September 10, 2007

Hello Hyde Park

After four days, 2,021 miles, three motel rooms, and entirely too much fast food, I arrived yesterday afternoon in Chicago, Ill., my new home for (at least) the next three years. Surprisingly, this was only my third time in the Windy City; before deciding to move out here for graduate school, I had been to Chicago exactly twice: once for a job interview in 2004, and once for a school visit in April of this year. My first day here has been non-stop, and though I have not yet made it out to downtown, I did manage to wander through Hyde Park today.

This morning, I went to my new place—a 25^th-story apartment in Hyde Park with a fantastic view of Lake Michigan, which incidentally will cost exactly the same as my old place in San Francisco (got to love the Midwest!)—and moved in what I had brought in my car. Afterward, my parents (who decided to make the trip out) and I wandered through Hyde Park, stopping at a local restaurant where the owner was a trip. As soon as we entered the place, he asked me whether I was a new student, and when I replied in the affirmative, he asked me (right in front of my parents, mind you) whether I had taken receipt of the five gallons of margaritas that I had called about earlier. (I had not yet.) Later on, he asked me about the three girls that were chasing me when I was on campus earlier, and what had happened with the paternity tests. (They were negative, thank you very much. All of them.) Finally, in the grand finale, he himself claimed his previous indictments were all nonsense, and that he had no way of knowing that girl was 14—she looked at least 30. Classic. So far, the residents of Hyde Park seem pretty interesting.

Tomorrow, I officially begin my stay in my new apartment (I'm in a hotel tonight), and will once again begin the tedious process of going to Ikea (and other such places) to buy furniture, supplies, etc., and hopefully get my life in some semblance of order before school starts. Hopefully I'll also have the chance to post some more thoughts (and photos!) from Chicago as I get more acquainted with the city. Stay tuned! (Also, note that the time stamp has now changed to Central Daylight Time. Rohit's Realm, now coming at you live from the Midwest!)