ktravula – a travelogue!

• Indian guys with ear pads and who don’t smile back.
• Freezing fingers.
• Uniformed Chauffeurs in front of really tall buildings.
• Two second eye contact.
• Puerto Rican Salvation Army volunteer who doesn’t get annoyed when he insists that he’s not from Mexico.
• Busy-looking pedestrians with carry-ons, heading nowhere, heading somewhere.
• African-American Salvation Army volunteers who dance, who ring bells, who sing while selling two dollar leaflets.
• Tall building that block the morning sun.
• Two jokes from a street vendor:
• 1. “Here’s the secret to playing golf: Wear two socks just in case you get a hole in one.” Ah-ha!
• 2. “Q: What’s Beethoven’s favourite fruit? A: Banananana.”
• An Art Institute with endless exit corridors that lead into one another.
• An art institute with exits that pass through a gift shop.
• Museum officials who speak French.
• Bennigans Grill and Tavern with 15 mins waiting time.
• Senseless arguments on the differences in champagne and white sparkling wine.
• Exhilaration on the Sky Deck overlooking the famous city.
• Problematic calculations on tipping.
• Slow Africans at traffic go lights.
• Grant Park.
• Traffic lights.
• Tourists with the slowest feet.
• Impatient Africans at traffic stop lights.
• A city that never stops demanding.
• The Magnificent Mile.
• Cold Wind
• Fast-moving feet.
• Pedestrians that keep walking even when the sign says “stop”.
• Road signs that read “West” when it means to read “East”.
• White working-class women with iPods earplugs who text while crossing the road.
• Tax on food purchased at restaurants which doesn’t include tips.
• Waitresses who smile.
• Old white men who don’t acknowledge greeting nods.
• Old black men who seek eye contact.

It’s Chicago, the windy city. It’s Chi-town, birthplace of Hillary Clinton in the land of Lincoln.

It is Chicago, a city on the Michigan Lake. It’s Chi-town, home of the president. A city of lights and lightening warmth. A city that sleeps with its eyes wide open.