Blog #169: Will We Ever Leave?

I'm not sure if anyone's caught on yet, but Sofi and I love Chicago.

As Sofi so fittingly put it right before she drifted off to sleep, "Chicago's the shit."

There is so much to see, so many things to do, and so many people to meet. We've done so much here already, and yet we feel like we've barely scratched the surface.

Along with the free concerts, endless museums, and unique restaurants, there are other reasons we've fallen in love with the city.

Being here by ourselves has shown us that we can literally do anything we decide we want to do. Of course this has limitations, but in the general sense of setting and achieving goals, our time here has shown us that we really do have the ability to just go out and get it.

Along with this, our abilities to be independent have soared. We freaking decided to live in Chicago for the summer, and we made a whole new life here in just a number of weeks.

Remembering back to our first conversation about Chicago in our apartment in Sioux City, this wasn't necessarily a big dream we had. It was more of a "I think I'll apply for an internship in Chicago, because why not?" As interview requests started coming in and things got more real, we had a few moments of "wait, are we really doing this?"

Now, after making our way here and starting a life in the city, we both still look at each other sometimes with a sense of disbelief. So many things in our individual lives had to happen for us to end up here together eating fries somewhere in the Chicago Loop. Yet, at the same time, it feels almost natural. This life of independence is something we've grown accustomed to.

Honestly, all of this is going to make it really hard to leave. We've both learned a lot here, and have grown into the role a big city demands- a role more adventurous, more assertive, more curious, more ambitious, more open-minded, more brave, more self-sufficient, more spunky. As much as we love and cherish the memories we have made and the people we have met in Sioux City, this big-city mentality we've adopted is not really the norm there, nor is it entirely suitable. I don't want to give up any of it, and I also don't want to give up the art museums or the free concerts every week or the option to eat cuisine from anywhere in the world by just walking around a few blocks. There's a magic I find in being in such a large place, and I'm not ready to give that up so soon.

So, all this considered, if you don't see Sofi and me around next semester, you know where to find us.