Chicago - the Windy City Part One

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Something is ringing. My alarm clock... It's 06:00 AM. I'm still pretty tired from the party last night. I get up, get ready, and pack the rest in my suitcase. I leave a letter, cereal flakes, and a can of 'Magdeburg Half Spheres' on my bed. I open my door and Isaiah is right there, about to knock. He looks really sad. He says good morning and takes my suitcase. Brenda and Eric are waiting for us downstairs in the living room. They make a welcoming gesture for a hug. I walk towards them and we all form a circle. Then they pray for me, a really nice gesture. Eric and Isaiah go towards the front door, while I say goodbye to Brenda. Then we drive to school. It's quiet in the car since Isaiah doesn't play any music. When we arrive, we're not the first ones. Some have been waiting for a while. We join them and wait until everyone else is there. Once everyone is there, we get out and join the others in the parking lot. It's unusually quiet and no one is really saying anything. The teachers now join us. We stand in front of the school doors one last time side by side and pose for one last photo. It's hard for me to smile. Isaiah, Callie, and Jade are the only ones skipping the first few hours and coming with us to Springfield. We leave in a caravan, I sit in the front, Callie and Jade in the back. Isaiah plays music with a sad beat and now tears start to come to my eyes too. I secretly wipe them on my jacket. Just before Springfield, we stop on the side of the road to pick up Isaiah's dad, who had driven ahead in his own car. Eric continues driving and puts on reggae music, which still sounds somehow sad... When we stop at the train station parking lot in Springfield, Isaiah takes my suitcase and carries it into the building. We're the first ones there and sit on the wooden benches. It's still quiet. Hoffi and Max come and sit with us. Hoffi and I toss a baseball back and forth. 08:35 AM, we start saying goodbye. First, I go to Eric, who greets me with a hug and tells me what a great time he had with me. Then I go to the girls, whose faces are already reddish and wet again. They keep telling us not to go, but unfortunately, we have no choice. Finally, Isaiah comes up to me, hugs me warmly, and says, 'Love you, Bro.' I say, 'Love you too, man.' and hug him for a while... on the way to the platform, I pretend to hug everyone else many times. Even one more time with Eric. I say, 'God bless you.' to which he replies, 'He did.' Then I wave to everyone again and go to the steps of the train, but jump down once more to shake hands with Isaiah one last time. Then I board the train. During the ride, a seemingly homeless and limping veteran sits next to me. During the ride, he briefly leaves the compartment to use the restroom and leaves a file behind, which I briefly flip through. It's a letter from the Veteran Help Organization, or something like that... well, whatever... anyway, the man smells weird and I don't think it's right how the USA takes care of their former soldiers who probably fought for their country. The ride takes incredibly long and I'm still incredibly tired. However, the armrests are so poorly designed that my arm keeps sliding down and landing on the weird hard edge of the armrest. So I can't sleep on the ride... okay, cool. Then we finally arrive and get off. Fresh 'subway air' fills my nose... but at least better than in this run-down train that drove me away from Nokomis. We walk out of the station and have to go up a few stairs. There's also an elevator. Hoffi and I are the only ones taking the stairs. Then we come out on top and are actually already right next to our bus station. There's already a bus there. Max is somehow already up there too, and now he and I walk towards the bus. When we stand in front of it and turn around, no one is behind us. Why? Because everyone had to take the super small elevator. Luckily, we still catch the bus. Then we drive through Chicago's lunch hour for a while. Then we stop almost right in front of our hotel. We get off, go into the lobby, and clarify the room allocation. First, we get a room where all our things fit. Then we can go out and have an hour and a half of free time. Max, Hoffi, and I go to a taco restaurant around the corner, get confused when paying because suddenly various taxes are added and our great bill, including the tip, no longer adds up. After this torture, we return to the hotel lobby, where a few are already waiting. When everyone is there, we walk through downtown Chicago, surrounded by impressively giant buildings, on our way to the Willis Tower, the tallest visitor-oriented building in Chicago. There's a round view and as a highlight, glass cases that protrude from the building and have a glass floor through which you can see everything. A weird feeling... but somehow really cool. The view is amazing. Lake Michigan is so damn big, like a sea, because I couldn't see the shore on the other side and the flight over it took at least half an hour. When everyone has seen everything, we take the elevator back down, which moves so fast that my ears feel pressure. Then we walk out of the skyscraper, praised for its beautiful view, and make our way back to the hotel. The pizzeria where we actually want to eat is so crowded that we decide to just eat in the hotel. Which turns out to be really tasty. Hoffi, Max, and I sneak away from the group, grab our sports gear, and go up to the gym. We train for about an hour and a half and then jump in the pool.

A great ending to this truly diverse day.

~H

Hannes W.