The beginning of a Grand Adventure...

This is it, y'all. I'm in Chicago now.

I flew out early this morning. The view of the sunrise out my window was amazing. It was sad to say goodbye to the summer, to Austin, to afternoon naps with Trudy's kids, late night games with Christin and Brandon, delicious food Mom (and Dad) would cook for me, and spending time with Robert.

But the summer couldn't last forever. The first thing I noticed once we started descending into Chicago was the lush, vibrant green of everything. There were lakes and ponds all over the place, and green grass and trees and blooming flowers. Totally different from summer in Texas!

Once I arrived at the apartment, I had some time to meet my roommates, settle in, and go grocery shopping. I'm sharing a room with one girl, Alyse, who is from northern Minnesota. We began the orientation for the program, and I met the rest of the eleven Urban Studies program participants. Seven of us made the trek down to Lake Michigan. It's not too far, less than a mile, and has a gorgeous view of downtown Chicago.

You can see that some crazy person was swimming in that cold water! I think this might be the biggest lake I've ever seen- you can't see the other edge of it, and it almost feels like you're at the ocean.

We walked back down to our apartments, picked up another person, then headed out to dinner. I had my very first Chicago deep dish pizza, from a restaurant voted one of the top two places for it in Chicago. It was pepperoni and cheese, my favorite.

Let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS! I loved it. However, I filled up on so much bread before it came out that I only ate one slice.

I brought home the rest of the small (yeah right!) pizza I ordered to take in my lunch the next few days. No one was hungry for dessert except for Jeremy, the only guy with us, who also happens to be from CC. He ordered tiramisu, and the waiter brought him two giant pieces, one for free to share with us. I had never had tiramisu before, and it was good.

Today has been a crazy long day, and I'm exhausted. I still have some reading to do before I can go to sleep, and I have to be at the program office downtown at 9 tomorrow morning. I'll have my first experience with Chicago public transportation! Wish me luck!