Friendsgiving in Chicago

Jeg var helt klart nået til et punkt, hvor jeg bare havde brug for at komme væk. Væk fra Rhodes College, væk fra Tennessee, væk fra skolen, væk fra alt. Og væk kom jeg! Tirsdag i sidste uge satte jeg kursen mod Memphis lufthavn og snart var jeg i luften med kurs mod Chicago, Illinois, med et lille stop i Kentucky. Allerede før jeg tog herover vidste jeg, at jeg ikke kunne tage hjem uden at have været i Chicago. Ikke bare fordi jeg næsten vidste at den ville falde i min smag allerede før jeg havde været der, men fordi en af mine bedste venner, Zily, bor i Chicago. I mandags kom jeg så hjem igen efter 6 fantastiske dage. Den 2. største by i hele USA, afslapning og god mad, det var lige hvad jeg havde brug for efter et meget intensivt semester (der ikke engang er slut endnu!). Den fantastiske nordamerikanske højtid, Thanksgiving, faldt jo sidste torsdag. Det tager de meget seriøst her, og 90% af alle mine (amerikanske) venner tog hjem. Nogle af dem bor altså pænt langt væk, så det er ikke for sjov. Det så jeg som mit snit til at besøge Zily.

Mig og Zily går ikke så langt tilbage, godt 1.5 år. Hun flyttede ind på mit hostel i Buenos Aires dagen efter jeg selv kom tilbage til Argentina dengang i juni sidste år, hvilket betyder at jeg ikke kendte hende først gang jeg var der. Hun er nok egentlig en af grundene til, at min sidste tid i Argentina næsten var bedre end den første. Vi klikkede næsten med det samme - men også kun næsten. Hun minder mig stadig regelmæssigt om, at jeg var virkelig spydig den allerførste gang, vi talte sammen, hvor hun spurgte mig om adgangskoden til vores net. Til mit forsvar, var jeg næsten lige ankommet efter at have kørt i bus i halvandet døgn. Den famøse 40 timers bustur. Den tærede lidt. Men efter den lille episode kørte det hele på skinner. Noget af det, jeg husker bedst, er at jeg i starten forsikrede hende om, at Buenos Aires nok skulle udrette sin magi snart. Hun startede ud fra bunden af fødekæden på vores hostel imens jeg var i receptionen. Det ville alle have det svært ved. Så jeg forsikrede hende om, at det nok skulle komme. Og jeg havde ret. Hvornår har jeg ikke det? Magien viste sit kønne ansigt. Vi havde begge to nogle fantastiske uger indtil jeg fløj hjem til Danmark og hun hjem til Los Angeles (hvorefter hun så flyttede til Chicago for at læse en PhD på the University of Chicago).

Meget har ændret sig siden vi var i Sydamerika. Men der er en ting, jeg håber aldrig ændrer sig. Magien i vores venskab.

I feel like I'm at that stage in the semester where all I want to go is finish. So Thanksgiving break was a light in the dark and a much needed break. Tuesday last week I left Tennessee for Illinois. Chicago's been on my list for some time now and with it being so close to Memphis, I had no other choice than to go there, right? So, Tuesday at noon I boarded a plane that took me to Kentucky and then another one that took me to Chicago. I already knew this, but I think I kinda forgot.. The North is a different world. I mean, I have been to New York City, so how this slipped from my mind, I have no idea.. Maybe it's because I've only actually lived in the South.. However! It was nice. In fact, it was amazing. I like the South but sometimes it's just way too muuuch. No offense, Memphis! But Chicago is just more me. It's international, open-minded and colorful.

I got there around 2pm and took the Blue Line to Washington Station. When I emerged from the underground, I was greeted by a cute German Christmas market on Daley Square. And Zily. Yeah, Zily was the main reason I came to Chicago. I mean sure, anything to see a pretty city, but you also don't miss out a chance to see one of your best friends when you're finally on the same continent, right? That doesn't happen every day for me. And now I can say I went to a Thanksgiving potluck with a bunch of super smart Phd Physics students. And then there was me. A very average Politics student.

The last time I saw Zily was in Buenos Aires. That's also where I met her. We don't go way back. We met last year in June. Zily came to my hostel about a day after I myself got back there after travelling the continent. This means that she wasn't a part of my first stay in Buenos Aires. However, she was one of the people who made my second stay there as amazing as the first one. We clicked almost right away. Almost. Zily still reminds me how I was pretty rude to her the first time we talked. But that changed and we quickly became friends. I still remember perfectly how I told her that Buenos Aires would work its magic on her, all she had to do was wait a little while. It did on me and everybody else I met, so Zily just had to wait. I clearly remember how she was a bit sceptical in the beginning, but hey, it happened. It always happens. Buenos Aires is magical and I was right! We both had some amazing weeks until it was time for us to go back to our respective continents. I went back to Denmark and Zily went back to California. And then she moved to Chicago to do her PhD at the University of Chicago. And now here we are.

A lot has changed since we met in South America. But there's one thing that hasn't changed and that I dearly hope will never change. Our friendship.