chitown!

greetings from the windy city! no mobster death threats so far, just a gorgeous and relaxing few days in the midwest. i brought the nice weather with me from boston and it has been an unbelievably beautiful spring the past few days in the city. i'm staying with sara in hyde park, also where joey grew up and a few blocks from the obamas and louis farrakhan (interesting neighborhood). we took a really long walk down the lakefront yesterday with just about everyone else in the city and enjoyed the blooming trees and sunshine.

saturday we headed downtown to see the opening of the new modern wing at the art institute that connects the back of the museum to millenium park/the bean. the architechture is incredible and frames the existing chicago skyline along with the park's modern ampitheater and garden. we also saw this cab leaving the free gospel concert in the park:
they knew i was coming.

we stayed in the new modern wing as all of us have visited the museum before, but there are really intense and moving pieces (and some i still don't get, i mean...a big box of kleenex?...dali is as far as i can push it). i did see 'the old guitarrist' by picasso, some man ray and chagall's 'white crucifixion' that was on the cover of my new testament textbook... i did enjoy the pile of brightly colored candy in the corner that you got to eat that represented the diminishing artist's body...and the neon signs:
this is the first time i've been to chicago not in the dead of winter, and let me tell you - i loved this city before and it's so much better without the ice! here's the little jv-reunion at the famous fountain downtown (sara, miriam, joey, me). sally is meeting up with us tonight and honorary jv/nola presbyterian volunteer sarah has joined in on the fun.

the final highlight was definetely saturday night when miriam took us all to mi tierra in little village (they sat us next to the only other white people and i think we were only allowed to stay because miriam gave us street cred). while sara was in the bathroom miriam decided to sign her up for a fake birthday surprise that came not only with a beautiful sombrero and flaming muffin, but an unexpected and hilarious conga line around the entire restaurant complete with baloons and dance tunnel. i'm not sure when sara will get us back, but it's going to be intense.

the next two days i'm just re-packing and finalizing the detail with joey, then we leave wednesday for dublin! you ready sinead?