So far this side trip to the midwest has been a good one. It's kind of priming me for the big trip ahead. Last night (thanks to Jon Petto) I hooked up with Peter, John O., and others in Chicago to watch the Superbowl. I took the brown line all the way from downtown and walked the wrong way for about five blocks before calling Jon and heading back in the right direction. It was very reminecent of my trip to Europe in the sense that I basically dropped in on them out of nowhere and we all had a good time watching the game and catching up. As we all left Peter's place he tipped me off on a better route back downtown - brown line to red line. It may seem insignificant, but to me it feels like a little adventure - not knowing where I am or where I'm going but with help finding the way. The payoff, hanging out with good people and watching the Superbowl. I'll probably end up chillin with them this weekend.
Today I got photos taken for visa. Sixteen photos for eight visas. Afterwards I had another "travel" moment. I went into this Vietnamese cafe for a bowl of pho. I wasn't really feeling the vibe of the place and started to walk out. A guy who I assume is the owner reeled me back in by saying "the (Vietnamese) sandwiches are really good." I told him I was more interested in the pho. We started talking and he asked me if I was Vietnamese. I said yes and he switched over to speaking in Vietnamese.
I'll be the first to admit my Vietnamese is horrible, but I was able to hold a halfway decent conversation with him. Phong (the owner) ended up giving me the larger bowl for free when I requested the small one and gave me thirty percent off. His sister or wife rang me up and we had a short conversation in Vietnamese and later on gave me a free eggroll. It's the little things like this that I experience while travelling that I tend remember that makes the experience so worthwhile.
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