Today is the Memorial Day here in USA: this is in memory of all those soldiers who died fighting for the strars&stripes flag. Something that honestly doesn’t hit my soul so I’ve accepted Eva’s invitation who kindly asked me to go with her cheerful posse to the Michigan Lake. Sailing on the still cold Michigan Lake is the program: how could I say “not” ?. Ravi (my Indian buddy) should have come with us but at the last moment, the fever forced him to give up and stay at home.

We’ve met in the Chicago Yacht Club: me, Eva, her polish parents (really kind and nice people, especially the mother with her delicious food), a nice cop girl 25 years old, a Egyptian girl 26 years old who was the oldest among us and Masha, with her beautiful shiny blue eyes, along with her brother who is only 7 years old. The weather was great (about 24 °C) so once carried the bags on board… We were set and ready to start !

The afternoon just passed by incredibly fast. Easily chat by chat we found ourselves in the begin of the evening: it was 5 o’clock. We had lunch in the boat (which, thanks to Eva’s mother, was really yummy) and we talked about everything : cultural differences, politics stuff, movies, religions and even soccer. Can you believe that here girls know much more about soccer than guys do ? It does sound strange but that’s about the size of it !

After our boat-excursion, which took something like 4-5 relaxing hours, we went, after a coffee break, to a kind of Paradise: a very cosy and nice bar where, for 22 bucks, I’ve had a royal dinner: I had a great true-American beef burger (not that chemical plastic stuff that you can find everywhere in each McDonalds) with vegetables and the best French fries I’ve ever eaten in my whole lifetime: Simply UNBELIAVABLE !!

Once the dinner was over, we took a walk just to help our stomachs and then, after having greeted everybody, I’ve ridden the usual brown line that led me home. When I got there... SURPRISE: I took a pee, I flushed the water and the water itself started leaking out from the WC and pouring from the roof of the first floor jumping down directly to the floor just in front Rachelle’s room: 9 o’clock, THE HELL IN BARRY AVE 1416. Burney walks over the puddle and wets his own paws: it results in a couple of hundreds foot-marks here and there. Rachelle freaks out and calls Pat up to menace him of death but at that moment he was sleeping at his girlfriend's place so he wasn’t reachable. At the end of all we brought it off by closing the water in the second floor and using a bucket (to be exact the kitchen's trash can) to stop the last drops that were falling down.

Not taken into consideration this episode, that actually was even much funny, the period I’m spending here is simply great. I feel “recharged” and I’ve found myself again able to do everything. I don’t think that it happened because of the place (even thought Chicago is a wonderful city) but rather because of the people. Their energy, their spirit and the cordiality that they have used to welcome me are great and those guys and girls are making me live many very special moments. When I think I was on the blink of give up and renounce to this experience … Well thanks God I’ve just done the most right thing I could do.

About my studies… ehm being honest I’ve not started yet writing my degree thesis… but ehy, just one month passed by… I’ve still got much time… haven’t I ? :)
Well, that is going to be it for today. As always I remind you to visit the gallery in which you can find a new album with some nice today’s pictures. Hoping that you'll like it I greet you and wish you could read about me soon on “Mugo’s World “.
Greetings

Mugo

Time is passing by since I’ve arrived here: today it turns 3 weeks since that day. The life is better than I could even imagine before starting my travel: I’ve met many people, I’m often hanging out and, probably the most interesting thing, I’m planning a couple of wonderful travels. To make a long story short : as soon as I can I’ll be around New York City, Washington DC and Philadelphia for 8 days. But this tour among amazing and famous city, even if it’s something nice and exciting, is not something epic.

The epic project is another one: the Route66 in modified and rearranged version according with my needs. The original one is a Coast-to-Coast that starts from Chicago Illinois and crossing the entire Unite Sates of America, arrives in Santa Monica, California. I prefer renounce to Oklahoma City (I also have been told that this city is boring and not worth to be visited), I renounce to hours in the bus crossing the dusty roads of Texas and I directly go to Flagstaff. What is Flagstaff ? Sure enough you’ve never heard about it. That is a little and friendly city which is only 1 hour far from something incredibly marvellous : The Grand Canyon, a place that I absolutely want to visit and admire on its colossal and infinite majesty and beauty.
Tourist tours frequently start from that little town and I intend to use this opportunity. Once visited this amazing place, I’ll proceed directly to Las Vegas, Nevada. Then to San Francisco and after that Los Angeles, both in the state of California (as you surely know).

