I got to Chicago (not to be confused with the suburbs) on Wednesday night, even though Fall break doesn't officially start until our last class on Thursday. Sorry mom, I skipped out on one of my classes (don't worry though, I'm getting an A in it) to be able to see my niece Miriam (see previous post) for a few extra hours. The neighborhood in which Sara, David, and Miriam live is quite unique in it's own way. It is extremely Mexican and you can go days without hearing English. Even though it is a Latin culture, I can't say I felt extremely comfortable in that setting. Even their "Spanish" is different. My vocabulary actually grew during my days in Little Village. Patotero = Gangero = Gangster. Alquilar = Rentear = Rent. The list goes on, but I can't remember any more now. :)
I am currently taking "Immigration to America" with Dr. Winquist. It is quite an interesting class and we have studied the different waves of people groups that have arrived to the States. One example? Irish, Poles, and Czechs arriving into the big cities which include New York and Chicago. My brother David took me to a Bohemian restaurant (photo) so that we could enjoy fried Czech cheese and other Czech products (guess what mom?). It was weird to see an authentic Czech restaurant (I actually heard Czech being spoken in the restaurant) in the middle of a huge Mexican neighborhood. Where Lithuanians, Poles, and Jews used to live, new people groups are settling in and displacing older people groups out (relative to general immigration to the United States). Before we judge the Latinos, who is the next people group to take over the ex-Polish neighborhoods? Deep thoughts no? :)
