, especially if the score is really close.  This could be quite frustrating, but being at the stadium in good company I wasn't annoyed.  Probably watching the game from home, would have been a different story.  Anyway, finally the Bulls won, and we went home happily.

Christmas holidays

I have again abandoned my blog for a while. I'm sorry.  I wasn't idle though.  In fact I have written quite a lot in the last month.  I wrote 3 papers and a number of reflections.  I've also started writing some blogs for the University website.  Here's the link:  

http://blogs.luc.edu/globalambassadors/2012/12/17/studying-social-justice-at-loyola/

You should read it, if you're curious why I decided to come here :)

I've also had to decide what I'm going to do for Christmas.  I decided to stay in Chicago, because although I have no school, I still got loads of work to finish, and not much money left for traveling.  I will still spend some time with some friends in the suburbs, but I'll spend most of my Christmas holidays here in Chicago.  Thus, I decided I need to put up some Christmas decorations in my apartment.  I didn't want to spend any money, since I will need to get rid of everything in a few weeks, and also because this will be my first and last Christmas here. (At least that's the plan so far) 

I managed to get some sort of garland and some plastic ponsiettas.  I also have some christmas baubles which I had designed for WTC (the place where I work).  And the most precious of all is the little baby Jesus I got from Malta.  I'm pleased to say the result is not that bad. 

Now, that I have some Christmas spirit in my apartment, I'm looking forward to the snowfall which has been predicted for today, and ice-skating later this evening.  In the mean-time, I'll burn some wood in the fireplace and take some time to write some more blog entries to update you on what I've been up to in the last month.

In the meantime, I wish all of you a Merry Christmas!!

The festive season is now officially open

Michigan Avenue Bridge

Yesterday, the Festival of lights opened the festive season in Chicago.  This happens with a parade through Michigan avenue.  The parade is headed by Mini and Mickey Mouse, whose arrival is accompanied by the lighting up of the Christmas decorations in that particular stretch of road, and lots of cheering, especially by children.  The parade came to an end with a fireworks show at the river.  There was a nice atmosphere.  A Christmas feeling, although it is too early for Christmas, we’re still more than a month away, and advent will only start in two weeks. 

Mini & Mickey in front of Water Tower Place

Before the festival, our university organized a graduate student social at 16th floor of the Lewis Towers, from which Michigan Avenue can be seen well.  We had some egg nog and warm apple cider, and each student was given a bauble, or as they refer to it here an ornament.  I had designed this ornament for Water Tower Campus life, the department for which I work here, and I'm quite proud of my first venture into design of Christmas decorations.   

So after the social, we went out into the streets to enjoy the atmosphere and headed towards the river to watch the fireworks.  Walking down the streets, the reason why celebrations start so early, was obvious.  The Christmas period brings with it a rise in consumption and commercial activity.  Thus the longer such period is, the better for the enterprises.  We obviously ignore the fact that such lengthening of the Christmas period, not only degrades the value and anticipation to such days, but is also in my opinion harmful to the environment.

Nevertheless its hard not be carried away by the spirit, especially when the weather is already colder than it has been in all my Christmases throughout my lifetime.  Still, I will try to hold my horses, and go through the traditional anticipation for Christmas, going through advent first.  Will see how much I will manage this in the midst of all the Christmas decorations popping all over the place.

Obama again

By now, you should all know that Obama won another term in the White House.  Many were expecting this, but others weren't so hopeful.  Indeed it was a very long campaign, and by the end of it, everyone wanted it to be over and done with as soon as possible.  I guess, it is thus worth chronicling the night when all this came to a close.

In the evening I headed off to a bar where some friends were watching the results.  I had an evening class which ended at 9.30, so I couldn't go earlier.  Although the professor declared earlier that he will keep it short and let us leave an hour earlier, he did not.  I think he was carried away by his enthusiasm, which I must say, didn't infect us. 

When I finally arrived at the bar, at around 10.00, there was quite a nice atmosphere, with everyone looking at the big screens with expectation.  My friends where all gathered in the patio outside, which although enclosed was still very cold. On the tv's one could see the results for different states.  Then suddenly slightly after 10.15, a blue image with democratic party written on, flashed onto the screen.  This meant that Obama won.  There was an explosion of cheering.  Apparently most of the people there were Obama supporters.