This journey is definitely more interesting. It puts 2 fundamental aspects of the States : the wild and uncontaminated Grand Canyon and the capitalistic and occidental perspective of the stars and stripes world according with the libertine canons of Las Vegas and San Francisco mixed up with the commercialized charm of the extremely American Los Angeles.

I prefer avoiding the New Mexico and the dusty roads of the Texas because I’m going there alone, along with myself. This travel will be made to find a new world and a new Paolo not to spend 20 hours on a bus while crossing the huge nothing. If I could find anybody else who comes along with me I’d do that for sure... But having found nobody I've to skip that part. :(

I’ll keep you on touch especially about these travels. What about the rest ? Well, I’m fine, keeping studying and making sport. I’ve also added a new photo-book in which you can find some shots of the artistic-side of the city. Hope you like it.

A Tight Hug


Mugo

P.s.: That little fur-ball that you can find among the last photo-book’s pictures is Burney, Rachelle’s dog. 11 years old, calm and very tender. It already happened that we fell asleep together on the sofa :P

Today I want to show you around the city: I’ll take you to the centre. Since I didn’t know how to spend my spare time while waiting for the will that would allow me to start my thesis work (actually I’m studying civil procedure law and English stuff for the CPE examination but… being honest I haven’t even touched the books that I’ve got to read for my degree thesis job) I decided that today weren't a good day to spend at home since the weather outside is great.
Where are we going then ? We are going to the Milenium Park and after that, to Michigan Avenue.

Here we are: usual DL station (for those who don’t know it, the DL is just a kind of train which runs over the streets) and a couple of blocks by foot before getting in the Park. Wow !! What an incredible view: green trees, fountains, people who run and we can also see “The Huge Been” which characterises the park itself… everything just so close to the chaotic centre of the city… Awesome !!

Therefore, let’s get in ! We can see some sportive people, a pair of couples who are eating an ice-cream while they are promenading and a group of seniors who are enjoying the evening or playing chess while the security guards are patrolling so that the stillness would not be ruined by some molest fellow. Relax. As great was the relax that is possible to feel that I decided to stop there for a while and read a good book sitting in a bench. Once my reading was over, I ahead in the inner part of the park and there I could catch the sight of the enormous Been’s majesty. A huge steel Been smooth and glass-lined which can reflect every imagine that mirrors on it. It reflects the sky, the skyscrapers, the people, the trees and, overall, that almost surreal atmosphere that we can feel by walking down this wonderful glimpse of green. I’m curious so I just step under the Been: a complicated mirrors’ game projects your image an high number of times. Sometimes deforming it, sometimes enlarging or reducing it. Surely fascinating.

Not far from the big Been, it’s possible to catch the sight of the green area that surrounds the post-modern theatre. Here concerts and (only on Thursday) kind of for free drive-in movies take place. What’s a kind of drive-in movies ? You just bring your own blanket, lay it on the ground, sit down there and enjoy the show maybe stuffing your mouth with some delicious junk food. Awesome, isn’t it ?
The structure is great and extremely futuristic : cables over the air maintain the acoustic sound system hung up over your heads. Even the central part of the theatre seems to be a stackable palace, as if it were built on its own fascinating asymmetries. Worth to be visited again, maybe better if during a show.

The rest of the park, except for the Big Mouth-Fountain, is like any other normal park: various hectares of green and trees. This leads us to its end which is also a second entrance. Here I could curiously notice the weave between the ancient architecture represented by a colonnade with a plate in memory of the promoters of this wonder and the modern one, represented by tall, huge skyscrapers which are the frame of the park itself. That is simply fantastic. An amazing view that we can’t find in our dear old Europe. Hold on ! I didn’t mean that this is better than European culture and art, I just mean that even thought I still prefer the European art, this is a beautiful view and, in its own way, extremely unique.

