Spring Break?

"This is the first time I've left Boston to go somewhere colder!"  Well-stated by one of my fellow delayed travelers.  We were all heading to Chicago in February....Not quite spring, let alone spring-like, but what better thing to do than to explore a new city when you have 9 days to kill?  And so I eventually arrived, after a 3.5 hour delay courtesy of JetBlue underestimating turnover time.  Friday's arrival consisted of exhaustion and sleep.  Saturday was an interesting experience.  After 20 years, my nanny Helen and I reunited.  It was quite amazing to see her again, though my memory is spotty and a bit fuzzy, I do remember her and that I would let her brush my hair and not my mom.  She met her current husband in Florida when she was with us, and has established a nice life for her family.  We spent the day reminiscing, and hearing stories about my brother and I when we were young, as well as her perspective and circumstances, which was very insightful for me.  We started by getting lunch at The Chicago Diner, a vegetarian restaurant that was quite a bit louder than I expected, and maybe not the best location for the meeting, but the food was good I thought.  Miguel was very skeptical about a vegetarian restaurant providing a meal that would be satisfying, but he thoroughly enjoyed his vegan tostadas.  That made me happy.  We proceeded to Starbucks where we chatted more and got to know each other beyond old memories.  What a nice reunion!  It is a shame Khaled and my parents were not there too.

To celebrate my arrival and the end of this past term, we met up with Mara and Dovile, two of my closest friends from my time in Boulder, CO, and we rocked the dance floor.  It was amazing! We went to a club in downtown and danced all night long, or really all morning long.  Hopefully I'll remember to take pictures on this visit and post them up here.