Weekend Excursion

Over the weekend, six of my friends and I explored Illinois a little. Friday night, we drove to my friend's farm in Shirland, IL. It was about a 2 hour drive. Since I have a car, I was assigned to drive the entire weekend. So much driving. So much spent on gas. Before we got to the farm, it started to downpour. Immediately I had thoughts of a car load full of young people driving down a dark and damp road in the middle of nowhere and some guy with a hook jumping out at us and killing us. Luckily, everything was fine. We got to the farm which had a nice antiquated farmhouse where we stayed. My friend's mom treated us to some snacks and of course wine which made us all happy. The best part of the evening was when my friend's mom was telling a story when she was in college and remarked: "I hate Persians." Unbeknownst to her, she didn't realize I was indeed Persian. I eventually spoke up and told her. I guess I was a little offended. I mean, people all the time go around making generalizations about races. It's like just because some Middle Easterners flew two planes into the World Trade Center doesn't mean all Middle Easterners are terrorists. Same with black people, etc. People shouldn't judge others based on a negative experience but I know everyone does this including me sometimes. The Persians I've known are great people albeit somewhat crazy. I'm proud of my heritage.

We all woke up the next day pretty damn early: 8:30. I do not like getting up so early on a Saturday or for that matter, anyday. We had a hearty breakfast and hit the road to a town called Galena an hour and a half away. As much as a city gal as I am, I did enjoy all the rolling hills and countryside. Sometimes it's nice to see how the other half lives. I could never live in the country, though. A lot of the scenery and towns reminded me of Athens, OH, where I went to school for a couple of years. It was a very small and isolating town, but quite beautiful. Near Galena, we reached a place with a Lookout Tower. If you climb to the top, you can see the entire town. Unfortunately, it was closed for some reason. It's like that scene in the movie Vacation when the family finally gets to Wallyworld and all the rides are closed. We continued a few miles into the town. Galena is your typical quaint American/Midwestern town with a lot of shops and historical sites. The day was absolutely beautiful albeit slightly warm. We first hit a wine tasting (naturally). When in a small town, what else is there to do? We walked through the town and then hit a bar with a Bloody Mary bar. Of course. I really liked the Bloody Mary bar because they had pickles and olives and tomato juices. I could seriously just live on all of those. I don't even need the vodka. I really need to lose weight, so I'm thinking about doing something drastic like this. Liquid lunch and dinner. Afterwards, we hit a gourmet candy shop. My friend told the candy lady about the open bar website we write for and how we were traveling with three foreigners: a Frenchie, a Swede, and a Suisse. She immediately told us how she used to date a French guy so she ended up giving us a box of liquor chocolates for free! People in Galena are nice like that. We wandered around some more and then decided to find the Mighty Mississippi River supposedly only a few miles away. We drove around, saw it from afar, then got lost. I had to be back in Chicago for a concert in a few hours, so the two carpools we had parted ways. One friend and I drove back to Chicago while the others searched for the river. Galena is pretty close to the Iowa border. I really enjoyed the trip. I haven't explored much of Illinois outside Chicago and there's a lot to see. I liked being there during this time of year because the leaves are tinged with color and Halloween is on its way. I want to take more excursions to maybe Iowa and Wisconsin. Maybe someday I'll write about my adventures in Galena. The entire trip I felt really calm and focused. For once my mind was shut off. Briefly.

I made it back in time for my concert. It was my fourth time seeing The National, first time since June. I was able to get two of my friends in for free. Since my friend and I both had photo passes, we were able to get right upfront for the first three songs. It's nice having those kinds of connections. We went to a bar afterwards and drink some more, then I went home and fell asleep. Long day.

I keep thinking about how much I really want to travel. Knowing so many foreigners here in Chicago and having so many friends who have lived and/or traveled around the world makes me anxious to leave the country. I wish I had a lot of money to travel around Europe for a month and see everything. When my foreign friends go back to their respected countries, I will have people to visit. I just like experiencing life and having stories to tell. I keep thinking about NYC as well. Everytime I go there I begin to think how much I want to move there. In the past few months, I've changed my mind a lot about moving there. I don't think I'd move there unless I had some amazing job. Plus whenever I do visit, I spend so much money. I have my sights on going overseas more now anyway. So, we'll see what happens. There's a part of me who wants to be MIA for a while. Just disappear. I really need to write and read books and I have obligations for my friends wedding and concerts so this could indeed manifest itself in the coming weeks. I just want to be a good person and be there for my friends but be sincere about it. Sometimes it's not about you. I want people to appreciate all the things I do for them both personally and work related. I just want to be good to others and to myself.