Carrera de los Muertos

In the list of things you have to do while in Chicago I am herewith very happy to be able to cross out two items today: the 5K Race of the Death I have been training for since four weeks and the Chicago Architectural Society`s River Cruise. The fact that we have also opened the guests` season with Riin and O`Neal made both especially enjoyable.

Below are Riin`s and Clerg`s shots of the run that took place in the historic Pilsen and University Village neighborhoods.

Here I am, probably the whitest person in at least ten miles distance at seven thirty in the morning stretching for my run which I was optimistically hoping to finish within under 33 minutes, pessimistically not as the last one ...

... which did not prevent everyone else putting on a costume and up a jumbo latino party in an early Halloween celebration.

Soon it was time to leave my gear with Riin, my prep trainer, while the boys were looking for a parking lot (there were 3000 registered runners), and join the others in the start line...

... and start a very entertaining tour through the neighborhood. This tour was probably also the safest and the least touristic one could ever have in a hood of the city, not to mention the healthiest, considering my training and the distance and my heart rate. Peanuts.

The streets were hemmed with the community members making music - DJs, children`s choirs, youth bands and dance groups. All this early in the morning with the sun rising made such an emotional scenery....

... So emotional that I actually had to hold back tears when at the one-mile-point, a band of about seven eight-year-old boys were performing their pop songs to cheer us runners up. Because it kind of weakened my knees it also probably affected my finish time so I guess in addition to working on my speed, I also have to work on my psychological preparation to a race. (Only now I understand why runners or cross-country skiers never really respond to the over enthusiastic spectators.)

I was of course all the time looking for my fan club, who were evidently also looking for me. Below, Riin and O`Neal 100 yard s to the finish line. The latter, not having had anything for breakfast.

By the time the first runners had started to come in (after 15 minutes)...

...the boys had lost Riin and Riin had found a new friend. Extra credits for the costume, dude. (I only wore some skeleton-gloves.)

That`s me approaching the finish line!

And this is us after I had finished with 32.12.8, 136th out of 354 in female age group 30 to 34, 1121th overall and before re-locating our rental.

On our way, we saw a bit more of the neighborhood.

PS. We wanted to go out to a blues club tonight, then toned it down to a comedy club, then to a bar close by, and then to two bottles of wine at home. As you can see below, it was worth it - this is the fireworks as seen from our living room.

PPS. This blog entrance is fully dedicated to my sister Mannu, who, as I realized thanks to FB, ran a 15K race today. How cool is that. And very motivating.

An American Weekend

After three days of wind and rain, on Friday morning Chicago greeted us with sunshine and an empty fridge. Luckily, the Chicago Magazine had just published a list of hundred best places to have breakfast at so we headed off to one of them in West Loop, called Ina`s.

As in every posh place, we had to wait for a table. Ina, the Grand Dame of the house who looks like she has been running the place for the past half a century, personally put our names down and we patiently stood in line. A gentleman behind us told us it was worth the wait - he would regularly take a ten dollar cab ride just to eat here. Oh he was so right - the coffee was just great, the eggs and sausage heavenly and we even squeezed in some pancakes and a Belgian waffle with bananas and chocolate chips. The picture below is taken two hours later, after everyone had finished breakfast, brunch or lunch - what ever they had come for, and Ina could start preparing for afternoon guests.

On Saturday, we had tickets to a football game. Since most of our group had little knowledge of American football, we started with a college match - Northwestern Wildcats versus Penn State University. The game took place in Evanston, a little city just north Chicago that also serves as the campus for the Northwestern University. It seemed as if football was the center of it - even the traffic was regulated around the Ryan Field stadium.

Apparently, the game starts long before the first kickoff. Fans, families, the whole city dressed in purple gathers on parking lots next to the stadium to spend their Saturday before the match barbecuing and mingling. Some have transported the whole household with chairs, sunshades, heavy kitchen machinery and even satellite TVs to watch the game from. This, by the way, without a drop of alcohol.

There was also no beer at sight inside the stadium. This is probably due to the fact that it was a college game and of course, most of the 40 000 visitors are expected to be under 21 years of age. But the show was enough without the additional fuel.

The Wildcats band was the a size of an average symphony orchestra and their patterns and coordination skills truly impressive. It reminded me of Laulupidu, the Estonian singing festival to take place once every four years only that this show here is carried out with the same pathos every weekend of the season.

Clerg, who generally knows everything about anything, explained the rules of the game to me so I could understand what was going on on the field during the three hours that followed. In the end, it was really chilly, and we lost 24 to 34 but it was another very exciting American lesson to all of us.

In search of some drinks to warm us up we then went to Wicker Park. This is the best thing about Chicago - you never just get a beer. Last night, for example, it came with a wonderful jazz concert in one of the hundreds of busy bars and pubs there are. In fact so busy that the streets were jammed even at two thirty in the morning, when we finally took a taxi home.

Nice to Meet You, Windy City

So today it`s official. Autumn has arrived in Chicago and we have arrived in the Windy City. Chicago Tribune tells us the breaking news that the Lakefront Path has been closed in wake of area wind, wave and flood warnings. My Mac tells me its eight degrees outside, just like in Tallinn, and when I look outside the window (see below) something tells me I will stay in for the rest of the day, reading. Apparently, the wind can speed up to a 100 km/h and the waves of the Lake Michigan might even spray the Lakeshore Drive.