Little break, little refreshment by eating a delicious ice-cream and then, let’s go toward Michigan Avenue. It’s a sort of Parisian Champee Elysées. In order to get there we should cross the bridge and while doing that I could see again the vilest capitalism: the paradisiacal park is just something behind me now. I arrived close to the bridge and I could catch the sight of the historic Chicago Tribune Building, the most famous newspaper here in Illinois and while doing that, I couldn’t avoid to see the bas-relieves on the pavement: they are the imaginary limits of the original first pioneers’ settlement who came here 300 years ago. Nice, very nice !!

Michigan Avenue finally. Intense traffic and intense life which flows in the most commercial street of the city. On the roadway’s sides, wonderful poppies flower beds embellish the view. Along with them it is possible to find some very particular bike-cycle: re-modelled, re-designed and re-painted. They were the artistic subject of the year and, after a great exhibition, they were given to the city as a present by their artists/builders. Really odd but still interesting.

Walking down the street there are various centrals of consumerism : there are outlets of Burberry, Apple, Nike, Disney, Virgin… even a great Palace only for Ralph Lauren (particularly ridiculous the Ralph Lauren Grill Bar next to the shop with a couple of limos parked in front of it). And then also : McDonalds, Starbucks, Donkin Donuts, Nokia, Tiffany and so on… That’s the ideal place if you are looking for a present because you can also find plenty of Mall with everything you would even be able to desire on sale. I can’t even imagine how much money circulates in this street each minute… that is unbelievable. Definitely a nice place but I’m not a shopping fan so my appreciation can’t go any further.

Keeping going straight, there is a weird structure completely detached from the rest of the other buildings. That immediately catched my eyes: that is the Water Tower Place, one of the few buildings that survived toward the Big Fire of Chicago (if you don’t know anything about and you want to, just click here). A nice image, something typical American like the obligatory anthem before each sportive event that takes place in this country.

Well, it’s pretty late and I feel quite tired. I guess you do as well so far. Hoping that you liked what I’ve written for you, I invite you to visit the new photo-book in which you can find some nice shots (come on, they are nice !! :D) that could make you understand better what you have just read. For any suggestion, comment, complaint or insult, I remind you that you can always leave a comment on the texts or on the pictures or also on the guestbook. There isn’t any kind of censorship or moderation … I just trust in your wisdom … and in your pity :P

Write to you soon

Mugo

Here we are, sitting in a comfortable workspace in the John Marshall Law School Library… Maybe you are wondering “what the hell is the connection between Library and writing on internet ?” … the answer may not be easier : whole the building is wifi covered for the students. When they feel tired between a page and another one or want to have a break chilling out, cool down their tired brains, they can switch on their own pc, get themselves online and browse, read, discover or even only chat and waste their time… after all exactly what I’m doing now.

Days are passing by greatly even if too much gym has crashed my back and now, I’m walking as if somebody had put a post directly up into my ass. My neck is completely blocked… a pain, a incredible annoyance while I’m sleeping but, in a couple of days, that is going to turn fine by itself. Just need to be patient… themes the breaks…

Not taken into consideration this last irritating part of my life, I’ve met many nice people. I’ve played soccer in Lincoln Park last Saturday and after that I’ve hung out in a bar with some students of John Marshall University: one of them turned 25. A part the feeling of being the youngest because my few 23 years, I feel good, especially thanks to the great welcome feeling that everybody made me feel. Fun reigns during our nights out and the bars or clubs where we have been are really enjoyable. They make me remember those bars that perhaps you’ve seen in the American movies like “Coyote Ugly Saloon” or something like that. Not too big, crowd, loud music and rivers of alcohol.

The Weaither is getting better even if you can’t say that it is good yet. Just have to give it about 20 days… after that walks and excursions to Lake Michigan will begin. It is around 20 minutes far from where I live, it has got a beach and the water is clean so swimming is possible: this is in order to not make me feel homesick… yeah sure... as if it could really happen :P

Let’s talk a little bit about the University given that, as you can easily notice by watching the new photo-album, I’ve taken some pictures which can describe the road that daily I take to get here. That is in order to make your eyes see what I see each day. Nice, isn’t it ? Each picture has gotten is own title and description which can explain to you how exactly the path is.

