Today I drove through Canada...

So this didn't actually happen today but I really like the title. It's been a long, tough week. This weekend though was my dad's college reunion and in an effort to escape what I thought was going to be a horrible weekend alone, I decided to go to Rochester, NY with him. As we can never get anywhere on time, we got to Rochester around 1 in the morning and I contemplated studying since I can't read in the car. After a relatively short sleep we woke up and drove a very short distance to the Univeristy where we met one of my dad's friends, and no people that he graduated with (none of them made it there). The good news is that I got a fair amount of studying done in a different environment than the Regenstein library here at U of C and we had a good time just wandering the pretty campus and seeing the pretty scenery.

This is what fall looks like!

The ivy on the building (never realized that it changes with the seasons)

Here is the underground tunnel that never allows students to miss class because of snow days (and as an added bonus it's got about 50 coats of paint making the halls much smaller than they were when my dad went to school there)

My attempts at nighttime photography on a point-and-shoot camera:

Oh yeah, and I completely forgot the part where we drove through Canada. So apparently the shortest way to get to upstate NY from Detroit is through Canada. So we both brought along our passports and crossed the bridge to Canada. I learned that Canadians are much less paranoid then we are (and rightfully so, who's gonna screw with Canada? They don't pose a threat). Crossing into Canada required us to pass our IDs to the woman at the toll booth and tell her that we were merely passing through. We asked where the nearest bathroom was and then continued driving. Getting back into the states was a completely different experience (why I always refer to the U.S. as the states whenever I'm "abroad," I'll never know). There were at least 5 cameras aimed at every car and there were 2 places where you have to stop before they call you to the toll booth. They get really mad too if you cross the line too early. Oh, and they take your picture before you can hand them your passports.

My dad bought these awesome dried mangos at gas station in Canada (the change was Canadian money so I kept some to send to my ex-nanny kids and kept some for myself. Why is every country's money cooler than ours? I want Monopoly money). We didn't get out of Canada until after dark and after 4 hours of Robert texting me and me not calling or texting him back (I was being cheap, having crossed the border I didn't want to rack up my cell phone bill) he got really concerned and proceeded to call my mom to see if we were okay. In case you were wondering, yes we were okay I was just being cheap. Having crossed the border I didn't want to rack up my cell phone bill with a million text messages. I could have sent one though (sorry Robert).

The bridge to Canada!

The Canadian border

And that is the story of how we went through Canada (told sort of in reverse).

The end.

Pizza and Grapes

Today's dinner was at an acquaintance's house from the church I visited this weekend. A few of us girls hung out and talked and ate pizza and grapes. The conversation was good, the people were nice, and I learned what a vineyard church is. Apparently they put a huge emphasis on community and helping others; accepting people as they are and including them in fellowship. What I got from it was not pounding religion into people's heads and showing people Christianity by the way you live instead of trying to convert them every second of every day. I like this idea.

Today I walked around campus on my way to drop off a friend's birthday card. I wanted to give y'all a taste of Hyde Park:

This is the chapel that I pass everyday on my way to class (Rockefeller Chapel).

Here's the quad and some dude riding his bike. I lay out here when it's not cold (which has been twice so far)

The library is in the background, but I just like walking through that big gate (simple pleasures are the best)

The majority of the buildings have ivy growing on them. So cool!!

Gargoyles!

~:)~

Vegetable Soup

A few of my dorm neighbors and I have started a dinner club (today we had vegetable soup). There are 7 of us and Monday-Thursday 2 or 3 of us will prepare a meal and then we all sit down and eat together. Thursday is my day to help make food. I'm excited :) I've gotten to know quite a few people and I've heard some cool accents. For those of you who don't know I am living in the International House (or I-house, as we call it) so there are people here from all over.

There's a really nice looking quad a few blocks over. I'll take pictures when I get a chance and post them here. The squirrels over there are crazy and keep staring at me. They are grey instead of brown (never realized that squirrels were different colors in different parts of the country).

This past weekend some friends and I went to downtown Chicago. No, we did not see Oprah, but we did see a few guys painted silver doing the robot and lots of guys drumming on buckets (a way to earn some extra college money???)

It's so awesome to feel seasons. I had forgotten what fall feels like. Despite the fact that I'm already cold I like the weather. I enjoy being outside because I know that soon I won't be able to be outside for more than 20 minutes (or my face will get frostbite, according to Alisa and some weather people).

I'll post some pictures tomorrow to spice this up a bit. And I'll let you know how my first day as a graduate student goes.

Peace,

~Danyelle~