This is my thirteenth day in Chicago. (If you didn’t even know I’d left — surprise!) I’m practically settled in, and, as expected, I’ve been having much fun.

I awoke Saturday morning at an improperly early hour, made worse by the fact that I’d gone to bed too late to get even an hour of sleep. I ate grits with butter (thanks Mom), rode to the airport in the passenger seat for once (thanks Dad), and was only homesick for the first several minutes on the far side of the security point. After that I was simply excited.

Fortunately, I was not too excited to notice that none of the people sitting around me had much luggage with them. That realization, as well as a tired yet helpful stranger, guided me to my baggage check-in point. (It was back on the “insecure” side of the terminal, which meant I had to go through security, unload my pockets, remove my sandals, and so on, all over again.) My music, as well as the nearby presence of a sleepy and fascinatingly beautiful girl with a book, helped pass the remaining time.

The plane, or maybe my severe lack of sleep, made me feel somewhat drowsy on the flight. (All the other tired people may have had something to do with it, too.) I spent the two hours listening to more music, looking out the window like the first-time flyer that I was, and reading some of the excellent “God, Freedom, and Evil” by Alvin Plantinga. The highlight of the flight, if not the tremendous legroom afforded by my exit row, was my view as the plane cut through clouds on the long descent into Chicago.

On arrival I found my friend, Semirrahge, then my bag, and rode with him as planned to John’s place, which is my friend’s home for now and mine for the next two months. I knew the very last part of the trip, thanks to prior research on Google Maps, and since then I’ve learned how to find my way around town, which, for me, is a real accomplishment. I’ve also met his friends, all of whom I’d like to know better, and have appreciated John’s hospitality — I’m even a little surprised by it. Who’d have thought there’d be nice people in Illinois, too?