Well, my spare time is over, the civil procedural law book is there, looking at me… and it calls me upon my duty. I hope you like the photos that I’ve published and that you find interesting (even if I’ve gotten some doubts about this) what I’ve written. If yes, and I lay 1000 up to 1 that just a couple of you are nodding now, I promise to keep on writing so… don’t forget to check “Mugo’s World” out.

Faithfully yours

Mugo

First baseball game for me, Cubs VS Washington. Needless to say I’ve brought good luck to the Cubs and they have won 6 to 4 with no needs of playing their 9th Inning. The stadium is pretty big but nothing incredible (second oldest baseball stadium in the US, established in 1914, 41.000 seats for the fans), people are chilled and completely set-out for the fun they are going to have. Just by looking around me I could understand that the game is not even a sportive event no… that is just a huge party.

Everything started by getting in through neither boring lines nor troubles: you just get in, find your place according with your ticket, have a sit and, after a few minutes, you just stand up again : time to sing the anthem. I’ve been told that a different singer comes for each match. Little time ago even Ozzy Osbourne came in Chicago to sing it in Wrigley Field (which is the stadium’s name by the way)… what a fucking patriotic spirit. Let’s be honest : that is snazzy ! You may expect it on the 4th of July or while watching a typical American movie but it awfully seems to be a tradition that they respect before each sportive event they play in this country. No matters if it is professional or not: they must sing it !

People don’t insult one another and frankly it seems to me as if the game is just an excuse to get together and have fun. They stand up and go getting junk food and alcoholic drinks each 10 minutes.: after only 4 innings the alcohol rate in the blood is already worrisome: fat men with no shirts, childish choruses and the classic scapegoat, the Washington team’s player, a certain Church... Poor fellow !! They said everything to him. Something like "CHUUUUUUUUUUUURCH !! YOU SUCK !” and so forth.

Cubs started their game in a very shitty way: during whole match Washington scored just 4 points and they did it all just in the first inning. After 5 innings the Cubs overtook them thanks to a wonderful Alfonso Soriano whom they call “mr100milliondollars” (because of how much he gets for 5 seasons-playing for Cubs. In the baseball world the clubs don’t pay the players to other clubs. They just wait till the player’s contract expires and then all the clubs interested in that certain player start a wild auction). People around me smile, have fun, talk about everything while watching the game and the time goes by fastly. Many fat men shocked by the alcohol dance with their belly on the air, some girls, confused for the same reason, came to me each time the Cubs scored for an high-five and yelling “GREAT ITALY, WE HAVE SCORED!” (yep… they called me Italy since they didn’t know my name)… anyway it was fun, let’s say not bad at least.

I think inside that stadium I could find much of the America as I can see it now : everything was huge, richness which exceeds in opulence and fun with no worries. Anyway I can say it was definitely a nice day especially because of the best Hot Dog I’ve ever eaten in my Life, no comparisons with that shit that you can find regularly in Italy… I don’t know and don’t want to know what the hell is inside that, but ehy, still it's incredibly "yummy" !!

Pro : price is cheap (30$ for a very good place), the fun, the tranquillity that you get by watching the match not being afraid of some dudes who can hurt you somehow, the Hot Dogs and the sportive show itself.

Against : The absence of action in this sport (too many pauses, I don’t think I could get a great passion for it and, being frank, watching it in TV should be a little too boring), the disgusting bellies and the anthem… which earnestly sucks !
keep on reading me :) I'll write to you soon !!
Greetings

Mugo

Here we are : preparative, luggage, odd and complicated custom documents and very much weariness .. but it was worth to be done: after 10 hours in the air plain, here I am, finally arrived in Chicago. For 45 bucks a fun black taxi driver took me from the O’Hare Airport (one of the biggest in the world, something like 2600 flights a day and a traffic of almost 76.000.000 passengers per year) to my new place in W. Barry Avenue 1416.

The neighbourhood, Lakeview (which is called so because of the little distance from the Michigan lake) seems like it had been drawn from the movies. My roommates are very kind and nice with me: Pat is 28 years old and he works for the chamber of commerce, Rachelle is 27 and she works for a private company and, right now, she’s in Cincinnati even if she’s going to stay there only for 2 weeks. Anyway after we have shared some words, she made a good impression to me.

