Chicago Adventure

I was suppose to get my visa processed on Tuesday, July 01, but alas they did not receive the money order and health forms that I sent the previous Friday. So, the consulate called me on Monday to inform me that they could not process it on Tuesday and that we would have to reschedule. I urged them to reschedule for Wednesday and assured them that they would receive the documents that they need later on that day or at latest the next morning. They made an appointment for 11am on Wednesday, July 02. 

I took a Greyhound bus from Minneapolis to Chicago. We stopped at Tomah, WI; Madison; WI; and Milwaukee, WI. My bus left at 1am and got into downtown Chicago around 10am.  That gave me an hour to get to the Chilean Consulate. I soon found out that the Chilean Consulate was actually on the 33rd floor of the John Hancock building (875 Michigan Avenue, the fifth tallest building in America) --- which was pretty neat. I have only been on the observation deck of the building, so it is cool to say I have now been "inside" of it. I got the visa processed in a matter of about 20 minutes --- which was very short for the amount of hassle I had to go through to get it.

After I got my Chilean visa and US Passport back, I trucked it over across the Chicago River to another building on Michigan Avenue --- which houses the Turkish Consulate. You may not know this yet, but my current plan is to take a Religious Traditions in Asia class for J-term 2009. This class will be held in Turkey and Jordan. Since I will not be back in the United States until December 24th and I will leave for Asia on the 2nd of January, I need to get these visas ASAP. I dropped off my passport at the Consulate and was assured that they would have my visa processed by 3pm. This was a relief considering the Chilean visa process took almost two months. 

I left the Turkish Consulate and ate lunch at the Corner Bakery Cafe. I had the Pesto Cavatappi which was pretty good. After lunch I went to Millennium Park and listened to the Grant Park Orchestra (I also found out that my cousin, Mark Eldred, is a member of the Grant Park Chorus). If you ever get to Chicago plan on visiting Millennium Park where you can listen to free classical music in one of the coolest outdoor "bandshells" in the world. Also go and visit the Crown Fountain --- a fountain that projects pictures of Chicagoans. The pictures move and eventually pucker their lips as water squirts out of their mouths on to the children who are running around in their bathing suits. It is just fun to watch. Also see the cloud gate, a sculpture by a British artist which is fascinating to gaze at. After I checked out all of these places I parked my behind in a shady area in the park and took a little cat nap. 

Around two thirty I went to search for some Ice Cream (I eventually found this at Potbelly Sandwich Works) and then headed back to the Turkish Consulate where I got my passport back complete with visa. (I am still working on the Jordanian visa. The Jordanian visa is only valid for 60 or 90 days after they issue it, so I will have to obtain it later.) I strolled around Michigan Avenue for a little while longer and then headed back to the Bus Station to wait for my bus to depart at 9:15pm.

The bus was an hour late out of Chicago, and we still stopped at Milwaukee, WI; Madison, WI; Tomah, WI; Eau Claire, WI; St. Paul, MN; and finally Minneapolis. At least I got two seats to myself, so I could stretch out and sleep a little better than on the way down. We arrived in Minneapolis about an hour late at 7am. I immediately went home and took a nap until noon, since you tend to not get very good sleep on a Greyhound.