I am reading The Devil In The White City by Erik Larson, a historical, true murder story from the 19th century, when the World Fair was held in Chicago in 1893 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus`s discovery of the New World. Due that time, Chicago had reached a population of one million, making it the second biggest city in the whole country after New York. Apparently, a rivalry had been going on about this with Philadelphia who accused Chicago to have reached this number by simply annexing large pieces of land. In many sources one can read about Chicago having been especially self-indulgent and bragging about its right to host the exposition rather than letting New York or Washington do it. It had been this big talk that made The New York Sun editor Charles Anderson Dana call Chicago the Windy City, not the persistent breeze.

Sport ♥ The City

Before coming here, I was worried about staying fit with all the food I had heard so much about plus no need to run up and down a hill or stairs. The truth is, we only had our first burger last week, a very yummy one, I might add, but besides that, I do not think I have ever eaten more healthily. One of the reasons for it is our now open two-storey supermarket across the park. As a passing customer very accurately put it - it`s like Whole Foods on crack. This means that while Whole Foods is the most famous and glamourous supermarket fully specialized in organic products, our Marianos just offers everything there is to offer period, including the whole range of Lindt and Karlfazer chocolate but also spinach in circa fifteen different variations.

The other reason for healthy living is sports that I now practice religiously. I used to think of myself as a workaholic. This has now completely turned around, but it turns out, I can be compulsive (or sometimes exaggerative) doing just about anything. It is easy, too, because everyone is running in Chicago - on Saturdays, when the traffic on Lakeside is heavier than on the Lakeshore Drive one might think only the minority does not. Also, the trails start in front of our house and if there is still some motivation needed, the Runners World website sends me a daily kick in the butt that says something like Every time I go out there I win. How can you not run after that.

Four weeks ago, I enrolled to my first 5K - a three mile run called Carrera de los Muertos (Race of the Dead) that takes place two days before my birthday, aka the Halloween, hence the name. I train five to six times a week and last Monday, the watch that monitors my heart beats actually let me run for the first time. So I could start increasing the mileage and might just not die at the race after all.

Of course by yesterday after a three miles run and the same distance walk back my knee started to hurt. The Runners World tells me its common for beginner runners to exaggerate with mileage and as a result suffer from an inflamed knee. So today I am keeping an ice bag on it and tomorrow is run free.

The running trails start in front of our house...

... and go tens of miles in all directions.

Those birds (geese, or maybe just huge ducks) also think they have a right to the paths and sometimes, runners clash into them. I am not sure which party wins.

No matter how old you are, or what shape, what you wear or how fast or slow you run - you just run.

PS. Greetings to Maren, Sten-Eric and Anti, my idols in sports.

Exploring the Lincoln Park

Lynx. Ilves. Luchs.

Meerkat. Erdmännchen. Mis loom see eesti keeles on?

The ugliest bear in the world. Apparently, had had a surgery on his lower jaw and now cannot keep his tongue in. Some are just not lucky at all.

Leopard. Leopard. Leopard.

Tiger. Tiiger. Tiger.

Polar bear. Jääkaru. Eisbär.

Penguin. Vanaisa Piigo. Pinguin.

Otter. Saarmas. Otter.

Lion. Lõvi. Löwe.

Squirrel. Orav. Eichhörnchen.

Giraf. Kaelkirjak. Giraffe.

Visiting exhibits.

Fish. Kalad. Fische.

Trees. Puud. Träume.

Meie!

First Days at the Law School (a Photographer's Contribution)

"Lunch with Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Tuesday" or "Former U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens to visit Campus": My mailbox is getting crowded with such announcements. It seems that each and every celebrity of the law world wants to meet with us students. Last Tuesday, it was "only" one of the professors speaking at noon, but: there was free pizza! We were told that a student will be able to eat for free most of the days because of the many speeches and talks.

The fall quarter (the University of Chicago does not have semesters) started a good two weeks ago and most of international LLM students have settled in for the nine weeks. My courses for this quarter are Federal Regulation of Securities, Business Organizations and Public Choice. Yes, only three classes. And yes, I have no classes on Tuesdays, Thursday afternoons and Fridays. But there is still enough work to do. All professors expect that students come fully prepared to class. This usually means reading anywhere between 20 and 100 pages in the course's book. Professors use the "socratic method", i.e. not lecturing their students, but calling on students for developing the subject in class. In one of my classes we also have a "Lab", for which we have to do a group assignment each week.

Everyone is therefore quite busy with his or her courses. But there is still enough time to socialize, be it in the Green Lounge, in the library or at one of the countless events that are taking place in the law school or in the university. The campus is huge and about 15'000 students are currently enrolled. Some of the houses on campus definitively look as if from a Harry Potter movie! From home, it takes me about 45 minutes to get to the law school, but most of the times I meet fellow LLM students on the train. So, up to now, student life here in Chicago is even better than expected!

The Law School at night

A typical classroom

Every Wednesday morning, there is free breakfast (=donuts...) for the students!

The Green Lounge, the best place to meet other students

The Swiss LLM delegation (from left): Sacha, Jonas, Christian, Michael and Doris

One of the dining halls, where you can have lunch (all-you-can-eat for $9)

The University Bookstore sells about a million souvenirs with the University's logo

On campus

Fall scenery with police car (the University has its own police force)

Fall is coming...