The neighbourhood is populated by quite people, almost everybody are young and students. People who go around for a walk, who run, who walk dogs on the streets, who chill out in a bar… let’s say : really laidback and low-key people. Nobody uses the horn except if it’s really necessary to be done, they don’t get mad at you if you cross while the traffic light is red and the public transportation service works perfectly and fulfils the citizens’ needs (busses, subway and DL the most chosen by the customers). Cabs are really cheap compared with the Italian prices (for 10$ you can easily get the centre from where I live). Well, kind of paradise where to live and spend your spare time.

This place doesn’t lack anything: many Laundries (those ones that you can see in the American movies where for 3-4 dollars you can have your clothes washed), gyms (mine for example, for 40 dollars per month, allows me to use its services 24/7… that is great !!), restaurants, parks, coffee shops, phones-shops (one of them is just close to my place and there I’ve bought my Samsung mobile for only 120$) and huge malls and grocery stores where finding food is really easy. I’ll talk about American food in another article… as you can imagine there is a lot to write about junkfood here… it’s something that really can get you astonished !! Just an example: the pasta Barilla (yep, the most worldwide famous Italian pasta)… in OGM version !!

Only 20 minutes far from here, there is the Loop, the Downtown, or to be more precise the centre of the city. It is one of those huge city-centres where you can find enormous buildings and plenty of people around the streets, needless to say, always in a hurry. Many movies have used the Chicago’s Loop as their cinematographic set. Here are the 2nd and the 4th tallest skyscrapers ever built. Plenty of shops and offices but also a lot of restaurants and public services of any kind… everything in order, well organized and managed by the constant presence of the “we serve and protect”… The cops who are less formal and arrogant than ours but also definitely fatter and uglier than them.

As far as it concerns the centre, I’ve just had a look around : not taken into consideration shops (Michigan Avenue is a kind of Champes Elysèes three times bigger) sky creepers, statues made by Picasso and huge crowd open areas, that I little know, I can momentarily say nothing.
This is not considering of course the University where I’m supposed to work on my research for my degree thesis which I’ve already visited, the John Marshall Law School: 2 buildings, 16 floors each, BAR association inside th 7th floor of one of them, great and ful-furnished Library dislocated on 5 floors with wifi internet connection, lounge with a efficient cafeteria and sofas for chilling out after the lectures. The Professors ? Let’s talk about them: They introduced me to all their colleagues and took me for a tour of the school, they welcomed me as a son in their life and some of them even gave me his home phone number for any emergency that could happen during my staying in the States. Really nice and kind of them, don’t you all think so? Being honest, I can’t figure out their Italian colleagues while doing the same. During the lectures you don’t feel the same atmosphere as you do while attending the Italian lectures … it’s really different : no arrogance and overconfidence at all. Here every kind of human relationship tends toward becoming informal, being relaxed and getting quite cohabitation: if I’m an attorney then I get much more money than you do if you are a clerk but this doesn’t make me more important than you, I still treat you as if you were an attorney and you treat me as if I were a clerk. This is frankly something great that I really appreciate of the mind of this country’s people and that makes the Universities work as they are supposed to do : teaching and learning, not arousing fear or needs of recommendations.

I’m really satisfy, at least for the moment. Really excellent, much more than I could even expect before getting here. So here the adventure starts: 3 months that are going to be spent by studying (but not too much :P), playing, hanging out, clowning around and travelling a lot since I’ve gotten some plans for that. Ok then, for updates… well for updates you just need to click on “Mugo’s World”… don’t you think so ? :P

Write to you soon

Mugo

P.s.: this Friday I’m going to the Cubs game … GOOOO CUBS !!! (for who doesn’t know them, they are one of the two baseball teams of Chicago, the other ones are the White Sox)

P.p.s. : If you like to, you can watch the first pictures I’ve taken here around the neighbourhood. You just have to click on the photos-album. Soon a report about the house will be online and, as soon as I can do it, another one about the Loop as well :)