All in all, it was a nice event, although it all happened so fast.  Backhome, it takes almost 24 hours to get a clear result of who won the election, and here its done in a few hours.  And the strangest thing to me, is that the results come out even before some voting places close, such as in Alaska.  What's the use of going to vote, if the result is already out?

The excitement didn't last long, and soon everyone started leaving.  So we decided to head off to some friends' house and continue the night there.  The streets were quite, no bar-coding like back home.  We watched Romney's concession of the defat, and Obama's appreciation speech from McCormick Place in my own Chicago.  I must admit I was quite proud to be in this City at this moment in time.  It's not as historical as 2008, but it still was an important event, and the President chose Chicago for it.

One other interesting fact I discovered, is that the President isn't sworn in immediately.  The official ceremony will be held on the 21st of January.  It will be obviously held in Washington D.C.  I'd like to go to it, but it will probably conflict with my school and work schedule.  

US election_2

And for those of you who want to keep abreast with the latest predictions, the link below, provides what some think might be the closest to what might really happen:

http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/

Election Day

It’s election Day, here in the US today.  Whatever the outcome of this day will be, it will surely affect not just Americans but people all over the world.  That's why all eyes will be on America tonight.  America remains a leader in the world we live in, and the man at the top surely makes a difference to direction in which our future goes.  

Most of my american friends here have already voted.  Some have voted by correspondence, or as it is called absentee ballot, because they are still registered in their home town, and others have already voted in the past days.  Yet the bulk of the Americans is making the actual decision today.  This notwithstanding, the city looks as if it’s business as usual.  The president himself is in town, and will be eagerly awaiting for the results at McCormick Place, described by Wikipedia as the largest convention centre in North America.  I guess this would be quite a nail biting night, especially for him, who would get to know if he is getting fired or not tonight.  

The odds are in his favour it seems, but anything could happen, as they are saying that the difference between the two candidates is not very big.  And the system is not as simple.  Apparently there are two types of voting.  One is the popular vote, which counts the votes of all the voters – like any normal election, and the other vote is the electoral college vote.  The electoral college should vote according to the popular vote, but still I haven’t yet understood why a simpler voting system would do.  In my eyes, the system doesn’t look so democratic, especially because seemingly the votes of some states have a higher standing.  But it’s also maybe because I didn’t really understand how the system works.

So tonight I’m heading off to a bar to watch the election results live as they come out, and hopefully by then I will have a better grasp of the system.  Until then I’d like to propose to you the video below.  For those of you who were following the presidential campaign and who are also acquainted with the music video of gangnam style, will surely find it funny.

Chicago Marathon

About a month ago, on the 7th of October (2012), there was the Chicago Marathon.  The event was a remarkable one for various reasons.  First of all I was impressed by the number of participants, around 45,000.  Coming from a town of around 10,000, and a nation of less than half a million, I’m obviously impressed.  Especially when you consider that all the participants have family and friends who support them, so the number of people connected to the marathon is over a million.  It is obviously a headache to organize such an event and have everything run smoothly.  It also means that the city of Chicago is paralysed during the event with a number of major thoroughfares closed.  Still what impressed me most, was the atmosphere that descends on the city throughout the marathon. 

For a while, 26 miles of streets in the core of Chicago become pedestrianised.  The city suddenly becomes far less noisy and an atmosphere of serenity pervades throughout.  Chicagoans and others line the streets from where the marathon passes and cheer friends and strangers on their journey to the finish line.  Everyone becomes like one family for a few hours, and everyone encourages the participants to go on, to persevere, not to surrender.  And then, when finally the participants start finishing the marathon a sense of joy and elation floods the city.  I was just an observer, but I couldn’t not be carried away by all these feelings, and felt part of it all.  I cannot explain what it was really, but it was indeed a nice experience.

Strange fact

One strange thing which I saw, was this pile of clothes.  I don’t really know how it ended up there, and what was the reason behind it.  But it was strange to see all those clothes thrown away, and people going through them, finding something which might be their size and is in good condition.  I must admit that I didn’t expect to find this sort of thing here in America.